Mini Vinnies turning concern into action

Vinnie Bear's voyage to the Isle of Wight

We are delighted to welcome two new groups to the Vincentian family from St Mary’s Catholic Primary School, Ryde and St Thomas of Canterbury, Carisbrooke on the Isle of Wight. Vinnie Bear and I hopped on a ferry to the Isle of Wight and were joined by SVP members from both Ryde and South Wight to commission 20 Mini Vinnies at St Mary’s and 19 at St Thomas of Canterbury on 15th September. It was a joy to bring the SVP family together for this celebration and the children were excited to share just how they intended to live out their Mini Vinnies’ mission. They will be working closely with the SVP on the island, and we can’t wait to check in with them and see how they are getting on.

This is a photo of the Mini Vinnies Manager and three SVP members

Mini Vinnies join forces

It was a pleasure to be invited to the Rosary School in Belsize Park, London, to meet three groups of children that make up the Mini Vinnies- the School Council, Chaplaincy Team and Playground Squad. They come together regularly to live out their mission of See, Think, Do with a focus on each of those areas. During this visit, I modelled 3 different meetings to the children, focusing on prayer, scripture, discussion and a call to action for each group. The School Council will be planning a Bake Sale as a fundraiser, the Chaplaincy Team will be extending their current Rosary challenge to include a week of prayer for the SVP, and the Playground Squad are coming up with ideas of a game they could play one playtime, extending the invitation to other children that might like to join in. The warm welcome to Rosary school, from both staff and pupils, was wonderful, and I wish them all the best in their mission this year.

This is a photo of Mini Vinnies from Rosary school
This is a photo of Mini Vinnies at Rosary School
This is a photo of the Mini Vinnies from Rosary School

Commissioning celebration of the Mini Vinnies at Our Lady RC Primary School, Welwyn Garden City 

This is a photo of the Mini Vinnies at Our Lady's
This is a photo of the prayer table with the handprints and Vinnie Bear on.

On 16th October, 16 out of the 17 new Mini Vinnies were commissioned in a wonderful assembly. Surrounded by their peers, teachers, parents and carers, the children entered into prayer, scripture reading and made their pledge before proudly putting on their Mini Vinnies’ badge. We heard from a number of children what they intended to do as a Mini Vinnie, and all of their handprints displaying these pledges will go up on their Mini Vinnies’ board at school for all to read. Thank you to you all for such a warm welcome and great enthusiasm for the mission of the SVP.

Celebrating harvest with the SVP

It’s been wonderful to see so many Mini Vinnies’ groups getting involved with the harvest collections at their school. Mini Vinnies from St John the Evangelist, Bradford, were truly living out the mission of the SVP and that of their school by walking in the footsteps of Christ to provide for those most in need. Their food donations were presented to a lady who works closely with the Friars from St Patrick’s Mission in Bradford.

This is a photo of some of the Mini Vinnies at St John the Evangelist

We would love to also give a shout-out to the following schools who also shared news of their harvest donations: St Anthony’s, Wythenshawe, who collected donations for the Hope Project Foodbank, St Hugh’s, Timperley, whose donations went to Trafford Foodbank and Cornerstone Day Centre, Manchester, St Elizabeth’s, Manchester, whose donations went to the foodbank and Cheadle Catholic Junior School in Cheshire, whose harvest donations went to Chelwood Foodbank Plus.

A big well done to all of you and to all those who we haven’t mentioned as we know many more groups across England and Wales would have been contributing to harvest collections this year.

National Teaching Assistants' Day, St Anthony's, Watford

St. Anthony's Mini Vinnies celebrated National TA Day on Friday 29th September with an assembly and biscuits! The children spent time writing messages and designing tissue flowers for a special assembly.  They finished things with the presentation of cakes and biscuit bought especially for their TAs to enjoy.  The occasion went down very well with all TAs and Mini Vinnies. 

What a wonderful way to celebrate the work of all Teaching Assistants!

Gathering the SVP family on the feast of St Vincent de Paul

We gathered the SVP family at the National Office to celebrate the feast of St Vincent de Paul. It was a wonderful lunch, where everyone brought something to share. A big shout-out to some other groups that we know did something to celebrate the feast day: Our Lady Of The Angels, Cwmbran raised £220 for their local SVP group by holding a non-uniform day and a raffle. Great work, Mini Vinnies!

Mini Vinnies at St Bede’s Catholic Primary School, Sacriston were commissioned on this special day and are ready to turn concern into action.

We also learn that St. Bernard's RC Primary & Nursery School, Ellesmere Port led the assembly that day, telling the other children all about St. Vincent de Paul and how he inspires them to be a follower of Jesus. What wonderful news from across England and Wales!

This is a photo of the SVP family at National Office