Let's see who's turning concern into action!

St Benedict’s, Handforth

Report by Mini Vinnies, Diya, Erin and Mason.

As Mini Vinnies, during Lent we raised money for Mary’s Meals. We are kind-hearted people and like helping out. We all started off by doing an assembly to talk to the school about Mary’s Meals. We started by saying £19.15 is the money needed to feed one child for a school year. People from developing countries need help so they can have a longer life. Children can go to school instead of begging and foraging for food. We raised lots of money for the poor children and the amount we raised was about £2000. This will help about 100 children. We are very proud of this amount. All the money donated to Mary’s meals will hep the developing coun-tries a lot. This money helps children get an education and learn. What the different year groups did to raise money for Mary’s Meals Reception: scooter race Y1: a walk Y2: dance-a-thon Y3: gardening sale Y4: litter picking Y5: sponsored run/walk Y6: cake sale. We had lots of fun.

Vincentian Family Gathering

On 27th April 2024, 10 out of 30 Mini Vinnies from Rothwell St Mary’s joined the Vincentian family for their annual Mass and gathering. This year Leeds Cathedral hosted the event, with Bishop Marcus Stock celebrating the Mass. It was wonderful to hear from the children directly about their group and how they are living out their mission of See, Think, Do. They will be developing their links with their local care home and be visiting on a monthly basis, as well as setting up a donation point at school for food donations for the foodbank. They have great plans to fundraise to make over and improve their prayer garden and develop resources for those to have a space to access calm, quiet spaces to connect with God. After Mass, the children joined other members of the VinFam family for lunch in Wheeler Hall before the adult members heard from Sr Caroljean Willie on eco-spirituality. A great day was had by all.

Visiting Mini Vinnies across Shropshire

The last leg of the Shropshire tour was to see the Mini Vinnies at Ss Peter and Paul, Newport. The team met 25 on the day, alongside their Vincentian Coordinator, Deacon David. They shared that they had planted a tree at the parish church and were keen to write 180 compliments for 180 people as part of the SVP England and Wales Anniversary. They had lots of other ideas, which they noted down on the worksheet the team provided. It was a delightful visit to the county and wonderful to see the huge impact these children are having on their local communities as Mini Vinnies. Thank you to our YVDO, Bernadette, who is doing a wonderful job of supporting these schools and looked after Katy on her visit.

St Wilfrid's RC Primary School, York, Lenten Action.

The Mini Vinnies took part in the CAFOD Big Lent Walk as recommended by the NPCA Trust. They organised the entire campaign which consisted of each class walking to a place of worship and significance (9 in total) within the City, each child being sponsored by family and friends for the number of steps walked. Notification of the project was sent to parents and the Mini Vinnies presented the project to the school at an assembly at the beginning of Lent. Each Mini Vinnie took responsibility for a class and accompanied them to their destination. Vinnie Bear travelled with each class. The Mini Vinnies cut out foot-prints and every child in school decorated a footprint and wrote a prayer asking for a better world. These prints were displayed round the school hall wall. To date the total raised for the “Big Lent Walk” is £1,059. A very successful and prayerful project.

Welcome to the Vincentian family St Joseph's Infants and St Joseph's Junior Schools, Birtley.

St. Joseph's Catholic Infant and Junior Schools are proud to now be a part of the Saint Vincent De Paul Society (SVP)! We have recruited a great group of children from Reception all the way up to Year 6 to help spread God’s love and the love of St. Joseph’s community!

Each school held a separately commissioned Mini-Vinnie group, who were commissioned into service by Michael Willcock. The group are just starting our journey and are excited to join: “See, Think, Do”. They focused on these three things and thought about what they can do to support people in their community, school as well as those who are less fortunate.

Our Mini-Vinnies prepared a Mass for the ‘Feast of the Presentation of the Lord’ by learning bidding prayers, learning about Holy Communion and creating a promise board to share with the parish family. The children also made and decorated some prayer bookmarks for the parish, to remind them of their call to be a Mini-Vinnie.

The children have really enjoyed being a bigger part of church life and having responsibilities.

In the future, we have lots of exciting activities planned. We are organising a bake sale and a non-uniform day as well as working in and around the local community. The school has also been asked to meet with the residents in Covent House, a local care home, to join the residents in an Easter craft session.

Our Mini-Vinnies would like to say thank you to the Birtley, St. Joseph, Saint Vincent de Paul Conference, who have kindly supported us in our venture by purchasing the Mini-Vinnie welcome pack for our group.

Stockport & Hyde and Chester & Ellesmere Port Mini-Vinnie and Youth SVP

Since September, in the Shrewsbury Diocese the Stockport & Hyde and Chester & Ellesmere Port Mini-Vinnie and Youth SVP schools have gathered with adult SVP, parishioners, beneficiaries, and guests to celebrate the work and fellowship of the St Vincent de Paul Society. SVP District Presidents have planned Masses and events for their young Vincentian groups in their Primary schools, (Mini Vinnies, 7 -11) and High Schools/Colleges. (Youth SVP, 11-18) The first at Our Lady and the Apostles, Stockport. The second hosted by Chester Catholic High School. In total approximately 300 young Vincen-tians have come together. The purpose of these masses is to gather the Vincentian family, young, older, and even older, to pray together and to recognise all as one family with a shared mission of seeking out need and offering help through a commitment to service and social justice. Together they reinforce their commitment to the Common Good. As with all families, to socialise and have fun together is also a priority. So, these two occasions were followed by an “after-party!” Very special memories, and new friends were made. These events will hopefully be repeated many times across the Diocese.