This is an invitation to all the people we care for, their families, our staff, supporters, donators, friends, and anyone who has had a connection with the Charity in the past.
The Trustees and the Director of Catholic Care would be delighted if you could join them in their
CELEBRATION MASS
To mark the occasion of the 150th Anniversary of the foundation of Catholic Care
To be held on
Saturday 22 June 2013
At 12 noon (seated by11.45am) in the Cathedral Church of St Anne, Leeds
This year, 2013, is a great year of celebration for Catholic Care as it is the 150th Anniversary since it's foundation in 1863, that is 150 years of providing care and support to people of the Leeds Diocese.
At Catholic Care we are all very proud of this achievement and really would like all people who have or have had a connection with the Charity to join us in celebration of this achievement.
Congratulations Anthony!
Anthony Hill a student at St Wilfrid's Sixth Form College, Featherstone, ran his first Leeds Half Marathon on Sunday 12 May 2013 and helped to raise funds to support the weak, vulnerable and disadvantaged people cared for by Catholic Care.
He spent the Saturday in preparation, resting and eating lots of high carbohydrate food including plenty of pasta! Sunday dawned bright and cool, ideal running conditions, and he set off enthusiastically to undertake the half marathon challenge.
He was cheered on after a mile and half when all was going well. When next spotted at 12 miles he was finding it hard and making a desperate effort to continue. But he did keep going and completed the race in 2 hours and 15 minutes, not bad for a first attempt.
Through his efforts Anthony raised several hundred pounds showing that each one of his steps will make a positive difference to someone's life.
A Huge Thank You from us all.
"Snow Bear" calls in at Westhaven
No doubt inspired by a popular advert on our TV screens the residents at Westhaven, one of Catholic Care's Residential Homes for Adults with Learning Disability, wasted no time in enjoying the recent snow and built a life size Snow Bear! Peter Simmons, Home Manager said "The bear completed the winter wonderland effect of the garden" he added "several inches of snow was too good an opportunity to miss, the residents really enjoyed being out in the fresh air and having fun".
Unfortunately the Snow Bear was a short lived wonder as heavy rains washed him away the next day, but the challenge is now on for a bigger and better display with the next snow fall.
Emmerdale Star Visits Catholic Care Supported Living Home
Meet little Theo Tasker, who has Downs Syndrome and is helping to spread a positive message about the genetic condition through his starring role in Emmerdale.
Despite only being 19 months old Theo's face has already been seen in millions of homes across Britain and Ireland in the much-loved soap, Emmerdale, through his role as baby Leo.
Just a few weeks ago Theo and his parents, Dee and Gary, visited one of our Supported Living Homes for 3 adults who have been diagnosed with the same condition. These three, one gentleman and two ladies, have been living in their own home for more nine years. The ladies are keen ‘Soap' watchers and were delighted to welcome Theo and his parents into their home. They and one of their parents entertained Theo, shared their own life stories with Dee and Gary, enjoyed a ‘buffet tea' and had their photographs taken with Theo and the
family.
When asked about Emmerdale Dee commented, "It is great that Theo can help people see that a baby born with Downs Syndrome is just the same as any other child - he laughs, smiles and is a great ‘wee' character.
The emphasis for my husband Gary and I is not on the syndrome but on Theo as a baby and his potential. We want him to be safe, healthy and happy and, to give him the opportunity to fulfil his dreams just as any other parent
would".
CATHOLIC CARE CAROL SERVICE
The 17th December 2012 was a truly special occasion for the children of St John the Baptist Primary School, Normanton when they hosted the 'When a Child is Born' Carol Service, at their local church also called St John the Baptist. This event has, in recent years, become an annual event for Catholic Care which has been held in various locations around the Diocese.
This year however, the service took on a different focus, as it was dedicated to the 'Gianna Project' a Catholic Care initiative which is dedicated to helping girls and women across the Diocese of Leeds when they discover they have an unplanned pregnancy.
Canon Maguire (himself a former Director of Catholic Care) gave a welcome address to the congregation of the carol service and provided a flavour of the Charity's unstinting work throughout the Diocese.
The well attended event, where there was standing room only, was treated to a selection of seasonal delights from the children and staff from St John's school.
There was liturgical dancing, carols from the school choir, renditions from soloist Anna Crossley, who as ever was on form, and she gave a wonderful performance of Rutter's 'Candlelight Carol' and also another favourite carol 'O Holy Night', all excellently accompanied by Organist Thomas Moore, the Director of Music at Wakefield Cathedral.
All present were captivated by the 'twinkle and sparkle' of 'The Shiniest Star' Christmas song, which was beautifully delivered by the younger members of the school.
Lesley Darren, the outgoing Head Teacher, and her Deputy Tina Barry, the latter who worked tirelessly to organise the successful running of the event, spoke to all present about the Gianna Project. There followed a procession of gifts which were presented to Eileen Holland the co-ordinator of Catholic Care's Gianna Project, and Chrissie Moran who is the Head of the School Service at Catholic Care.
The Charity was overwhelmed with the generosity of the gifts donated, collected and presented to the Gianna Project.
Finally, at the end of the service, Carol Hill, Director of Catholic Care and who is herself a member of St John the Baptist parish, spoke about the varied and important work carried out by Catholic Care, and the tremendous success of the carol service and the wonderful evening enjoyed and experienced by all present.
Carol then invited children, parents, teachers and parishioners alike to join her and her dedicated staff in the Canon O'Grady hall, and extended to them a taste of Christmas Fayre.
The First day of the rest of their lives ...
For Catholic Care the challenge was not to meet the needs of the Organisation but those of the individual by providing a high level of Housing Related and Domiciliary Care and Support. The positive reaction of each person during their first few moments of their time in their home let Catholic Care know it was on the right track and now the challenge was to continue this in a positive and fulfilling manner.
For some supported living may involve a few hours support per day or week or for others it may involve a more intense programme of care and support, for people living on their own or in shared accommodation, according to personal choice. For each of these men ‘supported living' was not a ‘one cap fits all' model but a practice that assess the needs of the individual and tailors services to answer those needs.
After the approach by current carers' and the local Authority and the awarding of the Contract, work began to make it possible for the men to live in the community in a secure, friendly and supported environment within a place they would (could) call home. This began with the recruitment of a suitably skilled and qualified workforce who would assess their various needs on a daily basis and, through the appropriate interventions answer those needs. The staff team spent time with each person. Visits were made to the property to check on its progress whilst work was being carried out; shopping trips were made in order that fixtures, fittings and furnishings could be purchased and social outings were arranged in order that relations between each person could be developed prior to them moving in together.
For the staff of Catholic Care the focus was not upon the disability but the ability - to find in each person the skills once possessed and forgotten and bring those to the fore, to discover, support and develop skills that would facilitate each of these people to become ‘doers' and not be perceived as to be ‘done for'. Independence through support became the mantra of practice.
Five weeks later the building has become a home within which they are supported, secure and grow each day in forgotten skills and new ones learned and these strangers, with support from the staff team, have become a family. But, the most gratifying thing to see is that the pleasure of those first few moments has not left.
Sharon ForbesService ManagerStatement
Catholic Care (Diocese of Leeds) v. Charity Commission for England and Wales
In 2007, the Government changed the law, so that from 31 December 2008, adoption agencies were no longer able to limit adoption services to married couples. As Catholic Care operates in accordance with the tenets of the Roman Catholic faith, this meant that we were unable to
continue to provide adoption services unless we changed our constitution to limit the provision of adoption services to heterosexual couples.
Catholic Care applied to the Charity Commission to change its constitution to include a limitation in relation to adoption services, which meant that adoption services would only be provided to heterosexual couples. This was refused. We appealed to the Charity Tribunal and
lost. We then appeal to the High Court and won. However, the final decision on the limitation on our constitution was sent back to the Charity Commission to review.
The Charity Commission again refused our application. So we appealed to the First Tier Tribunal (Charity) (the FTT) to again review the decision. We lost our appeal, so appealed again to the Upper Tribunal.
On 2 November 2012, the Upper Tribunal decided that whilst our appeal was right in law and the FTT had made some mistakes, the evidence submitted did not provide the necessary "weighty" reasons to allow lawful discrimination by limiting our adoption services to heterosexuals. Therefore, it turned down our application.
We are considering the decision in detail and will decide shortly whether we try a further appeal, this time to the Court of Appeal.
Catholic Care has been funded in this case from a variety of specialist sources. These include individual benefactors giving money specifically for the funding of this case, a legacy and a fund which provides financial resources in respect of legal cases with a Christian element. We thank all of those who have, and continue to, assist Catholic Care with this case ensuring that significant resources are not diverted from our charitable activities.
Catholic Care is pleased to announce the appointment of its new Director, Carol Hill
Carol attended Leeds University and graduated in 1984 with a BA (Hons) in Accountancy & Economics. While working in the Leeds Office of Deloitte in the Audit Department, Carol qualified as an ACA (Chartered Accountant) and later transferred to Deloitte's Entrepreneurial Business Department, where she gained her first management position. In the subsequent years, Carol was promoted to Senior Manager and head of the department. In 2002, she was poached by Consort Homes Limited and became the Group Finance Director. After six years in this position, she joined Westward Care in 2008 where in addition to her responsibilities for financial management she assisted with the strategic development of the company and the financing of development projects.
Carol says "It is these recent years working in the care sector that I have enjoyed most throughout my career. The importance of caring for and supporting the more vulnerable members of the community is key to my personal beliefs and is a fundamental reason why I applied to take up this new and exciting challenge at Catholic Care." Carol continued "I am really looking forward to working with the dedicated team who work so hard to make a positive difference to people's lives. As a practicing Catholic it is important to me to live the faith and so I welcome the challenge of extending Catholic Care's vision out into the community."
Gianna Project Celebrates its First Birthday
The Gianna Project, Catholic Care (Diocese of Leeds) celebrated its first birthday in April 2012. One year ago, the Trustees of Catholic Care sanctioned the setting up of a new and exciting project to deliver care and support for women who are pregnant. The Gianna Project is essentially about responding to the needs of a unique individual at a challenging time in her life.
The aim of the Gianna Project is to deliver practical help to individual women in a pregnancy situation, e.g. baby equipment / clothes, limited financial aid if necessary, counselling and support. The Gianna Project is open to women of all ages and backgrounds who find themselves worried or isolated when they become pregnant.
Why the Gianna Project?
For many years, the Trustees of Catholic are (Diocese of Leeds) took a keen interest in the workings of the Cardinal inning Project in Scotland. This Project aimed to help women who found themselves pregnant and who felt alone or isolated. After receiving information and help from the Winning Project, the Trustees of Catholic Care set up the Gianna Project in April 2011. The initial months of the Gianna Project were very low key but gradually over time, the work of the Project became known more and more throughout the Diocese of Leeds. A part-time worker was appointed in April 2011 and this work has been undertaken by Eileen Holland from Catholic Care who has made a tremendous contribution in developing and making known the work of the Gianna Project.
What is the origin of the name?
St. Gianna Beretta Molla is a Roman Catholic Saint, canonised on 16th May 2004 by His Holiness Pope John Paul II. Gianna was an Italian doctor, wife and loving mother, who experienced life threatening problems when she was pregnant with her fourth child. She gave birth to a healthy baby but Gianna sadly died seven days after the birth. St. Gianna is a Patron Saint of mothers, doctors and unborn children.
Presently, the Project is going from strength to strength and Eileen Holland is currently working with 8 family units across West Yorkshire. Eileen is also opening up new areas of partnership working with other projects in West Yorkshire. Baby clothing and baby equipment, as well as donations are always very welcome and contact can be made with Eileen, Social Worker, at Catholic Care on 0113 3885400. Eileen's email address is eholland@catholic-care.org.uk and she would welcome contact from anyone who requires more information or who would like to help the Project in any way.
Congratulations to the Gianna Project and happy birthday.
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Catholic Care is the social care organisation of the Diocese of Leeds. Catholic Care acts to support all those in need of its services, especially people experiencing disadvantage and poverty, and it acts as an advocate for those unable to represent themselves.
Catholic Care's website offers you the opportunity to find out more about us and our work on behalf of children, families and adults in many communities in the Yorkshire area. We hope you will find it interesting and informative.
Over a hundred years of pioneering social work in relation to child welfare, poverty relief and social reform has developed Catholic Care as one of the leading charities in the North of England, caring for children, older people, disabled and disadvantaged people of all ages. Our work currently ranges from a well respected adoption and family finding service to supported living for people with learning disability, care homes, volunteer work and community projects. Our work is making a real and significant difference to the quality of life of hundreds of people
Catholic Care offers a wide variety of services and support. These include:
Catholic Care acts to support those in need of its services, especiallly the weak and the vunerable and it acts as an advocate for those unable to represent themselves
The primary purpose of the agency is to foster and influence a vision of how people can live together in Christian charity, love and justice, by taking the "Caring Church into the Community
