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Fax: 0113 388 5401
Email: info@catholic-care.org.uk
Good Shepherd Appeal In The Schools
The Good Shepherd Appeal is an opportunity for children to help children. Through the partnership between your school and Catholic Care we make a permanent difference through the provision of loving families for children who depend upon our support.
We provide care for children who can no longer live with their own families; we provide residential homes and work hard to find new families through adoption.
Some of you will also know that we have social workers based in schools and parishes, working alongside your teachers and priests, offering help and support to children and families in need.
Each year sees us grow from strength to strength consolidating our work, developing new projects and alliances with other organisations. It is visionary and pioneering work pursuing our Mission of “taking the caring Church into the community”.
Good Shepherd welcomes Noah's Dove
School children from across the Diocese crowded into the Cathedral Church of St Anne's, Leeds, on Tuesday 22 April to meet their Bishop. They came with their banners proclaiming their schools and bearing gifts - in fact many gifts £36,000 worth on the day!
A lively celebration was led by the choir, musicians and liturgy leaders from St. John Fisher Catholic High School, Dewsbury who created a wonderful atmosphere of celebration and fun in keeping with the tradition of the Good Shepherd. The theme explored in the liturgy was Noah's Ark from the perspective of the dove. The message was simple: to be God's children we must be like the dove that brought hope to Noah and his family. Though the Cathedral was full and it took a long time for all the schools to approach the Bishop with their cheques, St John Fishers School from Dewsbury made sure that everyone joined in the activity singing. They had led the short service for the day - and it was enjoyed by all.
All during Lent the children had been collecting in their schools, money for Catholic Care and now was the time to present it to the Bishop. In his words to them he thanked them for all the hard work they had done to raise so much money and said how proud he was of them for all they had done - once again they had proved that they would do all these things for children who were less fortunate than themselves.
After the service a lot of the schools took the opportunity to have their photograph taken with the Bishop and take part in some well deserved refreshments.
We are very grateful for the positive response of the schools. So far, in 2008, we have raised £50,795. In 2007 the overall total of £57,949 was raised by 79 schools in the Leeds Diocese.
www.samspage.org is a website for children and teachers which include games and activities, follow-up material and a chance for your school to post photos of your fundraising ideas.
Our Bishop, as always, is most supportive and appreciative of the tremendous effort the schools make at this time of year.
The monies raised by your school makes a significant difference to the children and families supported through our children’s services. Our annual review sets out how this money is used.
If you would like us to visit your school and make a presentation about our work then please contact:
Karen Byram
Tel: 0113 3885 400
Email: karen.byram@catholic-care.org.uk
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
