The Mike McCullagh Memorial Cup was presented by Mr Laurie Savage of the organising committee during a school assembly at St Clare’s, much to the delight of the children, Mrs Sue Fall, the Headteacher, and Mrs Louise Pennick, the Football Co-ordinator.

Well done to all involved.

Parents, children, governors, teachers past and present, and parishioners turned out at St Clare’s School in Middlesbrough to welcome Bishop Terry, who celebrated Mass with Fr John Loughlin (parish priest) and Fr Gerard Robinson (former pupil) on the occasion of the school’s 40th anniversary.

Bishop Terry surprised everyone by revealing that he too was a former pupil of St Clare’s School; not this one but St Clare’s in Manchester. He went on to praise all at St Clare’s for their good work and had everyone in stitches with a wonderful sermon and a memorable explanation of episcopal vestments! (The editors sources reliably inform him that at dinner time the children talked of nothing but what Bishop Terry had said.)

Congratulations to the headteacher Mrs Fall and to all at St Clare’s. Ad Multos Annos!

The clip below is by kind permission of Mr Smith of St Clare’s School.

Click here to view the embedded video.

A wonderful total of £2162.25 was raised.

Many thanks.

Maureen Dowd

Photos on these galleries are subject to the Diocese’s Terms and Conditions of use. In short, you are free to use them respectfully. If you spot a great photo of a friend or relative please feel free to download and print it (but don’t sell it).

• that the Church may be an instrument of wisdom and a beacon of light in our World;
  for sick pilgrims in Lourdes and all our sick that they may unite their sickness to the sufferings of Christ for the salvation of the World;
• that as Christians we may grow together and become more effective in spreading the Gospel;
• that our young people may respond generously this week to the needs of others and be better witnesses to the presence and action of Christ in their lives;
• that those discerning their vocation in life may see more clearly the opportunities for a life of joy and service with God and the Church as priests, deacons and religious;
• that we may see the path that God has chosen for us in life and have the strength to follow him faithfully until death.

Many thanks to Kevin Boddy.

We have also had the promise of a hamper and bottles of various kinds. We are still looking for the promise of raffle prizes and the promise of prizes for the Tombola and the Children’s Tombola.

If you would like to donate a prize in support of our parish please add your name and prize to the list at the back of the church, see Maureen Dowd or email fundraising@stclare.org.uk

This was a joyful and moving ceremony which brought together all those preparing to be received into the Church from across our diocese.

Please pray for Lorna Rossi, Amanda Burns, Sharon Lindberg Smith and Claire Luke who are preparing to be received into the Church this Easter.

Our parish Christmas Fair, which took place last weekend at St Margaret’s Church Hall, raised a grand total of £2,160.79 (details inside). This is a tremendous amount. Thanks you to all who helped organise the Fair, who worked on the stalls, who gave so generously of their time, skills and money, and to all who supported the Fair in any way.

Is it you?

The fabulous Christmas Cake and bottle of Champagne are, at the time of writing, still unclaimed.
The winning ticket is a yellow ticket number 119 and is believed to have been sold at a Saturday evening Mass.
Please check your ticket numbers! If you believe you have the winning ticket (the security number will need to be checked) please contact Maureen Dowd at fundraising@stclare.org.uk.

A special note of thanks

Thanks to all those from outside of our Catholic community who continue to support our Christmas Fair, especially to the Anglican community of St Margaret’s, Jane Dionysiou of Plantarama Garden Centre (01642 320514) and Bob Singh of McKenzie Dry Cleaning (01642 247605) for their generosity.

Our Parish Christmas Fair

Our parish Christmas Fair raised £2,160.79 from the following;

There were also kind donations totalling £436

Of this amount £375 was given away as raffle prizes leaving £61

However £15 of this total was received after the money was banked

The money banked was £1736.79 + (£61 - £15) £1782.79

The extra donation of £15 needs to be added to this along with the kind support of Barclaycard who will match £ for £ the tombola total (£58+£305) making the final total £1782.79+£15+£363
Final total £2160.79

On Sunday 11th May at our 9.30am Mass we will meet the candidates for the Sacrament of Confirmation. Please start to include these young people in your prayers.

Confirmation will take place on June 11 at 6pm in St Francis’ Church (not the Cathedral).