She is sharing a house with friends and sleeps on a hard floor on a mattress. If anyone has a single bed they are wanting rid of, could you please email webmaster@stclare.org.uk

Also, thank you everyone who has left food items throughout the year.

The money has been shared between the Mary Thompson Fund, which gives £5 and a bag of food each week to people who do not get any Government help, and Justice First, which gives help and support to Asylum Seekers in our area.

Many thanks to the Craft group.

So if you can provide any help to this young woman, please contact Barbara Morris on 277358, Gerry Butterfield on 593698, email webmaster@stclare.org.uk or leave small goods in the church porch.

Please have a look round it when you are in town.

We have some Traidcraft stock which is past its sell by date which can be bought next week at half price. So have a look to see if you could need anything.

Catholic social teaching has long acknowledged the dignity of the worker and his right to a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work. Pope Paul V1 in his encyclical ‘Popularum Progressio‘, and, more recently, Pope Benedict in ‘Caritas in Veritate‘ has promoted new approaches to creating business enterprises which will withstand the; “grave deviations and failures” of the current international economic scene.

CAFOD is currently lobbying this relatively new Government to direct the aid which is already being donated to developing countries, into the creation and support of small businesses run by men and women who are living in poverty. With CAFOD’s support, more people like Amparo Oyola, a 42 year old mother of five children, can lift themselves and their families out of the poverty trap which robs them of their basic rights as human beings: to be fed, housed, clothed, educated: have a say in their own welfare: have self-respect. Amparo was driven out of her home in rural Columbia five years ago by armed guerrillas and now lives in a shanty town. At first, exhausted by gruelling 12-hour shifts washing clothes for £1.70 a shift, she sank into a deep depression. Then one of CAFOD’s partners got involved. Along with many other people in similar circumstances, she was given training, money and equipment to help set up her own small metal-furniture business. She was transformed from an unhappy, impotent nonentity into a confident, happy mother and provider for her children. She is extending her small home, and says, “Now I rely on myself. I have the power.”

Please help CAFOD to help those who, as yet, cannot help themselves. Please sign a postcard at Masses on 25/26 June. They will be collected and sent all together to Andrew Mitchel MP Secretary of State for International Development.

Other goods and clothes can be taken to the Avenue Methodist Church (side door) any Wednesday morning after 10.00am. Please do not leave these in the church.

About Pax Christi

Pax Christi is rooted in Catholic Christianity but is open to all who share its values and work.
The initiative of one woman, Martha Dortel-Claudot, Pax Christi was founded in 1945 in France to pray for reconciliation between the peoples of France and Germany.

Today Pax Christi is an international movement of Christians active in more than 50 countries. With such widespread experience, Pax Christi is able to give evidence and make interventions on human rights, peace and human security concerns at

• The United Nations in New York, Vienna and Geneva
• The Council of Europe in Strasbourg
• UNESCO in Paris

Pax Christi’s members are young and old, lay and religious, individuals and groups, who work together to explore what the Peace of Christ means for them in their own time and place.
Pax Christi works with other organisations such as Religions for Peace, the Stop Child Soldiers Coalition and the Cluster Munition Coalition.

Today Pax Christi works to…

• Build a culture of peace by supporting teachers, chaplains, youth workers and others;
• Running workshops in schools on conflict resolution and human security
• Creating resources on peacemaking that give young people tools for understanding our world and making choices based on Christian values
• Offering our In the direction of nonviolence programme to encourage Christians to learn about active nonviolence and its contribution to peace
• Producing up-to-date resources for peace campaigning, liturgies and special peace days.
• Promote an understanding of sustainable security where human needs are met and the environment is protected, rather than seeking security through weapons and warfare.

Pax Christi campaigns against military spending, the arms trade and nuclear weapons.

• Works with other groups to highlight the links between poverty and the destruction to the environment caused by war and conflict.
• Develop solidarity between people who are working nonviolently for justice and peace by -
• Producing and sending cards to celebrate ‘ordinary’ women peacemakers on International Women’s Day.
• Linking with Japan and other countries to commemorate Hiroshima and Nagasaki Days and encourage joint efforts to abolish nuclear weapons worldwide.
• Organising visits to Israel and Palestine, and taking part in international days of prayer and action for peace in the Middle East.

The vision of Pax Christi

The work of Pax Christi – the Peace of Christ – is based on the gospel and inspired by faith. Our vision is of a world where people can live in peace, without fear of violence in any form. The three core values which Pax Christi members place at the centre of their lives are:

• Peace – based on justice. A world where human rights are respected, basic needs are met and people feel safe and valued in their communities.
• Reconciliation – a process which begins when people try to mend relationships – between individuals or whole countries – after times of violence or dispute.
• Nonviolence – a way of living and making choices that respects others, challenges what is not fair or just, and offers alternatives to violence and war.

Find out more about Pax Christi at www.paxchristi.org.uk

There will be a second collection for the work of Pax Christi.

Thank you from Jean Michel to everyone who has supported him.

The amount of community support he received has been overwhelming.

Many St.Clare’s parishioners used to give support by buying gift cards, but gift cards are rarely given out now.

We are asking if any person could help by meeting an Asylum Seeker at Sainsbury, Asda, Tesco or Morrison, at their own convenience, once a week or perhaps fortnightly to shop.

The Asylum Seeker would pay for the shopping with their Azure card and then the shopping partner would give them the cash spent.

This practice is completely legal.

It has been in operation for several months and is readily accepted by the shops in the scheme.
If you feel you could do this but are a little unsure, please contact Gerry Butterfield 593698 or Barbara Morris 277358 and they could accompany you and introduce you to your shopping partner.