|
This Index [indicates above] National/International Events and are added here for your information.
They do not form part of the
Churches Together in Epsom, but of course we support many of these events
There are many Christian Website
please use Google to search for your requirements
A few are indicated below for
quick access, but not in order of precedence.
Fair Trade
;
Traidcraft
;
Christian Aid
To find details of past events etc use this Site SEARCH
............here
Christian Aid Week 2010
Epsom Christian Aid report 2010
I
thought I would give you a few more facts and figures now that I
have nearly completed my accounts for Christian Aid for this
year.
The
Public Street collection raised £428, up over £100 from 2 years
previously. A big thank you to all those who stood in Epsom
shaking the tin, I think it was a very worthwhile exercise.
In
addition to the public street collection the
8 churches in Epsom have donated £10,331. The
good news is that this is up 10% on the figures for 2009. Most
of the churches had a small percentage increase on the previous
year, with just 3 churches having a slight reduction. Most of
this money is raised from house-to-house collections and
donations, whilst some of the churches hold fund raising events,
which you would have heard about. In addition to this, there
will be extra added for gift aid donations, but I am afraid I
don’t keep a record of the exact amount that is gift aided.
So this
is all good news, and I would like to say a huge thank you to
all the church organisers for all the effort they put into
organising their event in their own church, and to the whole
Christian community across Epsom who make this all possible.
As yet
there is no official figure for the amount raised across the UK,
but last year it was in the region of £15 million pounds.
Put the date in your diary for next year - Christian Aid Week
2011 15-21 May.
Gillian
Mead
CHRISTIAN
AID WEEK 9 – 15 May 2010
Every year this time comes around again and I wonder if I have
the energy to continue. I have been doing the job for so long,
perhaps someone else would do a better job (and they probably
would, please do contact me if you would like to try). However,
I then read all the literature, look at the videos, read the
features, and I know that even how little I do it does make a
difference. So I hope, like me, you can find it in yourself to
support Christian Aid this year, maybe just by giving, but for
many of you I hope you will support me in collecting, and
showing the Epsom community that this Christian community cares
about poverty.
Words from some fellow supporters around the country:
·
“Poverty is wrong. Poverty in our world is wrong. There
shouldn’t be countries that are in poverty to the degree that
they are;
·
We can’t stand by whilst people go hungry – can you?
·
Giving should be one of the joys of our lives, when we give, we
receive so much more in return;
·
We know God loves us and he wants us to love one another;
·
Poverty is an outrage against humanity. It robs people of
dignity, freedom and hope, of power over their own lives;
·
To fight poverty is to realise that we are all one in Christ and
that it is our responsibility to share our resources and our
love with our brothers and sisters – it’s about the whole
essence of the Christian faith, and that essence is about love”.
Christian Aid has a vision – an end to poverty, and they need
your help, please support Christian Aid this year.
How can you help.
1.
Helping with the door-to-door collection in our area.
Please contact me if you feel you could help and for those who
have helped for many years, please let me know if you have a
problem this year. I will be canvassing for support during some
Sundays in April.
2.
Standing in Epsom town centre for one hour on Saturday 15
May with a tin.
3.
By giving. If you do not receive an envelope through the
door there will be envelopes around the church during the week,
please fill in the Gift Aid Form for the tax to be recovered.
In anticipation thank you for supporting Christian Aid during
this week.
Gillian Mead
2009
christianaid
Report from the
Quiz Night
at Epsom URC in aid of CHRISTIAN AID 2009
Over 50 people met together in
Unity Hall for the Quiz and supper held on Saturday, 9th May in aid
of Christian Aid. There were eight teams of people, answering
questions from our Question Master, Malcolm Saunders, on a wide
variety of subjects. Although the meals of fish and chips arrived a
little later than originally intended, the meal was most enjoyable,
as was the quiche that Phemie prepared for the vegetarians among
us. This was followed by a bowl of ice-cream, before we resumed the
quiz. There was also a raffle which raised £89 and which brought
the total raised by the event to a very creditable £369.20. There
was also £51 made at the Coffee Morning on 30th May, making a total
of £420.20
It was a very enjoyable evening in
a very friendly atmosphere. We thank Malcolm for being such an
excellent Quiz Master and Phemie and Joan for their work in the
kitchen. And thanks also to Alan Wood for the computerised score
sheet projected on the screen, so that nobody was left in any doubt
as to the current ‘State of the Parties’!
2009 London to Paris Cycle Ride – July 22nd – 26th
Tony and Heather Blakeburn and Robert Hill (from Epsom Methodist
Church) are cycling from London (Bexley) to Paris raising money for
Christian Aid. Our target is to raise £3,000 – a tall order
we know but we are as ambitious in our fund raising as we are in our
cycling!!
As many of you are aware Christian Aid works with the world’s
poorest people, providing emergency relief and long term development
in 47 countries, regardless of ethnicity, nationality or religion.
Christian Aid campaigns to change the structures that keep
people poor, challenging inequality and injustice.
The cycle ride for us is approx 320 miles spread across 4 days,
ending on the day before the Tour de France riders get in to Paris.
Christian Aid riders get the first ride up the Champs Elyse!!
If you like to sponsor us please login to:
www.justgiving.com/tonyblakeburn
Tony Blakeburn
2009 London to Paris Cycle
Ride Report
Congratulations to our 135 cyclists who completed
the 2009 London to Paris Bike Ride, and are on
target to raise well over £200,000.
At times it
was tough, but an incredible sense of
camaraderie and determination carried every last
one of them through to the sun-drenched finale
in Paris. Our
amazing team of 135 riders reached Paris on schedule
on Saturday, and never can the Eiffel Tower have
been such a welcome sight. Wind
and rain had not made their 300-mile trek easy, but the
combination of team spirit and a collective commitment to
the cause saw them through.
Three
members of Epsom Methodist Church, Tony & Heather Blakeburn and
Robert Hill formed part of this team
of 135 riders all of whom reached Paris on schedule on Saturday.
The
Epsom Methodist Church trio
raised nearly £4,000.00 and many of members from EMC supported their
huge effort.
‘On yer bike’
(or London to Paris in 4
days.!!) by Tony
Day 1 – London to Dover -70 miles
At 7.00 a.m Wednesday July 22nd
2009, to a cacophony of clicking pedals, cleats and gear changes, Bexley
was woken to the sounds of 137 cyclists of all ages, sizes and shapes
making their way on the first stage of their trip to Paris raising funds
for Christian Aid. Adorned with more Lycra than a Rosemary Conley
factory outlet the intrepid bikers were soon travelling through the
Medway towns in the rush hour and out into the Kent countryside. The
first water stop at Rochester came as a welcome relief even though the
group were warming to the task after a couple of steep inclines.
They call Kent the ‘Garden of England’
and rightly so as we cycled through some delightful villages and the
vista(s), together with some lovely sunshine made us feel pretty good.
It took some amazing willpower from yours truly not to
take a diversion to Faversham and explore the Shepherd Neame brewery
particularly as some of the hills were becoming quite tough and
lunchtime was approaching.
Post lunch the group continued through
the countryside and over the South Downs towards Dover with the
objective of meeting the 16.00 ferry. After 70 miles and only getting
lost a couple of times we arrived in Dover in time for the ferry
crossing to Calais.
Day 2. Calais to Arras – 82 miles
Slate grey rain leaden skies, more
reminiscent of a Lowry painting, greeted us as we set off on the longest
leg of the trip. Scheduled to be 82 miles (without getting lost!!) they
said that this would be the toughest day with the most hills and a climb
of 2260 feet!! – They were right – well - about the hills anyway!
During this leg the words ‘hill’ and ‘up’ became firmly embedded as
swear words in the Blakeburn/Hill dictionary.
The Lycra was replaced with
waterproofs as we set off through the rush hour traffic at Calais.
Everything we thought about French lorry drivers was confirmed at this
point and slow progress was made until we got off the main roads and
into the country lanes and sleepy French villages. We resisted the
temptations of ‘coffee and croissants’ as the hills started to kick in.
Now - I have always worked on the premise that what goes up must, at
some point come down. Oh dear. It just appeared that we were forever
going uphill and although the inclines were less aggressive than those
in Kent, they were sooooooo long.
By this time the rain had ceased, the
waterproofs had been discarded and the sun had come out. But…..although
the sun had made a welcome appearance, a strong breeze had developed and
it wasn’t a tail wind either!! This made even the downhill hard work.
Despite all this, we were making our
way through some beautiful countryside, quiet roads and pretty villages
before getting to Arras.
Day 3 – Arras to Compiegne – 80 miles
They said that this would be an easier
day – oh - they were so wrong! This was the day when all of us felt it –
even the experienced bikers who were fit, fast and had the latest
technology bikes suffered as, during the afternoon the winds blew and
the rains came.
It has started out so nicely as well!!
We were scheduled to complete another 80 miles today and we started out
in warm sunshine, birds singing and all that lovely stuff that makes a
summer (except the French don’t play cricket!!). The mood of the group
was quickly changed as we entered into the area of Somme valley where
many of us took small diversions to visit the war graves of those who
gave their lives in the 1914-1918 war. It was my first visit to this
area and to see the thousands upon thousands upon thousands of graves
was a very sobering experience. I can’t help wondering what on earth
possessed the nation’s leaders to send young men, some only 17, to fight
over such a desolate piece of land. We don’t appear to have learned
much! (Note to self – get off soapbox!!).
The tranquillity of the surroundings
changed immediately after lunch as the rains swept in and the headwind
picked up. The tree lined lanes gave way to vast exposed stretches of
cornfields without shelter. It was a real test of endurance and although
I would like to say that the thoughts of the hungry and starving
worldwide kept us going, I would be lying. We all had to dig deep
emotionally and physically to get through and I can proudly say that not
one of the 137 gave in. Through the wind and the rain and up the hills
sheer guts, determination, and teamwork got us all through. If the
elements had been bad, it didn’t help matters either when a few mindless
individuals removed the marker signs to the hotel and added an hour to
our journey. Pah!!
Day 4 – Compiegne to Paris – 67 miles
We have all had them haven’t we? There
are moments in our lives that will linger in the memory for ever –
weddings, children, holidays etc. For us, riding down the Champs-
Elysees and up to the Eiffel tower to the cheers and well wishers of
Paris will remain with us forever. We had done it, we had met the
challenge. We had justified the money you had donated and supported us
with.
The morning started well enough with a
ride through the forests outside Paris and only one hill!!! The
countryside gave way to the Paris suburbs and although the route into
the ‘Centreville’ was littered with road works (much like London
really!!) we all made it to the Louvre where all 137 congregated for our
police escort to the Eiffel Tower. It was a truly great feeling to have
been part of a team that had done so much and the trip to the Eiffel
Tower, even around the Arc de Triumph, was greeted with cheers from
tourists and Parisians alike.
Conclusions and thanks
By mutual consent, for the three of
us, this was the greatest individual physical challenge that we had ever
faced. Although we are reasonably fit and are recreational bikers and
have some experience of cycling distances, cycling in excess of 80 miles
every day for 4 consecutive days was quite punishing on the legs, bums,
shoulders, neck etc. However, a hot bath for some (or a cold beer for
Tony!!) soothed the pain and made things a little more bearable.
The camaraderie within the group was
fantastic. Everyone helped each other – if anyone stopped and was on
their own they were asked and helped. The team spirit was remarkable
for a group of people who didn’t know each other on Wednesday morning
but by the end were bosom buddies.
Some facts
– during the trip the group drank 5000 litres of water, ate over 2000
bananas and oranges, 1500 tracker or energy bars, and had over 450
punctures.
Our thanks go to:-
Hannah, Ali, Emma, Nic and the team
from Christian Aid for organising the whole thing and whose drive and
enthusiasm made it all possible.
To Justin and the Global Adventures
team for ‘managing’ the whole project and the logistics for the entire
trip. Brilliant organisation.
To Bubsie and the ‘Devine and
Delicious’ crew for the lunches. Simply the best carrot cake in the
world.
To Simon and Martin (you know who you
are!!) for their encouragement en route and cajoling us up those hills.
To Steph, cycling equivalent of a
sweeper, who made sure there was always 136 cyclists in front of her.
Not sure about your singing though!!
To Percy Pigs and Jelly Babies –
energy bars and bananas can get really boring.
and finally:-
Whilst I have been bleating on about
how tough this was and the pain we felt, it is, of course, nothing
compared to those who suffer hunger and endure poverty every single day
of their lives and have known no different. Your generosity of
sponsorship and donations of money will, rest assured, help those people
of this world who are less fortunate than ourselves. To date you have
donating a whopping great £4000 for this cause and that is fantastic –
thank you to each of you who have given your money and to those of you
who have helped us with your prayers and support.
Would we do it again? As long as
there is hunger and poverty in this world – you bet we would. Cycling to
Paris is nothing compared to that.
Thank you
Tony, Heather Blakeburn and Robert
Hill of Epsom Methodist Church
Christian
Aid Report 2009 – Churches together in Epsom
The Christian Aid accounts have at
last been finalised, and I report these now for your information.
Due to the economic crises I think we all knew that it would be a
difficult year, and it has proved to be the case with total giving
from the area down 37% on 2008. Only 2 churches showed an increase
on giving this year, St Stephens (16%) and St Martins (9%) – so
congratulations to them. It was obviously disappointing that St
Barnabas decided to not participate in the house-to-house collection
due to their church celebrations and the commitment they felt that
their congregation were giving to that, so due to the fact that last
year they had a £1,000 donation from one member of the congregation,
this has probably skewed the figures slightly.
However, a huge thank you must go
to each of the Christian Aid organisers, and each church should
realise how much work goes into arranging this task. It is
especially difficult for those who are new to it, so a big thank you
to June Grant (Baptist) and Elizabeth Martin (Wells) who dedicated
themselves to fulfilling this commitment – it is much easier the
second year so I do hope they will be able to continue.
|
|
2008 |
2009 |
|
Epsom
United Reformed Church |
£600.00
|
£410.00
|
|
Wells
Church |
£503.19
|
£374.70
|
|
Christ
Church |
£1,900.00 |
£1,674.92 |
|
St
Martins |
£1,224.41 |
£1,343.05 |
|
Methodist |
£3,218.48 |
£2,366.74 |
|
Baptist |
£2,500.00 |
£1,868.68 |
|
St
Stephens |
£448.22
|
£532.97
|
|
St
Barnabas |
£1,707.44 |
£249.00
|
|
TOTAL |
£12,101.74 |
£8,820.06 |
On a much more positive note, on
top of these figures, I know of two extra events that have been
carried out in the area recently. St Stephen's held
a Quiz Aid evening in June, which I believe was a great success, but
unfortunately I don’t have the amount of money that was raised to
hand. [see footnote] (also in May, Epsom United Reformed Church held a Quiz
Night :- details above) In addition three
members of Epsom Methodist Church, Tony & Heather Blakeburn and
Robert Hill cycled from London to Paris and raised nearly £5,000.00
and a lot of members from EMC supported their huge effort. I can
report that they all arrived in Paris, rather exhausted, but
exceedingly pleased that they had completed the challenge. More
information and photos are
here.
Cold Calling
Several collectors noticed a
yellow ‘No Cold Calling Area’ sign supported by Surrey Trading
Standards. According to the Surrey County Council website it states
“The zones do not seek to prevent legitimate charity collections,
however, we would expect charity collectors to be able to
satisfactorily identify themselves”. As all Christian Aid
collectors are supplied with an identification badge, this shouldn’t
be a problem.
Statistics
One of my collectors carried out an
interesting statistic on the envelopes that he was delivering and
collecting. In a road of approximately 50 houses he reported:
52%
positive collections
24%
refused/not giving
20%
Out/no reply
4% appeared empty
So we must remember for each of
those houses that don’t give, there is another house that will, and
I know it is difficult, but we must try to not get despondent with
each envelope that is returned empty.
So lastly, on behalf of Christian
Aid, I must express my thanks to firstly the organisers from each
church, your efforts make a huge difference, secondly to all the
collectors who walked the streets of Epsom to collect. It is not an
easy task to fulfil, but as a member of the christian community it
is a way of evangelising to the people of Epsom that we care about
those not as fortunate as ourselves. Lastly to every one of you who
made a donation to the work of Christian Aid.
Diary Dates
Put it in
the diary, 9-15 May 2010 and 15-21 May 2011.
Gillian Mead
Foot note
Question; How does 7 into 1 = Fun?
Great fun was had by the seven
teams who took part in the quiz night in June at Church House.
Olive Pyett and Margaret Bale
organised the event for St. Stephen’s and St. Martin’s and the
proceeds, which totalled £248, went to Christian Aid.
Some 35 from our congregations (and
visitors from the United Reformed Church) formed into seven
competitive teams under the names of: The Badgers, The Reformers,
Scrambled Egg Heads, Ladies Day, The Vineyards, Rings A Bell and The
Famous Five.
Geoff Quaife was Quizmaster and MC
who presented twelve rounds of questions, and each team had a joker
to play on one round of their choice to gain double marks.
Pat Hinksman kept a giant score
sheet which gave us running totals at each round. The winning team
was ‘The Vineyards’ and Margaret presented them with a prize box of
chocolates.
In the middle of the evening we had
an interval to enjoy a most enjoyable finger buffet prepared by
Linda Blackwell, with tea & coffee served by Bridget Banning-Lover.
Then at the end of the evening
there was a raffle draw for a table full of prizes; Mary Lallem won
first prize and chose a compact picnic travel set; there were so
many other winners that I lost track of who they were but we had a
great deal of pleasure.
Thank you to all who helped in
setting-up the evening, and clearing away afterwards.
And thank you to all who came and
contributed to our fun fund raising evening.
Peter Lallem
Report with thanks from the St
Martin’s Gazette
Christian Aid Week 10
- 16 May 2009
Keeping hope alive: how to make your money go further
Christian Aid Week is keeping hope alive for many of the world’s
poorest communities. ‘They’ve given me education for life,’ says
18-year-old Nadia Kabula. When her father died, Nadia’s family
struggled desperately to make ends meet. But a tailoring course run
by Christian Aid partner Humanité Nouvelle in the Democratic
Republic of Congo has allowed Nadia to imagine a brighter future –
and she hopes one day to open her own business. Meanwhile, Nadia is
giving others the chance of a fuller life by passing on her skills
and her love of fashion to other young girls in her community.
Keeping hope alive is what we are asked to do this Christian Aid
Week by once again collecting money from the streets of Epsom.
Sometimes the time of year comes around far too quickly for me, but
I read the stories, see the videos and know that we must keep going.
I am sure that for most of us in the UK we have hope, however bad
things may be now or may get in the future. With the economic
crises in this country this Christian Aid Week is going to be even
more of a challenge. That is why we must continue to have hope for
those poor communities.
If you would like to join me in this task, then please look in your
heart to support Christian Aid Week. Again there will be many roles,
but the most crucial one being house-to-house collecting, which I
know most of us don't look upon with joy, but it is a vital role
enabling us to collect more. I look forward to hearing from anybody
and would be willing to help. For those loyal supporters who help me
year after year, please put the date in your diaries, but if you are
not going to be around then please let me know. I hope for your
continued dedication again, as it eases my burden considerably.
Thank you; Gillian Mead
Summary of Christian Aid collections May 2008
I have now finalised the accounts for Christian Aid
Week from Churches Together in Epsom (CTiE) and can report that we
paid in a total of £12,101.74
|
House to house collections |
£9,533.35 |
|
Public street collection |
£316.45 |
|
Church collections |
£2,568.39 |
The
public street collection in Epsom town centre on the 17 May 2008
raised £316.45. We did this last year for the first time and
collected £270.25, so another big increase, and certainly a
worthwhile effort. I know for some of you it probably felt a bit
soul destroying standing there with very few members of the public
contributing, but again by everyone doing a bit we achieved a lot.
I haven't given the
Church names, but the following is a break-down by each Church of
percentage increase or decrease so that we may be aware of the
situation
|
£'s in 2008 |
%
|
|
600.00
|
0% |
|
503.19
|
7% |
|
1,900.00
|
19% |
|
1,224.41
|
-2% |
|
3,218.48
|
11% |
|
2,500.00
|
-14% |
|
448.22
|
-38% |
|
1,707.44
|
72% |
|
12,101.74
|
12% |
I
couldn't do this without you all, and for those who deliver and
collect on a regular basis I am so grateful because you make my job
so much easier. If anyone wants any more details about amounts I can
supply these it if requested.
If
anyone wants the job of Christian Aid secretary for CTiE more than
happy to speak to you.
Kindest regards
Regards Gillian Mead
Christian Aid Week 11-17 May 2008
During the last year we seem to have had
our fair share of rain, but a glass of fresh, clean water in Bangladesh
is very precious. Here climate change means rising sea water levels are
making fresh water salty and dangerous to drink. One of Christian Aid's
partners, Bangladesh Centre for Advanced Studies (BCAS), is teaching the
villagers to speak up for their needs with the water council, but are
also being trained to harvest rainwater, providing their community with
a supply of clean water.
Once again many of the churches will be
supporting this national event, by walking around the streets of Epsom
delivering and collecting Christian Aid envelopes. Last year in Epsom we
sent a total of £10,200. This was made up mostly from the
street-to-street collections, but we also held a public street
collection and some other fund-raising events were organised by the
churches.
This May we will be holding a public street
collection around Epsom centre on Saturday 17 May 2008, from 10.00am to
4.00pm. If anyone from any of the churches would be willing to
participate in this event would they please contact Gillian Mead on
01372 729800.
Nationally each Christian Aid Week
collector raises on average £33.50 each (we raise a lot more than that
per collector). This is enough for BCAS in Bangladesh to empower 67 more
women to get the water they need. Each church always needs more
volunteers during the week, collecting for Christian Aid Week really can
change lives. Please contact your own church's representative, or
contact Gillian for more details.
Also we need your prayers during the week,
we need prayers for the Christian Aid partner organisations who are
trying to make a difference in very difficult situations, and we need
prayers for those who will be walking the streets collecting.
For those of you who regularly help during
May could you please let me know if you have a problem this year,
otherwise I will presume that you are willing and able. For those of you
who feel that you could offer your services I would be absolutely
delighted to hear from you. It really can be a very simple task, and
perhaps requires 1-2 hours during that week. If only more of us could
give that time, many more would perhaps be able to get fresh drinking
water, which we take so much for granted.
Gillian Mead - 01372 729800 or
meadfamily@btinternet.com
Bangladesh Centre for Advanced Studies
(BCAS) is an independent, non-profit, non-government, policy, research,
and implementation institute working on sustainable development (SD) at
local, national, regional and global levels. BCAS addresses sustainable
development through four interactive themes:
(a) environment-development
integration,
(b) good governance and people’s
participation,
(c) poverty alleviation and sustainable
livelihoods, and
(d) economic growth and public-private
partnership.
It was established in 1986, and over the
years has grown to become a leading institute in the non-government
sector in Bangladesh and South Asia. BCAS envisions to promote
people-centred sustainable development by applying and advancing
scientific, technical and local knowledge through research, by
developing models, demonstration, policy advocacy and project
implementation. To achieve the goal, BCAS gives great importance to
integration of environment and development, promoting people’s
participation and good governance, encouraging rapid economic growth,
and facilitating public-private partnership for poverty alleviation and
sustainable livelihoods. BCAS is committed to develop southern
perspectives, ensure north-south dialogue and environmental justice and
access to resources and knowledge for the poor.
Harvest
Rainwater, Prevent Poverty and Disease.................more
facts here
Summary of Christian Aid collections May 2007
for Epsom
The total amounts for the whole of Epsom from the 8 churches was
£10,665.34, and the total from the public street collection held on
19 May was £270.25, making a grand total of £10,935.59 sent from the
Epsom area. This is a fantastic achievement, and just the
street-to-street collection was 9% up on last year. This comes from
a mixture of some churches having a healthy increase and some having
a very slight reduction.
Once again I would like to say a huge thank you to all my regular
street collectors, and also those who volunteered to do the public
street collection.
If anyone would like further information on Christian Aid, then do
visit their website above, or let me know if I can be of any help
Gillian Mead
ChristianAid Week 13 - 19 May 2007
Christian Aid Week is seven amazing days of fundraising, prayer and
action against global poverty. We want people to add their time,
money and voices, and to see that multiplied to make an impact
around the world through Christian Aid.
This
year Christian Aid's message is about growth for poor communities.
Did you know that on average each Christian Aid collector raises
enough money to plant more than 50 mango saplings in northern
Senegal (33.50) Could you spare a couple of hours in Christian Aid
Week to provide 50 trees, or another life-transforming gift?
I am
sure that there are many people who could help in this vital way, to
help Christian Aid collect more than £10 million which they did in
2006. Just an hour or so, delivering or collecting envelopes during
the week could make an amazing difference to someone's life on the
other side of the world. Please contact me if you feel you can help
in this way. I would much prefer you came and talked to me, rather
than me having to approach all of you!
New this year:
We
have applied for a public collection license from Epsom & Ewell
Borough Council. This means that we will be holding a public
collection in and around Epsom town centre on Saturday 19 May 2007.
This is an initiative for all the churches in Epsom, but I will be
arranging a Rota for that Saturday. I need just a few people, to do
an hour or hour and a half on that Saturday. If this is something
that you feel that you could do then please contact me by email.
This is only if you feel that you really cannot do the
house-to-house collection.
I
thank you for your response, and for your prayers in the preparation
and organisation of this week.
Please
e-mail me asp
Gillian Mead
Christian Aid
Christian Aid was born in 1945 to bring hope, reconciliation and
care to those who survived the devastation of the Second World War
in Europe. For more than 60 years, they have made a practical
difference to millions of lives around the world, and have spoken
out powerfully for freedom and justice. They are backed by the
churches of the UK and Ireland, and work across five continents with
people and organisations, regardless of religion.
Today 1.3 billion people live in extreme poverty. Tonight 800
million will go to bed hungry. This year 12 million children will
die before their fifth birthday. Yet our world has never been
richer. These are horrifying statistics, yet it needn't be like
this. Rich and poor can fight together for justice. They can dream
of a better world – and take real, down-to-earth steps to bring it
about. Christian Aid's job is to help root out poverty in practical
ways. We do whatever is needed to support poor people and their
communities, whether it’s speaking out against the causes of poverty
or funding vital work on the ground.
The Make poverty history campaign for global justice now embraces
hundreds of organisations and millions of supporters. We work
alongside partner organisations, churches and people throughout the
UK and Ireland to strengthen the movement to make poverty and
injustice history.
Our local Christian Aid
Secretary is happy to supply more information or receive offers of
help.
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