Social Projects
We currently have three major social projects. I am grateful to God for the opportunity he has given us to serve our town in these ways and am very proud that so many parishioners have come forward to volunteer to play their part in these new projects.
A summary of the projects:
Hot Meal Provision
What? A free meal for anyone who wants one!
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Where? Our Lady Star of the Sea Parish Centre
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When? Every Saturday, 12.30pm-2.30pm
This is a wonderful initiative, made possible by the Companions of the Order of Malta who have donated all the equipment we need and the Council who will reimburse us for food. A hot meal will be served from 12.30pm-2.30pm.
We are fortunate to have a ‘bank’ of some 53 volunteers, we will need help with:
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Setting up tables,
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Serving food and drinks,
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Making people welcome
And lots of other aspects to this first food service
Please read how you can get involved and how to make contact!
Weekend Foodbank
What? Foodbank for those issued vouchers
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Where? Our Lady Star of the Sea Parish Centre
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When? Every Sunday, 2pm-3pm
We are now associated with Cheshire West and Chester Council as a venue for the distribution of foodbank packs to those in need who have been issued a voucher and are coming to collect the food for the week.
Social Supermarket
What? Bargain foods, pre-registering required
Where? St Saviour Church
When? Every Monday, 2pm-3pm
The process is simple: the food is delivered ahead of time at St Saviour, packaged by a team of volunteers, and then those who have pre-registered are able to come and collect their shopping. A wonderful initiative, this is already running in Westminster and the Stanney Estate, and offers discounted food through buying directly from wholesalers. Both our local MP, Justin Madders and our local Mayor, Lisa Denton, invited our parish to be involved as a venue for this important service and I am delighted that St Saviour is the ‘hub’ for this.
Volunteers would be needed from 12noon at St Saviour each Monday to help unpack the deliveries and set up.
For this project we need a minimum of eight volunteers each Monday, who will help to unload the van, pack the bags, and distribute to those collecting during the advertised pick up time of 2pm-3pm.
Get Involved
There are lots of roles across these three projects, which can be as simple as welcoming people and directing them to the service they have come for: foodbank, meal provision, or food collection - to being a member of the core team who are prepared to give a little more time to work with me and Ann in the behind the scenes work of preparation and delivery of all these projects. This means that, depending on what commitment level you can offer - given your own family and work situation - you can still be included! When you contact us about volunteering, it would be really helpful to know what level of commitment you are able to give so that we can talk through with you how best to deploy you and suggest the ways in which you might be willing to serve.
Most important for us is having as large a number as possible of people on our database who are willing to be involved. You might be interested in all three projects or maybe just one? Please seriously consider how you might
be involved by re- reading the project descriptions above and then get in touch!
CONTACT US
We have around 53 volunteers so far, but we need to double or treble that - remember there are on roll 8,000 Catholics in Ellesmere Port and Hooton! It would be wonderful to have as many people involved as possible! This is not simply about having the volunteers sufficient to deliver these projects, but so that the responsibility and time does not become pressured or burdensome. We want your volunteering to be something you look forward to when your slot comes ‘round every few weeks.
Please contact parishoffice@rcchep.co.uk or 0151 355 5877.