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Welcome to Caritas Portsmouth

Caritas Portsmouth supports parishes, schools and groups across the diocese to reach out to those on the margins to share the love and mercy of God in practical ways.

Guided by the words of Pope Francis in Laudato Si’, our work combines the themes of social and environmental justice as we hear and respond to ‘both the cry of the earth and cry of the poor.”

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DONATE

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PRAY

two masked volunteers are packing food into paper bags for guests to take away with them

ACT

Dementia Friend Information Session

Caritas Portsmouth is delighted to host Sue Carter from the Alzheimer’s Society, to run a Dementia Friends Information Session for anyone interested in hosting a Dementia Café, looking to make their parish more Dementia Friendly or just want to know more to support people in their family or community. The session will be held online on Tuesday 21st May at 7pm. Please register in advance at https://tinyurl.com/4ysur27w For more information please contact us at [email protected] or visit https://caritasportsmouth.org.uk.

Click to read more about the Dementia-Friends-Sessions

5 fabric cutlery cases laid out in a fan on a table, with the top case holding a fork.

Cutlery Cases

We have had these lovely fabric cutlery cases given to us to offer to you to help us raise funds! They are ideal for keeping your metal or wooden cutlery in your bag for those unexpected moments when you need to buy lunch or dinner but you don’t want to use something disposable. Made from a variety of  fabric scraps leftover from quilting projects – they are helping reduce waste as well. 

We have several we can distribute for a donation to help cover postage and contribute to supporting our work. You can donate online (please tell us why you are donating and include your postal address), or contact us at [email protected] and we can pass on other ways to donate. 

Suggested donations are £5/ case. For donations over £15 we’ll send out 4. Do let us know if you want more – while stocks last. We have a range of colours and fabrics and you’ll receive one selected from the mix.

Flower patch of wildflowers

Biodiversity Review

If you are looking to increase the biodiversity of your parish grounds this year this Biodiversity Review may be a useful tool to help evaluate the potential for action in your parish grounds. By sharing your completed form with us, we can send out relevant information on actions you are interested in, build a  picture of activity across the diocese and have a clearer idea of new resources that would be helpful. In addition, we sometimes hear of regional or project funding and we’d like to know where to direct it.  Do get in touch if you would like the review in a Word document or would like to discuss any plans.

2 flyers on a table with title Caritas' Sunflowers and 4 brown paper envelopes with small round stickers with a picture of sunflower on them.

Caritas’ Sunflowers

We have lots of sunflower seeds to give away to parishes and schools across the diocese! Sunflowers are good for attracting bees and butterflies and their seeds can be used for feeding birds in the winter so great for increasing biodiversity and the bold bright flowers are just a joy to see.

If you would like a pack for your parish or school, whether for a confirmation group, youth/children’s club, class, the eco-group or gardening team, just get in touch at [email protected] and we’ll get them to you (Each pack has about 50 seeds and we have lots!). If you are limited on planting space the packs include dwarf varieties that can work in pots and we’re more than happy for the plants to go to home gardens,

You can find guides to planting, making eco-pots, photo boards and competitions here.

Caritas Online Networking Lunch – LiveSimply Award 

Update: Notes from networking event March 24 LiveSpimply

CAFOD’s LiveSimply Award is a great way for a parish to come  together and and make changes that help us  live more simply, sustainably and in solidarity with the poor.  For our next networking event we are being joined by Jo Lewry, CPC for CAFOD in Portsmouth to explain more about the award, the positive impact it has made in parishes and give an opportunity to ask lots of questions.

 

Becoming the Church Beyond Walls 

The Church Beyond Walls Workshop is a interactive session to help your parish start exploring the needs in your local community and deciding how to respond to them. Following the See-Choose-Act pathway it is an opportunity to focus on getting to know your neighbourhood and the specific opportunities it offers for engagement and outreach using the gifts and resources of people in your parish. 

Based on the goals of the 10 year mission plan You Will Be My Witnesses, the workshop includes

  •  The opportunity to answer the question ‘what does poverty look like in this parish/pastoral area?’ examining what poverty is, and what is it’s impact
  • A mapping exercise to identify examples of social outreach already present
  • Identifying the most pressing needs and ways to respond in line with Catholic Social Teaching

This workshop is suitable for small parish groups or wider pastoral areas so if you would like to find out more or book a session,  please contact us at [email protected]