Join us to hear about our work in Myanmar and El Salvador – Saturday 21st February

On Saturday 21st February we will welcome Clare Dixon, CAFOD’s Head of Latin America and the Caribbean, to meet CAFOD supporters at the Holy Name of Jesus church hall.

Clare will be sharing stories from her time in Myanmar, the country of focus for our Lent 2015 appeal, as well as her recent trip to El Salvador. She will be explaining CAFOD’s approach to international development and detailing how we live out our values in our work.

This is a great opportunity to hear first hand the impact that the support from across the diocese has on changing the lives of people living in poor communities around the world. Here is a video of Clare explaining the significance of the declaration of Archbishop Oscar Romero as a martyr.

The event will run 4-6pm on Saturday 21st February. You are also invited to join us for mass at 6.30pm. The address for the venue is: The Holy Name of Jesus RC Church Hall, 52 Otley Road, Leeds, LS16 6HW.

Kyin Nu from Myanmar whose story is featured in our Lenten materials

This is a change to the publicised event as unfortunately our partners from Myanmar are unable to join us.

Don’t Forget This Lent, the government is matching every pound you raise for CAFOD up to £5m! Get in touch with leeds@cafod.org.uk if you’d like to find out more or receive some help with your fundraising.

Our First Lent 15 Super Supporters Afternoon

Thank you so much to everyone who attended our first Lent Supporters’ Meeting last Saturday in Leeds in preparation for the Lenten season!  It was so great to see everyone!

Ben Oldham (Leeds Diocesan manager CAFOD) shared details of our partners in Myanmar and the impact Cyclone Nargis had on communities back in 2008.  He explained how this extreme weather event affected people, how they are still recovering and how they’re preparing for future environmental shocks. Further background information on Myanmar can be downloaded from here.

We were joined by representatives from across the diocese including the parishes of St John Mary Vianney, Blessed John Henry Newman and Our Lady of Kirkstall.

The day was also an opportunity to catch up with the latest news from our diocese to get a detailed briefing on the upcoming Lent Fast Day and in particular provide more detail on the fantastic match funding opportunity we have whereby every pound donated to our Lenten appeal will be matched by the UK government.

Since the meeting we have received news that our Lent appeals Match Funding total has just been raised to £5 million – so now even more of the money we raise will be doubled by the UK Government, pound for pound!

Thanks again to you all for coming.  We hope you found the day helpful and please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any additional questions or comments.

We look forward to hearing from you in the forthcoming weeks to find out what is happening in your parishes during Lent – please get in touch!

Our next Supporters Afternoon is this weekend in Selby. We will be St Mary’s Parish Centre, Selby (Gowthorpe, Selby, YO8 4HS), on Saturday 7th February 3.30-5.30pm. Please come and join us!

New Year Resolutions – Volunteer for CAFOD

It’s not too late to make your new year resolutions and if you are looking for ways to put your faith into action then look no further.

CAFOD Leeds are offering a range of volunteering opportunities that are flexible around your schedule which will help us to support our brothers and sisters living in poverty around the world.

As a volunteer you can expect any necessary training and you will receive support from Ben and Joanne in the diocesan office.

Parish Volunteers
We are currently looking for volunteers to support our Lent 2015 appeal in their parish. If you are able to spare a few hours between now and Easter we’d love to hear from you.

To find out more or to book a place on our next “Understanding CAFOD” day please call CAFOD Leeds on 0113 275 9302 or email leeds@cafod.org.uk.