Normally this week many of us would be getting ready for our house to house collection of Christian Aid Week. St Stephen’s usually raises around £2000 through this – a significant some for those in poor countries living on a few pounds a week.
This year we cannot do that but instead we have set up a “Just Giving” page https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/ststephenschristianaid2020 so that all of us, whether we normally collect for Christian Aid or not, can both to make a donation and also encourage our friends and neighbours to contribute.
Some people usually raise money through activities – cake sales, coffee mornings etc. Instead of (or as well as) asking people for donations why not be imaginative and create some online fund raising activities people can take part in? There are ideas and more information on
https://www.christianaid.org.uk/news/coronavirus-guidance-christian-aid-week-events-and-activities
Please help to make sure we don’t let those who rely on Christian Aid down in this year when they too face the problems of Covid-19 but without the NHS and our comfortable houses to help us ride it out. Start planning NOW what you are going to do this week Christian Aid week. Why not post your ideas on the St Stephen’s Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/ststephenscanterbury/ ?
Category: Charity work
St Stephen’s Lent Appeal – Toilet Twinning
2.3 billion people don’t have somewhere safe and hygienic to go to the toilet. (WHO/Unicef)
Almost 1,000 children die every day from preventable diseases linked to dirty water and unsafe toilets. (UN)
663 million people live without safeChildren worldwide miss 443 million school days each year because of dirty water and poor sanitation. (UN)
The lack of a loo makes women and girls a target for sexual attack as they go to the toilet in the open, late at night.
Every year, women and girls spend 97 billion hours finding a place to go. (World Bank)
How Twinning Works
For a donation, you can twin your loo with an impoverished family’s household latrine, in a country of your choosing. Your smallest room becomes the proud owner of a certificate, complete with a photo and GPS coordinates so you can look up your twin’s location on Google Maps. Your donation will be used to provide clean water, basic sanitation, and hygiene education.
We aim to raise £240 to twin the Church Hall toilets this Lent – but why not twin your own loo this Lent for £60?
Peter Toon – End to End
I’ve wanted to cycle Britain end to end for a long time, but being a rebel I decided to do the it North-West to South-East rather than the more usual Land’s End to John O’Groats route. Its a bit shorter and as I live in Kent the end point is only 20 miles from home. The only drawback is that the nearest railway station is 70 miles from Cape Wrath and unless I can get a lift I’ll have to cycle to the starting point!
I aim to cycle about 30 miles a day, so the whole trip will take about a month. I’m booked on the train to Thurso on May 2nd, so all being well the trip will start on May 4th and end around June 5th. But weather, technical problems and the strength of my legs may lead to some slippage on this!
The trip works out at a little over 850 miles, so to reach my target I need sponsorship of just under £12 per mile. You can donate a lump sum on here (and gift-aid it if you pay UK tax) or you can email me petertoon@aol.com with a promise of sponsorship so much per mile or a fixed sum, or fill in one of my paper sponsorship forms.
I’ve been aware of the importance of homelessness, particularly for single people since I worked at Centrepoint as a medical student and later at St Botolph’s when I was a GP. If you are homeless then solving the problems which led to homelessness in the first place, be it unemployment, relationship breakdown, mental health, drug or alcochol problems becomes much harder. It’s like falling down into a pit – and charities like Catching Lives drops down a rope to help people climb back up again.
Catching Lives runs a day centre which offers advice and support to homeless people in Canterbury as well as a hot meal and a warm place to sit. Alongside local churches they also run a night shelter throughout the months of December, January and February.
Please give generously to support this worthwhile cause which really does catch those whose lives have fallen through the safety net of the welfare state.
Peter Toon
You can sponsor Peter by clicking here to visit his Just Giving page.