ADVENT AND CHRISTMAS CHARITIES UPDATE
As reported in the December, donations during Advent and at some of our many carol services are to be divided between two charities reflecting issues particularly relevant to our Advent theme of ‘The Healing of the Nations’: The Refugee Council, for its therapeutic work in London with adult refugees, who often arrive deeply traumatised after devastating experiences and losses, and Beyond Conflict, the mental health charity for survivors of war, terrorism and displacement, for its project in Lviv, Ukraine offering mental health support to children affected by the ongoing war.
Many thanks for your generosity so far – there is still time to make a donation to these two excellent charities if you wish, as the appeal will remain open for donations up until our celebration of Epiphany on Wednesday 8 January. Ways of making a donation are shown on the attached poster:
We received presentations from representatives of both charities at Wednesday choral services during Advent. Unfortunately the livestreaming did not work for the service on 18 December, when Edna Fernandes, Co-Founder of Beyond Conflict, spoke. For the sake of any of you who tried and failed to watch from home that day, and several members of the congregation who were present who asked to have copies of her powerful and moving message, this is attached here as well as being posted on our website. We have asked for a copy of the Refugee Council’s presentation too, and this will be posted when it is to hand.