![[Saint Laurence]](/saintlaurence.png)
CAFOD − The Catholic Agency for Overseas Development
CAFOD is an international development charity and the official aid agency of the Catholic Church in England and Wales.
CAFOD’s mission is to work alongside the world’s poorest people. We work without prejudice, we don’t preach, and we pride ourselves on our diversity. We believe our Catholic values are best shown through our love for others, and by working for justice and an end to poverty.
CAFOD’s Vision, Mission and Values is drawn directly from Catholic Social Teaching (CST), Scripture, Liturgy, the Gospel and the tradition of the Church. Catholic Social Teaching is at the heart of what we do and who we are.
As well as asking our supporters to donate and campaign, we place equal importance on prayer. Prayer informs and underpins our work. Prayers and reflections for our supporters can be found on CAFOD’s web site.
CAFOD at St Laurence’s
There are two national main fund raising events each year, the Lent and Harvest Fast Day Appeals. Families are asked to give the amount they would spend on a meal to CAFOD. However there are various other events throughout the year, such as the Creation Celebration last year and World Day Prayer for Global Peace.
CAFOD also runs regular campaigns that seek to change policies that keep people in poverty. We try to support these.
Helpers are always wanted to read appeals, collect envelopes and organise events. More information can be found on the church notice board as well as collection boxes, to use at home.
To keep in touch with our local fundraising and campaigning activities, please join our supporters’ email list! See HERE for details.
For more information and offers of help please contact the parish
representative, Serga Collett.
Phone: 07474 724042
E-mail: cafod@saintlaurence.org.uk
CAFOD Big Lent Walk to Bangladesh
This year CAFOD’s fundraising walk for Lent is in support of the fifty million people living in the Bangladesh delta. Life is precarious and land is scarce. Climate change is increasing the frequency of cyclones, and major storms now occur almost every year. The storms destroy villages, roads and crops, which are peoples’ main livelihood. There is nowhere else to go, and people have to rebuild their homes and replant their fields, knowing the violent and destructive storms will return. And sea levels are rising every year due to climate change, the delta is low lying and vulnerable.
But Bangladeshis are resilient, they have to be, and there is hope. A young girl Dristy is planting raised beds, a variety of crops and palm trees as a defence against the ferocious winds. Her mother Rupali was trained in these new methods and says, “I hope my family will become more financially independent, but I know it’s not enough if only my family is well off. It’s not right if I have food on the table but my neighbour barely has anything to eat.”
The money we raise will help provide more tools and training to replicate their efforts. And so this Lent we are pushing the boundaries even further and will be walking or cyling 7,500 miles to Bangladesh!! This is our opportunity to support local initiatives to counter the effects of climate change in lowland coastal areas now frequently devastated by violent storms.
Last year we walked 3,158 miles to Afghanistan and raised £4,543, and the year before we walked 5,700 miles to Ethiopia and back to Jerusalem, and you raised an impressive £10,067.
Everyone can get involved, and all you have to do is walk or cycle and record your distance in the box above. You can download a pedometer app (‘Pacer’ is a good one) to count steps on your smartphone. So please measure your steps around the house or the garden, going for a walk in the countryside, walking the dog, cycling to work, or further. Every step and mile counts, every pound raised will be valued.
It’s a long journey, but together we can make it. Let’s do it for Lent. and try to raise over £5,000.
There are many ways to give:
- via Just Giving
- cash or cheque (payable to CAFOD), handed to a parish CAFOD representative or posted through the presbytery door
- bank transfer to the parish account (please reference CAFOD)
We now have several prepared walks you can do around Cambridge!
- Stations of the Cross around Cambridge by Gail Osman.
- Catholic Churches of Cambridge Walk by Serga Collett.
- Cambridge Peace Trail by Arn Dekker.
Livesimply
St Laurence’s is a livesimply parish, in response to Pope Francis’ invitation in Laudato Si' to “work with generosity and tenderness in protecting this world which God has entrusted to us”. It is awarded to communities who can show how they have been living:
- simply
- in solidarity with people in poverty
- sustainably with creation.
Reclaim Our Common Home
CAFOD’s recent campaign is a response to Pope Francis’s call for a new way of thinking about the world, and a call to take an active part in renewing our troubled societies by embracing the universal values of solidarity and fraternity.
In 2020, we experienced the worst global health crisis in a century. The coronavirus pandemic has devastated lives and shattered families in Britain and across the world, with disastrous consequences for people’s jobs and livelihoods. The pandemic exposed many of the inadequacies of how our world currently works. It has proved that we need greater cooperation between nations, solidarity between people and a greater focus on the poorest in society.
As Catholics, we are called not to stay silent and not to be passive. ‘Reclaim Our Common Home’ is a call to action! It’s a call to participate both individually and collectively in rebuilding a more dignified and sustainable world after the pandemic.
To do this we need to:
- RECLAIM nature so that everyone can breathe clean air and be protected from the threat of climate disasters.
- RECLAIM the world’s land and resources so they are more fairly distributed and all our brothers and sisters around the world can live in dignity.
- RECLAIM power so that everyone can be involved in decision making and have control over their own lives.
You can find out more about the campaign HERE.
Other campaigns
One way CAFOD stands in solidarity with poor communities around the world is by campaigning in the UK to change the policies and practices that keep people poor. It would be wonderful if you would like to join us and find new ways to put your faith into action.
Become a CAFOD MP Correspondent, a way of lobbying your MP on issues that YOU have the power to change. It’s easy, just go to CAFOD’s Get to know your MP campaign and sign up.
Ways to give money
You can make a bank transfer to:
| Account name: | St Laurences Church |
| Sort Code: | 09-01-53 |
| Account Number: | 14255486 |
| Payment Reference: | CAFOD |
Cheques are also accepted, made out to CAFOD. These should be dropped off at the church in an envelope marked CAFOD – please post through the letterbox.