Christian Aid
Annual Report (March 2023)
Christian Aid Week, 14-20 May 2023, is the single biggest act of Christian witness in Britain and Ireland. For thousands of people throughout the country, it's a way of answering Jesus’s call to help people in need and showing the community just how much good the church is doing in the world.
Life changing envelopes - This year we will continue with our successful group house-to-house delivery format, although those who wish to deliver in their own road are very welcome to do so. We are also setting up a JustGiving page for Wokingham Christian Aid which will have the added benefit that we will be able to tell you how much we raise in the area. Envelopes will also be provided in each church and these can be left at Wokingham Methodist Church Office. Last year’s total, from all events held, was £4,888.
“Empowering Left Behind Communities” - Outside of Christian Aid week this year, we are taking part in Christian Aid’s community partnership scheme. The project is called Empowering Left Behind Communities, and it is run by our partners in Bangladesh.
We work to help all people live a life free from poverty with dignity, equality and justice, but in Bangladesh large numbers of people from ethnic minorities, people of low caste (Dalits), people with disabilities and transgender people are denied that right. In many cases they are denied access to education, to healthcare and to land rights. They often face discrimination and violence. Empowering Left Behind Communities supports the rights of minority groups as they seek to tackle discrimination; it provides training, community engagement work and supports coalitions of civil society groups as they engage with government at all levels.
Any money raised will receive 5 x matched funding from other organisations and the EU. To this end we will be holding a Coffee Morning in the Bradbury Centre on Saturday 9th September 2023, where there will also be cakes and other goods for sale. Please put this date in your diary and support this “too good an opportunity to miss”.
CA Walk at Bix - We are organising this for ourselves again this year. There is an option to walk 5 or 10 miles and to get sponsorship if you can and we encourage you to join us. Date and time to be confirmed.
We encourage you to take part in whatever way you can and if you can spare up to an hour on any night during Christian Aid week we would love for you to join us and help deliver envelopes as a group.
Judy Jones
Retirement Home Services
Annual Report (March 2022)
Sadly, due to the Covid pandemic and the need for safety measures to be taken, we have not been able to visit any of the residential homes to take services there.
We will need to discuss the future of these endeavours to decide how and when we proceed again.
Angela Burrell
[Previously we visited Suffolk Lodge, Alexandra Grange and the WADE Day Centre.]
Methodist Homes
Annual Report (March 2022)
MHA Boxes and Donations for the year ending August 2021 totalled £157.56. I would like to thank all those who gave to MHA, including on line donations during lockdown.
On 11th July 2021 David Morgan conducted an excellent MHA service, the theme of his message being ‘Isolation and loneliness’.
Gillian Wells
Junior Mission for All (JMA)
Annual Report (Year ended August 2022)
The JMA promise is to: Learn, pray and serve with the worldwide Church of Jesus Christ.
JMA is part of the Methodist Church’s mission programme. Children and young people raise funds for JMA to support the Methodist Church’s World Mission Fund and Mission in Britain Fund.
During the 21/22 Methodist year we did not have any children collecting for JMA and we raised just £116 in donations. Looking forward, given we no longer have any children collecting, I propose for the time being we suspend collecting for JMA (I have already paid in the generous £100 donation I received in the 22/23 year) and as the money from JMA all goes into the mission fund people donate to that fund instead either through Home missions or World missions.
I would like to thank all the congregation who have given so generously over the years and if we do start to have children coming back to Church then I will be very happy to start the collecting again.
Gill Manning
Action for Children
Annual Report (March 2022)
Like many other organisations, we weren’t able to do much fundraising in 2021. Our main fundraising was the Christmas Post Box which was very well supported and we thank you for that. We also continue to have the home collection boxes available. We are hoping that 2022 will enable us to promote Action for Children activities once again.
Maureen Lewin