Learning by Observing; Saint Saviours Eco Coffee Morning May 21st 2016

On visiting the Eco Coffee and Swap Shop at Saint Saviour's Anglican parish in Westcliff-on-Sea recently I was privileged to see how they make it an annual success, and to see how their community get things done in a different way to how we would operate.

A sign stated that to be 'Christian was to take care of our environment', and the community were doing this thoroughly with information and ideas everywhere to be seen as well as recycling tubs for ink cartridges, mobile phones, stamps, batteries and even Council recycling bags to take home with you. The tubs were all labelled 'Caring for God's Creations' with an explanation as to how these are recycled and where the money raised from the mobile and stamp recycling goes. They had a swap shop running that you could take items to for a voucher to exchange for something else if you wished or you could simply donate to help others. They were reusing items to make crafts and they had a raffle of items including items that were eco-friendly. Reverend Father Lee Mullen was quietly sitting at a stall making crafts backing up the parish with action which was very good to see instead of the customary token hello before retreating out of view. Amidst all this, the church was open. With the Church at the centre of this event there was even a chance for quiet reflection and that was the balance that created an air of calm amongst the excitement.

Just one of the ideas for people to discover

The organising left nothing to chance as signs directing you to the different areas were easy to follow and there was information just everywhere. The people were warm and inviting, the drinks and cakes were fantastic but the detail and attention could be found in everything. For instance, they were selling 'Kit Kats' that were Fairtrade 'Kit Kats' ensuring a decent wage for those involved in the production of the chocolate which is of course only 'fair'. Care for others and care for the environment was the wrapper for the days event.

In line with our very own CAFOD LiveSimply award that we are pursuing this gave a great opportunity to preview what our event could achieve later in the year. We plan to hold a community event in a hall providing information on a range of initiatives to help local people, support and protect the environment and do it inside a Christian environment. Through a conscious decision to take care of our resources and to look after our environment we wish to adhere to the duty of care outlined in Laudato Si by Pope Francis.

Of course an event like this only works with the backing of the community regardless of the exhibits, information and support that is available on the day. The Knights of Saint Columba covering Southend are not tied to any specific parish as we work everywhere in the Borough of Southend but we hope we can offer something to the community once we have our date set around October time.

Naturally we will be providing refreshments such as Fairtrade tea, coffee, and yes even Faitrade Kit Kats with thanks to Saint Saviours parish for the 'heads up'!

By Damian Dillon
Knights of Saint Columba 
Southend-on-Sea 192

Successful and Fun Evening at Our Bollywood Night - Saturday 16th April

Our Bollywood Night on Saturday 16th April raised £1,115.83 so a big thank to all who contributed in any way.

It was hard work that started back in 2015 when the original plan was to have an auction but we changed it to an evening of Indian culture with an Indian buffet, music and film, and we held a raffle with a staggering 21 prizes to offer. We sold just over a thousand tickets for the draw and with 21 prizes the odds were good of winning one of the prizes and we had 108 people at the door all greeted with their own garland for the evening.

Mike with coffee ready to meet and greet the 108 guests for the evening

Thank you to all the people and businesses that contributed and helped to make the evening a success at the Mazenod Hall in the grounds of the parish of Saint Peter in Eastwood. We had a slideshow projecting a promotion of all the businesses, contributors, and the raffle prizes onto a large wall throughout the evening so that those present were aware of how the evening was being supported.

Most of the prizes on display before the start of the evening

During the evening, guests took the chance to have their picture taken professionally by Picture Perfect Pro who also donated one of the top prizes. This proved popular with the guests who had travelled from all around the parishes of Southend and from further a field also.

The run of tables ready for the range of hot Indian food.

The Ashiana Indian Restaurant in Southchurch provided the food for the buffet at a great price with a wide selection of dishes to choose from and they brought it, piping hot to the hall for us straight from their kitchen. Everyone was delighted with the food and one couple won two tickets to Sunday lunch at the Ashiana in our raffle draw. For dessert Liam had risked a frozen car that afternoon by buying a car load of ice cream tubs that had people coming back for seconds. Duncan with Phil manned the bar and were serving drinks all night long including Fairtrade tea and coffee as part of our commitment to our CAFOD LiveSimply work that our Council are working towards.

The raffle draw as it was under way

We drew tickets for the prizes in two intervals; just before the food was served for prizes from twenty -one down to ten, and then after dinner our ten top prizes with the flat screen TV being the first prize - just to build some excitement. The money raised on the evening is to be split across several charities that we are supporting currently, with the main benefactors being MISSIO, Nazareth House in Westcliff-on-Sea, and the Brentwood Ecclesiastic Education Fund for the training of new priests in our Diocese.

It was a real joyful evening, and for everyone to say how much they enjoyed themselves as they left to go home was good to hear. We tried hard to better our Jazz evening from September 2015 and I think this Bollywood evening was equally as good. Special thanks to go all the Knights present who helped with setting up the hall, working throughout the evening and clearing up afterwards. The wives were fantastic too especially with organising the men in the kitchen as the amount of washing up was phenomenal. We tend to struggle to take pictures as the evening progresses because we are always in the thick of the action and the same applied here as all the Knights were busy each doing their own particular task to keep the evening flowing as smoothly as it could.

Promoting our sponsored walk on June 4th

Onwards to our next event which is our sponsored walk for the Brentwood Catholic Children's Society on June 4th and we couldn't miss the opportunity to promote this to our valued guests (along with our Knights pilgrimage by coach to Aylesford Priory on the 12th June too; closest Sunday to the Feast of Saint Columba).

Thank you all.