November 18, 2021
With just over a month until Christmas, Sally Kitchener in our Communications team answers some of your questions about World Gifts – CAFOD’s virtual charity gifts.
January 22, 2021
CAFOD supporters from all over England and Wales braved the cold to take part in our virtual national fun run over Christmas, raising almost £20,000 so far. Ciara Hogan, our Community Participation Coordinator in the Shrewsbury diocese, looks back on the event.
Continue reading “Running off Christmas with CAFOD”December 18, 2020
CAFOD’s Director, Christine Allen, looks back on a year that has challenged us all. Thanks to the overwhelming and humbling support shown by the Catholic community, remarkable achievements have been made in the face of the coronavirus pandemic.
Continue reading “2020: A year of challenge and hope”December 7, 2020
The Philippines has one of the largest diaspora communities in the world, with around 10 million adults living or working abroad. CAFOD’s Digital Communications Manager, Michael Palacios, is one of them, and while he is unable to spend Christmas in Manila this year, a lantern in his family’s window in London means they will still feel at home this holiday season.
Continue reading “The Christmas lantern outside our window that says we are home”November 30, 2020
This Giving Tuesday, Becky Such our World Gifts Coordinator muses on the benefits of giving to others and how many of us have chosen to give differently this year.
Continue reading “Give back this Giving Tuesday”November 27, 2020
Jack works for CAFOD. He has occasionally received Christmas gifts he didn’t like – but not from you, he loved yours. Here he mulls on the simple switch he (and his relatives) can make, so that Christmas is happier for everyone.
November 17, 2020
Christine Allen, CAFOD’s Director, picks out some of her favourite World Gifts and explains why they’re a great way to give this Christmas.
Continue reading “Why I’m choosing World Gifts this Christmas”December 12, 2018
Rachel works for CAFOD. Here she reflects on how meeting Katy, a CAFOD Gapper, helped her to discover the power of a simple birth certificate, and inspired her to create a new, very special virtual gift for CAFOD’s World Gifts collection that will help babies and children around the world.
A birth certificate. Every person needs one, it shows our citizenship, lets us get a passport – it tells the world who we are. And I think that here in the UK, we take this simple legal document for granted.
But for people living in poverty, perhaps in rural areas, where babies are born at home, it is often forgotten. And a child without a birth certificate faces problems.
In Zimbabwe, children without a birth certificate cannot go to school, take exams, apply for an ID card, vote, travel, nor access many other basic essential services.
You can buy a Birth certificate World Gift so that a child can go to school
I’ve worked in fundraising for years and am always eager to hear about how donations help. Katy, who recently travelled to Zimbabwe on a gap year trip with CAFOD, told me about the terrible and long-lasting impact of growing up without a birth certificate.
Katy said, “Children around the world continue to grow up without the basic human right of an identity.”
This startling comment gripped me.
Continue reading “The power of a Birth certificate – a World Gifts update”
November 28, 2018
In the wake of Black Friday madness gripping the UK for the last week, I reflect back to years gone by, with footage of people queuing for hours, or fighting to get the last bargain. How those people feeling now? I wonder if they are planning to replace last year’s new purchase with this year’s newer model, or whether they feel genuinely fulfilled by their choices.
Continue reading “Feel good about giving this Christmas with World Gifts”
December 19, 2017
Some of our Connect2 Brazil friends look back on 2017 and share how they are preparing for Christmas in their communities.
Jenilda – Vila Prudente Cultural Centre in the St Joseph the Worker Pastoral Area
“At the Vila Prudente Cultural Centre (CCVP) this year we organised different workshops with the children. Each month we had a different area of focus. From solidarity, to the family, the environment, which included a visit to the recycling cooperative. We worked on children’s rights and empowerment, Black History month against racism and discrimination, and in December we will celebrate the arrival of baby Jesus with a children’s concert.
“Around 60 children from the Cultural Centre will be in the Christmas concert at St. Joseph the Worker church with the theme “How to be a child in the world.” There will be music and dancing.”
Continue reading “Feliz Natal from São Paulo – Happy Christmas from our Connect2 friends”
