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wersja stronySociety of St Vincent de Paul
Our members meeting every week at 6.30pm on Mondays in the Parish Hall .
We have 7 members , 5 men and two women , each meeting lasts about
50 minutes .
Our members are active as Readers, Eucharistic Ministers ,Passkeepers Sacristans , Choir and Music groups and Bereavement teams.
We make weekly visits to the sick in hospitals and nursing homes and also regular home visits , these include Redmill, Heatherfield , Tippethill Meadowvale St. John’s Hospital Howden and various other Care and Nursing homes .
All calls for assistance to the parish house and to our public S.S.V.P. telephone line are answered. We use a cellnet telephone for this purpose. The number is advertised weekly in the parish newsletter . 0795 225 4013 , the conference area also includes Blackburn and sometimes Fauldhouse .
The Caravan Project is an important part of our work, we always have families waiting to use our caravans when available . We are usually allocated two dates every year each of one week for one of the S.S.V.P. caravans at Port Seton Caravan Park . The families are taken to and from the site and given some pocket money .
We did have a caravan at Anstruther on the Fife coast . However in 2006 it will be moved to the Petticur Bay Caravan Park . All costs relating to the transport of families to and from the caravan sites are met by the conference. This year we had five families using our caravans . We are most grateful to Acredale Community Centre for the use of their mini-bus and their volunteers who assist us when taking families to these caravan sites .
The conference sponsors two twinning conferences of the S.S.V.P. in Kerala State, in South India and also sponsors technical apprenticeships in the same area . The Catholic Christians of Kerala have a number of parishes which are twinned with Saint Vincent de Paul conferences throughout Scotland, they are sometimes known as the St .Thomas Christians The tomb of the Apostle is in the city of Madras .
We have an arrangement with the Society of African Missionaries in Dunblane who supply us with large special perpetual Mass cards for all families who have a bereavement in the parish. The conference pays a stipend for each bereavement .
On the 30th December the Conference arranged a Memorial Mass for all the dead of the parish , about 80 parishioners attended this service During this mass the representatives of the bereaved families received a pot plant to put on the grave and a candle was lit and placed on the altar. This year Thirty Two of our Parishioners died, May God grant them Eternal rest
During the Christmas period , thirty families received grants of money and groceries. Pupils from St Kentigerns Academy assisted by donating six boxes of groceries . The amount distributed over the Christmas period was £1400.00
All the children attending the Easter Masses , both pre-school and primary school receive an Easter egg , these are distributed by the Parish priest at the end of each Easter Mass , it is always a very happy occasion. Any surplus eggs are taken to the Children's ward at St. John's Hospital Livingston .
There is a 26 seater weekly Mass bus operated by McKechnie Coaches which runs to all areas of the parish including Boghall for the two Sunday masses at 9.00am and 10.30am , The Society spends about £2500.00 annually to operate this service , Currently about 40 parishioners use it every week.
Any parishioner who wishes to start using the bus regularly , should contact a member of the Society .
Two of our members , Stuart and Mary McIntyre, acting quite independently , have been organising a Christmas Fayre in our Parish hall for the last three years . They choose the time and venue and spend many weeks putting the whole event together . they ask for volunteers to help on the day , deal with all the money and also decide who will be the beneficiaries of the funds raised .
This year the Fayre was held on the 12th November to raise funds for various good causes . Many parishioners took part and gave their time and support to assist others in need , the event was a great success and raised £2725.00 . Well done Parishioners of St. Mary’s and St. Columba’s .
The funds raised were distributed as follows >>>
£500.00 to S.C.I.A.F
£500.00 to the Jericho Benedictines Drug and Alcohol Unit in Greenock
£500.00 for Elderly and Infirm at Nazareth House
£300.00 to the House of Prayer in Iona ( Sr. Jean Lawson )
£375.00 to the Carmel at Falkirk (for the poor) .
£500.00 for the Helpers at Lourdes
£50.00 for the rent of the Hall .
The Society is most grateful to all who contribute to our collecting boxes in the church every week , we do our best to distribute this money wisely and to those in greatest need. Our conference also needs new younger members , both men and women ,to help us continue with this work, any members of the parish who feel that they could assist the Societies aims and aspirations should speak to one of our members.
Joe Milligan Society of St Vincent de Paul