Caritas Sunday 2024
Sunday 28th January 2024Today we reflect on the fantastic work of our diocesan charity – Caritas Diocese of Salford – as we mark Caritas Sunday.
Each year, the last Sunday in January is a day where we celebrate the work of Caritas staff and volunteers, as well as reflecting on the key challenges that are facing families and individuals in our diocese.
As we mark Caritas Sunday today, we catch up with Patrick O’Dowd, director of Caritas Salford to tell us a little more about the latest work and priorities of the charity:
January is always a time of promise and of new beginnings. It’s a time we often take stock, make resolutions and plan ahead with good intentions for what’s to come.
At our charity, as we settle into 2024, we’re looking ahead to how we can best continue to support local people experiencing poverty, homelessness and discrimination, both now and in the future too.
It’s certainly a challenging time for both individuals and also for organisations like ours. The cost-of-living crisis is still affecting thousands and thousands of people in our communities across Greater Manchester and Lancashire. Hard-working individuals and families are coming to us every day to support them through acute crisis.
It’s also a difficult time for us as an organisation as costs to run services, such as heating our day centres or providing food to people who are experiencing hunger, rise significantly. Set against a really difficult fundraising environment as individuals, businesses, councils and others that support our work feel the pinch, we are constantly juggling and having to make difficult decisions to ensure we can continue to meet everyone’s needs. But, as we do so, the people we work alongside who require support remain at the heart of every decision we make.
It’s an opportunity for parishes, individuals and others across Greater Manchester and Lancashire to reflect on the social action work which has taken place in their local communities over the last year; to take stock of what they could do to further support people in their area; and also a chance to find out more about Caritas Salford and our work.
Many parishes and individuals also hold collections and make donations in support of that work across Greater Manchester and Lancashire as the diocesan charity. These donations mean we can continue to support thousands of people every year, at a time when they need us the most. We couldn’t be more grateful.
We have a range of resources available to support you on our Caritas Sunday web page and would love to hear from you if you’re interested in raising funds for us this year or supporting our work in other ways.
If you’d be interested in becoming a Caritas Parish Rep, please get in touch too. We’d love to tell you more about what the role involves and can support you every step of the way.
Thank you in advance for getting involved with Caritas Sunday. Remember to tag us on social media if you share any ways in which you’re supporting on 28 January.
Thank you for your ongoing generosity and kindness. It really does make a difference to the lives of people from communities right across Greater Manchester and Lancashire.
Get Involved
There are a number of ways you can get involved with Caritas Diocese of Salford. To find out more, please click here.
Let us pray
On this Caritas Sunday, we pray for people in our local area experiencing poverty in its many forms and whose lives are transformed with the support and loving care they receive from Caritas Salford.
We give grateful thanks and pray for all Caritas staff and volunteers.
We pray for our parish and schools and all who support the work of Caritas in any way.
Together we strive to put the Charitable Mission of Your Church into practice every day.
May Your Holy Spirit move our hearts and minds so that we may become the embodiment of ‘caritas’ – love in action – here in our own community.
Lord hear us.
Tagged | Caritas | Caritas Salford | Catholic Church | Charity | Society
