Caritas Diocese of Shrewsbury has been named by Bishop Mark as the coordinating point for Shrewsbury’s response to the Refugee Crisis. In 2015 Pope Francis called attention to the plight of the people fleeing from Syria and he reminded us that we are all brothers and sisters, and we are called to take action and to ‘Welcome the Stranger’.
Our Diocese has responded in many ways:
- Providing clothing and everyday essentials which have been collected and sent out to Syria, to the Refugee Camps, amongst them, ‘the Jungle’.
- There have been collections and fundraising activities to support those seeking refuge and asylum to provide shoes for the winter, toys for children and the basics to make an accommodation more homely.
- Caritas is responding by providing a safe space with advice, support and friendship at the Well Project.
- Supporting the Home Office resettlement programme called Community Sponsorship which some of our parishes are actively exploring with a view to supporting a family throughout their first couple of years in the UK.
- Raising awareness through school assemblies and talks in parishes and to groups.
Informing and updating news on the Facebook page.