The Catholic Children’s Society.
At Senior Assembly on Monday this week we were visited by Ms K Waring from the Catholic Children’s Society, the organisation we will be supporting throughout Lent via the collection boxes which have been distributed one to each class. The CCS supports disadvantaged children and families across London, Hertfordshire and the South East.
The girls learnt about all their work:
The Catholic Children’s Society (CCS) is a charity that helps local disadvantaged children, young people and their families. Their work is inspired by Christian values derived from the Gospels and the teaching of the Catholic Church. They work with people of all faiths and none; their sole aim is to help those in greatest need. They want children and young people to be happy and healthy and to be given the best possible start in life.
How do they do this? The CCS has different services which help children and young people in different ways.
They run two family centres, St Francis Family Centre in Poplar and St Mark’s Stay & Play in North Kensington. Vulnerable families can access the centres for free, there are toys, books and safe outdoor spaces. Staff who run the family centres also offer help and advice to parents and carers.
The CCS also helps students in primary and secondary schools through ConnectEd. ConnectEd is the name of their Early Intervention Mental Health Service. Counsellors and therapists work in over 70 schools, helping children and young people who are going though problems at home or at school.
In addition, the CCS delivers Mental Health Training for school staff, offering sessions on INSET days.
CCS also provide Rainbows in Schools. Rainbows is a bereavement support programme. The Rainbows’ Director goes into schools and trains school staff to set up their own peer support groups in schools, to help students who are experiencing different types of grief or loss.
Through the Crisis Fund, pupils can become Good Samaritans, helping your neighbours, local children, young people and their families who are facing a crisis in their lives. Every penny you raise for the Catholic Children’s Society goes into the Crisis Fund to help local families in need.
The Crisis Fund works through schools. Any Headteacher can contact the CCS and tell us about a student in their school who urgently needs emergency financial assistance and the CCS will respond within 24 hours.
The fund is not prescriptive, it can be used for whatever the family desperately needs.
Whatever you can give can make such a difference. £5 can buy a young person a pillow to sleep on. £10 can buy a young person a pair of shoes. £25 can buy a young person a warm coat. £50 can help feed a young person for a month.
The Catholic Children’s Society’s website can be found at: https://www.cathchild.org.uk/
Categories: Faith Life Junior Nursery Prep Priory Post Senior Sixth Form Whole School
