St Pius 10% Christmas Collection 2017

Here are the details of the shortlisted and successful charities this year:

In all, 20 people submitted nominations, 14 by form, three by email and three via St Pius InPrint, online.  The Justice & Peace Group then shortlisted three charities in each of usual three categories, publishing the following details on voting forms:

LOCAL

Canterbury Care Centre
http://www.canterburycarecentre.com/ 
Within the Welcome Project Group, established for many years, the Canterbury Care Centre provides a drop-in facility in Guildford three days a week at Christ Church for people with mental health and learning disability to enjoy some food and social activities in a safe environment.

The Cardinal Hume Centre London
www.cardinalhumecentre.org.uk
Helping families and young people, the Cardinal Hume Centre enables people to gain the skills they need to overcome poverty and homelessness. Working with homeless young people, badly housed families and others in need, the Centre offers both a non-judgemental welcome and a stable and safe environment for people in need to seek help and support. Everyone who comes to the Centre is treated as an individual and much of the work is done on a one-to-one basis.

Number 5
http://numberfiveproject.co.uk/ 
Established in 1990 as an independent charity overseen by a board of Trustees, the Number Five Project provides a direct access homeless overnight stay with 16 bed spaces, open 365 days a year, a hot meal, safe environment, hot water, laundry, key-worker support, shelter for the night and breakfast. The Project is staffed by a Manager and seven other project workers staff in full/part time roles supported by loyal volunteers. It welcomes anyone over 18 years old, able to live in a mixed environment and who respects individual differences, backgrounds and cultures. After an initial stay, aimed at stabilising and understanding the individual’s needs, the resident will be assisted to achieve some personal goals with a view to moving on to longer term accommodation and ultimately self-reliance.

NATIONAL

Action by Christians Against Torture
http://www.acatuk.org.uk/
Action by Christians Against Torture (acat(uk)) was formed in 1984 by the then British Council of Churches and is affiliated to the International Federation of Action by Christians for the Abolition of Torture (FIACAT) in Paris, and is a body in association with Churches Together in Britain and Ireland.  acat(uk)'s aim is to work, as Christians, for the abolition of torture worldwide, seeking to increase awareness in the churches and among Christians of the widespread and evil use of torture and the need, for reasons of Christian faith, to campaign for its abolition.
 
Jigsaw Trust
www.jigsawtrust.co.uk
Jigsaw Trust is committed to raising awareness of autism and to providing facilities, services and resources for the education, integration, guidance, assessment, outreach and support of people affected by autism. Jigsaw was founded on the principle of excellence through continual learning and aspires to provide the highest quality of education and lifelong learning possible; to accelerate learning and the ability to learn in new ways as well as acquiring the skills to learn independently through behavioural methods. In 1999 the Trust set up the Jigsaw CABAS School with six children - it has provision for up to 60 pupils, aged 4 to 19 years. In 2012, the Trust opened JigsawPlus Centre for Lifelong Learning offering an adult services and social enterprise provision supporting individuals over the age of 18 years with autism.
 
Women at the Well
www.watw.org.uk
Women at the Well works with vulnerable women whose lives are affected by prostitution, homelessness and addiction. Started only 10 years ago by a Sister of Mercy, it provides day centre and outreach services from a base in Kings Cross. The women helped are among the poorest and most outcast in London and the charity aims to help them exit from life on the streets.  Most women who use the services have multiple and complex needs including problematic drug and alcohol abuse, mental health difficulties, rough sleeping and trafficking abuse. Through the founder, Sr Lynda Dearlove, the charity also campaigns on the issue of trafficking and against the sex trade.

INTERNATIONAL

CAN – Community Action Nepal:
www.canepal.org.uk
CAN is a mountaineers’ charity established to assist mountain people of Nepal to help themselves in raising their standard of living and strengthening indigenous, community-based culture. A UK based charity founded by Doug Scott CBE, who made the first British ascent of Everest, CAN is supported by mountaineers and mountain-lovers from across the globe. CAN's Kathmandu office and Nepali staff make the projects happen on the ground. Funds come from donations, fundraising events, sale of Nepali goods, grants and Doug Scott's lecture tours. CAN is CAFOD’s partner in Nepal and is continuing to help with the re-building of CAN school and medical projects destroyed in the earthquake in 2015.

Nomntu Project:
www.nomntu.org
The Nomntu Project supports marginalised adults and children in communities in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa, providing what it can on a very small income. Chris and Jane Devereux run this small charity. Jane worked there for a year at the University of Fort Hare in East London on teacher education. Seeing a cleaning woman taking stale food out of the bins at the university to feed herself and her children, made her feel something needed to be done. She came home feeling that there was an urgent need to help people in the Eastern Cape. She and her husband Chris formed a charity called The Nomntu Project. ‘Nomntu’ is the isiXhosa word for a person who serves, cares and respects other people. The Nomntu Project has taken this name to symbolise its purpose in helping others.
 
ShelterBox
www.shelterbox.org
ShelterBox is an international disaster relief charity that delivers emergency shelter and vital aid to people. Right now, around 85 million people around the world have been made homeless by natural disaster and conflict.  ShelterBox is working to change this. By providing emergency shelter and tools for families robbed of their homes by disaster, ShelterBox is transforming despair into hope but is impatient to see a world where no family is left without shelter. The boxes containing tents, cooking sets, solar lights, thermal blankets etc. are delivered to people re-building their lives after disasters.  Aid is sent to regions affected by hurricanes and other severe natural incidents and well as those harbouring communities of refugees made homeless by conflict, such as Bangladesh and Syria.

Voting took place up to 5th December, and the results were...

The successful charities, Number 5 Project, Women at the Well and ShelterBox, will benefit from the annual collection which takes place on the weekend of 16th/17th December.