Celebrating 25 years of giving

St John the Baptist's CAFOD group [CAFOD Salford]

The church of St John the Baptist’s, Ivy Street, Burnley has celebrated its 25th anniversary of fundraising for CAFOD with a special mass and party

The event marked the visit by Mgr John Corcoran a quarter of a century ago to talk to parishioners about faith and justice and the work of the church worldwide.

From that meeting, the CAFOD group of St John’s blossomed and it has since raised more than £130,000 to help lift some of the poorest communities out of poverty.

Faith into action

Mgr John Corcoran gave a sermon during the celebration mass in which he praised the CAFOD group.

He said: "The work of this CAFOD group at St John the Baptist's has been fantastic and truly illustrates the importance of putting one's faith into action."

Fr Michael Waters (parish priest) and Fr Morrough O’Brien (curate) also celebrated mass.

As well as fundraising, the CAFOD group has also been involved in CAFOD’s campaigning work over the years.

For example, a coach was organised from the parish in 2005 for the Make Poverty History Campaign Rally in Edinburgh.

More recently and more locally, members of the CAFOD group were involved in the steering committee which helped the boroughs of Burnley and Padiham to achieve Fairtrade town status.

The group consists of six hardy individuals, committed to global justice, who meet once a month to decide on future fundraising and campaigning issues.

It is now seeking new members to carry on the good work for another 25 years.

If you would be interested in becoming more involved with the work of CAFOD at St John’s please contact: Monica Atherton (President) on 01282 459486, Frank Kendall (Secretary) on 01282 426059 or Catherine Hayes (Treasurer) on 01282 433975.

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What we do at a local level

Across England and Wales, CAFOD is a network of communities putting faith into action through fundraising, campaigning, and education

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