Attendees: OC = Owen Clutton (Chair), FB = Fr Bryan, BF = Breda Ford, JC = Jim Callinan, AM = Angela Martin, CP = Caroline Price, PL = Peter Lowe (Secretary), RW = Roger Wright.
Apologies were received from: Teresa Wells, Kathryn Salter, David McCabe, Diana Betts, Simon Howell
1. ISSUES ARISING FROM AND SINCE THE LAST MEETING
FB: Richard Swann (from the Parish) should be invited to the next meeting. Richard is currently writing to a lifer prisoner in the US for whom there is a campaign to have his sentence reduced.
OC: I will write to Matt Gibbs, treasurer of You Touch Africa (UTA), to ask what the current state of play is with the sewing machines.
BF: I believe the J&P Fayre was a success. FB: This would be a hard thing to measure but it worked out well with the Welcomer Reception on Saturday evening. However, it was more of a PR exercise. DM was also pleased with the Traidcraft sale. I extend my thanks to all those who were involved.
RW gave out some CAFOD campaign postcards. One postcard was part of a campaign to make corporate oil, gas and mining companies more responsible. There was also one for the CAFOD Aid for Trade campaign, He also distributed spare copies of sheets prepared for the J&P Fayre: (a) How to Recycle information sheet, (b) What we can do to help the world’s poor and (c) Solar Power for your Home.
OC: With regards to a new parish charity, no decision has yet been made. Perhaps we should ask the parish for suggestions and put an advert in Briefly. Also, my sister lives in Durban, she may know of a suitable charity in South Africa.
FB: What sort of projects are happening there? OC: Mainly literacy and education. Some projects are arranged through the church, which has a link to a Zulu parish.
PL: Could we not continue to support UTA? FB & OC: It would be preferable to support a variety of charities, perhaps we will return to UTA in the future.
2. TRAIDCRAFT SALES
OC reported information given to him by David McCabe (DM). £238 worth of goods had been bought for the stall and £102 worth of these had been sold. The parish will be invoiced for the difference as DM had purchased these out of his own picket. DM is now questioning whether a Traidcraft sale is a good idea on Parade Sundays, mainly because the children go straight through to the hall and miss the stall in the porch. Perhaps a stall could be put in the hall but this would require extra organization and manning.
DM has opted for a change of purchasing policy. He will now get stock from the local Traidcraft rep (Mark Gill). Any unsold items can be given back to Mark after the sale. This will solve much of the problem. DM would then need some assistance to collect stock from Mark at home and deliver it back to Mark afterwards.
RW pointed out that Mark supplies other parishes with sales on the 2nd Sunday of the month; therefore, to avoid stock shortages, it would be better to have our sale on a different Sunday.
FB: How often is it proposed that the collections take place? RW: Possibly monthly, the next one will now probably be either on 18th or 25th September but we need to confirm this at the next meeting.
BF: Some continuity with the staffing would be a good idea.
RW: Also a checkout system would be good, i.e. on the end of the table.
OC: DM had suggested that any profits should be donated to the annual 5 in 1 collection. Also the Social Centre bar could use kitchen rolls and toilet rolls, and chocolate bars/biscuits could be sold at the tea/coffee hatch.
FB: The parish, in fact, owns the stock until they are sold or returned. Peter Keen would be the contact for the bar, kitchen rolls and toilet rolls for the hall.
3. MANNA CENTRE
OC: Is there not meant to be a Manna Centre collection soon?
BF: The next collection is scheduled to be toiletries on Sunday, 10th July. OC to remind Madeleine Howell about this.
4. TEA TIME FOR CHANGE (Parliamentary lobby)
RW: This event was organized by a number of national organizations including CAFOD, Oxfam, ActionAid and Tearfund. It was held on 9th June at Westminster Central Hall and RW was one of the three representatives from the Orpington constituency to meet Jo Johnson, MP. The day started with an Ecumenical prayer service. CAFOD was a big player in this event and Jim Simmons attended with several CAFOD colleagues. Keynote speeches were given by Chris Bains (Director of CAFOD), Andrew Mitchell (Secretary of State for International Development), and Adwoa Kluvitse (an inspirational Ghanaian lady who runs ActionAid in that country). Harriet Harman spoke later.
Fellow constituents were able to meet together before meeting their MP. Over 140 MPs attended and up to 25 people per constituency were present. There were a total of 1,400 people lobbying MPs and each constituency met their MP over a cup of tea.
The aim of the lobby was to put three questions:
(1) Did the MP support the Government’s intention to spend 0.7% of Gross National Income on International Development by 2014?
(2) Would the MP attempt to persuade the government to champion robust UK and EU legislation for country by country reporting in the oil, gas and mining industries – a first step towards greater corporate transparency?
(3) Would the MP write to the PM asking him to put pressure on the G20 meeting in November to make all companies report a basic set of accounts, country by country, to crack down on tax haven secrecy and ensure transparent payments to governments?
(4) Would the MP support the idea of working with the G20 to deliver a tax on the financial sector (the so-called “Robin Hood Tax”) to provide additional finance to tackle global poverty and the effects of climate change.
Jo Johnson said Yes to Q1, No to Q4 and was muddled in his answers to Q2 and Q3. However, amongst most of the other MPs there was good support for the aims of the lobby.
There was also entertainment by Jan Ravens, who is an impressionist and a champion for ActionAid. Harriet Harman gave a good speech emphasising that the Labour opposition would support the government’s promise to increase aid to 0.7% of gross national income. She also said that MPs do take notice of these events when the time comes to vote in the Commons, so we should be proud of our efforts at such events.
FB & BF: If nothing else, these events do have a benefit of changing hearts and minds.
FB: Trade tariffs are grossly unfair and also corruption in some countries is a problem.
5. CAFOD livesimply PARISH AWARDS SCHEME
RW: To apply for this award the parish would have to do an ethical audit and make a plan of three significant actions and six supporting ones. The J&P group would introduce the scheme through Fr Bryan and use it as a framework for part of its activities.
At the end of the process, two CAFOD auditors would carry out the assessment on the parish. To apply for this award, we would need to get a large number of parishioners on board. The livesimply pack is full of information including 100 possible ideas for action.
RW handed out copies of the packs explaining the scheme. Each pack was labeled for two members to share. It was hoped that at the next meeting there would be a more detailed discussion of the scheme so all those with a pack were asked to study it by then.
RW: It might be useful first of all if we could find another parish which is applying for this award. Jim Simmons should be able to tell us – Roger to follow up.
6. ANY OTHER BUSINESS
FB: I have been given some J&P Southwark leaflets; I will leave them at the back of the church. At a recent Deanery meeting, we had a talk from the DePaul Trust. They help homeless and disadvantaged young people aged 12-25. They also help with prisoner resettlement and mentoring. They are based in Borough High Street. This charity could be considered for parish support in the future. Also it would be god to know about poor people in the Borough of Bromley (in addition to those of the Third World).
RW: This would probably have to be done through other agencies such as Bromley Social Services.
BF: It would be interesting to find out whether there was a food bank in Bromley.
JC: There was a recent article in the News Shopper about an ex-tree surgeon who is living homeless in Locksbottom.
FB: There is likely to be some poverty within our own congregation.
BF: Monsignor used to administer a “Those in Need” box (now withdrawn). We must be aware and caring. Of course some people will not like to admit they are hard up.
FB: Peter Benson is currently setting up the St Vincent de Paul group within the parish.
JC: Perhaps some of the elderly parishioners may need some financial assistance?
OC: Is it possible to get a speaker from the London Borough of Bromley who deals with voluntary organisations?
BF: Perhaps the mission priest visiting on 3rd July could identify a parish for us to support abroad. Also, how about a fundraising event, such as a quiz?
JC: An event like a quiz is probably best done in the winter.
OC: I think at the next meeting we should study another part of the No Hands But Ours booklet. I suggest chapter 7, paragraph 17: “Poverty in the UK”. This was agreed and J&P members should read this before the meeting on 20th July. I would also like to read a poem at the next meeting: “God’s Grandeur”, by Gerard Manley Hopkins.
There being no other business, the meeting closed at approximately 9.20pm.