7 attendees: DB = Diana Betts, AM = Angela Martin, RW = Roger Wright (Secretary), OC = Owen Clutton, MM = Mary O'Mahony (Chair), JA = June Adams, PL = Peter Lowe (part).

Agreed actions shown in bold red type.

1.       The meeting opened with a Justice and Peace prayer from “Catholic Online”.

Apologies for absence: Geraldine Thompson.

2.       Minutes of last meeting

All actions had been completed.

PL had circulated a letter following the last meeting, addressed to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO).  It was agreed that he should sign it on behalf of the St James’ J&P Group.

3.       Parish project

Plant Sale debrief

It was unanimously agreed that the hard work done by DB and husband Tim was the most significant factor in the success of the sale which had raised over £700.  She had sent thanks to all those who helped and a note in Briefly would be thank them publicly as well as the parishioners who had bought and donated so generously.  The kind donation of plants from St Joseph’s in Bromley was also noted.  There were insufficient plants left over to run a stall the following weekend.

DB noted that the setting up sessions had been very efficient and everyone showed great teamwork.  The sundries and veg stalls had not been so well patronised and this may have been due to their location.  It was agreed not to have a sundries table next time but simply have a couple of items (e.g. coir compost and gloves) on the cash desks.

In September the children who had sown sunflowers would be invited to say how they got on.

It was agreed propose a date for the next sale after the September meeting having considered all the competing factors such as school holidays, Confirmation, and other events coordinated by the PPC.

Chislehurst Rotary Club

RW and MM related how parishioner Rickie Sankar had made a written submission to the rotary club, of which he is a member, promoting the St James’ parish project.  This resulted in the extremely generous donation of £1,000.  MM would be writing to thank the club, the Confirmandi would probably send a thank you note to Rickie, and RW had emailed him with a link to the website which reported this donation.

Donations schedule

RW had included a schedule of the funds raised so far which showed a current total of £5,500.  The last donations before the summer break would be a second collection, and the outstanding amount would then be transferred to Fr Alex.  OC would write to Fr Alex explaining the intention to continue our support, ask for a report on the development of the chapel and where future funds from St James’ might be used.

It was decided to continue supporting St Helen’s until July 2017.  It was agreed that the parish was becoming familiar with the objectives as time went by and this could only be beneficial.  MM said that she would be encouraging next year’s Confirmandi to adopt the project.

Long term possibility

RW floated the idea of having a project dedicated to supporting CAFOD for a fixed term of one year after July 2017.  This idea didn’t gain any support, mainly on the basis that the parish would respond better to a specific objective, especially aimed at well-defined needs in an identified location.  DB noted that many parishioners donate regularly to CAFOD already.  Nevertheless, RW was curious as to how some parishes had firm and regular commitment to CAFOD.  He agreed to talk to the Southwark office to discover how these parishes organised such support.

4.       Foodbank

RW reported that the total weight of ad hoc donations collected at the back of church had reached 332kg since January.  MM would take over the delivery of donations from RW with immediate effect.

OC had circulated an email about the Foodbank appeal to be run at local Tesco stores in early July.  He would compose a version of the request for volunteers to be inserted in this week’s Briefly.

RW would contact Vanessa Dixon at the Foodbank to see if someone might be able to give a short talk at Mass the week before the collection on 9-10 July.

5.       Manna Society

MM had emailed Fr David about arranging the date for a collection in October but because of current circumstances would not press for an answer yet.

Parishioner Martin Smith would be running in a 10k event on 10 July with four other supporters raising funds for the Manna Centre.  He had set up a JustGiving page and RW had promised to show a link on the parish website for that.  Martin would also ask for an item to be included in Briefly.  The J&P group had agreed to help collect sponsors for Martin.  DB pointed out that Martin should synchronise his Briefly item with J&P.

6.       Traidcraft

Next stall would be held at the weekend of 02-03 July.  The rota would be arranged at the June meeting of J&P.

7.       Any other business

MM suggested that J&P key dates for 2016 should be discussed at the September meeting so these can be communicated with the Parish Pastoral Council to minimise the possibility of event clash.

There being no other business, the meeting closed at 9.10pm.

The next meeting will be held on Wednesday 22 June 2016 at 7.45pm.