There were ten attendees.  Apologies were received from three members.

Traidcraft presentation

Linnett Anderson from the Petts Wood Methodist Church gave a very interesting presentation on the origins of Fairtrade and her work with Traidcraft.  She also kindly agreed to bring her Traidcraft stall to the Social Centre after Parade Mass, probably in September, and perhaps to speak at Mass to publicise Fairtrade/Traidcraft and her stall.  Action Point: David to organise with Linnett.

Review issues from previous meeting

Burma Cyclone Appeal

The generosity of the Parish was again noted by all in the raising of £2,107.75 via the retirement collection.  However Father Bryan mentioned that we could have utilised the Gift Aid scheme more efficiently by those with covenants using one of the spare white envelopes for the donations.  We will ensure this happens with any future emergency appeals.

Paul and Rachel Elliston

David handed out copies of the last three E-mails from Paul and Rachel in Peru.  They finally have somewhere to live in the earthquake-hit town of Chincha, and have a building to use as a church.  They have also received a building grant to help build new earthquake-resistant houses.  Their health situation has improved but they are missing some things from home, most notably English Breakfast Tea Bags, Galaxy Chocolate and Angel Delight! As they now have an address to send stuff to we discussed sending something from the Parish.  As Paul’s brother Simon is going out to help them for 2-3 months it was suggested that he could act as courier for the first delivery.  Action Points: Father Bryan to speak to Simon, then organise with David.

Overseas Parish

We decided to see what help Paul and Rachel needed first but we could quickly extend it to parishes where priests who have visited St James in the past had returned.

Fairtrade Parish Update

We hope to stock exclusively Fairtrade tea and coffee in the Social Centre once current stocks run out.  A formal announcement of this could coincide with Linnett’s first stall.

Manna Centre Collection

Father Bryan agreed in principle to having a regular monthly collection of clothes, tolietries, etc which could be temporarily stored until collected by the Manna Centre.  Action Point: Father Bryan/David/Madeleine to work out logistics etc.

Jesuit Refugee Service

We again discussed the Supermarket Voucher Exchange scheme run by the JRS, and the best way of publicising it to the Parish.

Action Point: Father Bryan to discuss with David a speaker at a forthcoming Mass.

South London Interfaith Walk 12^th July

David mentioned that this was taking place in Tooting if anyone would like to attend.

Date of Next Meeting- Tuesday 8^th July, 8pm in the`Social Centre

This will be the last meeting before the August break.