Catholic Children’s Society Plymouth: Annual Appeal

Its that time of year again the CCSP Annual Appeal, in preparation for the appeal we took a look back at 2018-19, to see what has been achieved and what lies ahead.

 In 2018, CCSP raised £50,000 (we an amazing £20,000 of that from the annual appeal) and was able to provide over £33,000 in grant funding to children and their families in time of financial need. They were also able to support over 60 families through the Patchwork Parenting program and with some fresh, new ideas are hoping to support more families in 2019 and beyond.

Grant Giving Update

One in five children living in the South West are living in poverty, many parents and carers, despite working, find their income does not meet their basic needs such as providing a working cooker, warm clothes in the winter or a proper bed to sleep in. And then when circumstances change suddenly, life can become even harder as they have no cushion of savings to fall back on. The Grant Essentials program aims to relieve the urgent material needs of children, young people, and families through the provision of financial assistance to those in dire need. The CCSP would love to be able to do more fundraising every year and increase the financial support and generosity they already receive so they can assist more families in time of great financial need. Your generosity really does make a difference thank you! Below is an example of grants that have been approved in 2018.

Patchwork Parenting Programme Success!

In 2018 CCSP provided ten parenting courses in the Diocese – 60% within Catholic schools and 40% within other schools in the wider community. Courses have taken place in Newton Abbot, Plymouth, Barnstaple and Poole and have included seven primary and three pre-teen/teenage courses. Parenting through the Primary Years focuses upon everyday issues faced by parents of primary age children. Following discussion with parents and schools, this popular course is now available over six sessions, as well as the standard eight-week course. We hope this will encourage more parents to take up the opportunity to attend.
Parenting through the Pre-Teen/Teenage Years – ‘Hormones and Harmony’ provides the opportunity for parents to talk about some of the changes, challenges, and opportunities facing young people and their families. Last year, primary schools offered these sessions to the parents of Year 5 and 6 children and parents really valued the opportunity to talk with other parents who, like them, are striving to understand and support their youngsters as they complete their time in primary school before moving onto secondary school.

Facing the Challenge

Marathon news in October 2018, Christina Lindquist, Charlotte Wilson, Kate Murphy and Katie Dow ran the Royal Parks half marathon in London, raising almost £746.50 for the CCSP. Also, in April Rose Bralsford of Erme Valley Harriers, Ivybridge ran her first marathon in the wonderful city of Rome raising £600 for the CCSP.  A massive thank you to these wonderful ladies ! We’ve managed to secure 3 places for this year’s Royal Parks half marathon and we’re hoping to be lucky enough to get a place in this year’s London marathon too. So if you would like to run and raise funds for the CCSP at either of these events, or indeed any other event around the country, please let us know. Also, another huge hit this year came from the Big Diocesan Quiz lots of parishes and schools across the Diocese took-part this year. Heritics from Exeter Heavitree, who were crowned the overall champions scored a massive 92 points ! Many congratulations to all the team.

The work of CCS is only possible through donations – want to learn even more the CCS and the Year ahead check out there website by clicking here. And remember to dig-deep on CCS Sunday.