Can you spare an hour or a pound or two?

One of the things I do for a couple of hours, on an occasional Sunday afternoon, is to attend Kingston Prison, Portsmouth, where I help to keep visiting children occupied and happy, enabling their parents/grandparents to talk to each other without constant interruption. This service is greatly appreciated by the inmates.

This is just one of the projects undertaken by members and friends of the MU Portsmouth Diocese in caring for families locally.

Other projects include organising, as a team, the annual ‘Away from It All’ holiday, held in W. Sussex, for families who are unable to afford a holiday.

Emergency toilet bags, gowns for still born babies and special garments for the Neonatal Unit in our local hospitals are provided by us and are greatly appreciated by the recipients. We support the Portsmouth and Havant Women’s Refuges with clothing, bedding and toiletries and assist at the EC Roberts Contact Centre in Portsmouth. We have trained facilitators to set up Parenting Groups too. Our most recent venture has been to promote Church marriages with a stand ‘Wedding? Think Church’, which is receiving considerable attention at local Wedding Fayres.

If you are interested in any of these projects or would like to receive more information about any of them please ring Margaret Symonds 9225 2338. Please give it consideration as there are many families in real need especially in the present economic situation.

Perhaps you would prefer to become a ‘Friend of the MU’ the cost of which is £18 per annum? If so contact Margaret or Val Griffiths, the MU Diocesan Treasurer on 9259 7417. Your help or cash will be greatly appreciated and will certainly make a difference to families less fortunate than our own.

Margaret Symonds

Margaret Symonds