The Street Child World Cup, a unique charity using football to campaign for street children is the focus for this year’s Diocese of London Lent Appeal.
In April of last year Bishop Richard hosted members of the 2010 Brazilian Street Child World Cup team when they came to London to promote the Street Child World Cup in Rio 2014. On meeting the team he said:
“Football can bring the world together and transform lives. It was thrilling to meet members of the Brazilian team from the 2010 Street Child World Cup. I heard about grim experiences in early life and the power of support and friendship to open up new hope and aspirations.”
Founded in the belief that street children are made in God’s own image and that all children should have a future free from fear, neglect and abuse, the Street Child World Cup was set up by Amos Trust, a Christian charity based in one of the churches in the Diocese. Through football, art and campaigning the Street Child World Cup aims to challenge the negative perceptions and treatment of street children around the world.
More than a Game is a two minute promotional video about the Street Child World Cup.
In 2014 sixteen teams of street children from countries as varied as Egypt, South Africa, Brazil, Philippines, Ukraine, India and Mozambique, will come together in Rio to compete in a football tournament and take part in a unique street child conference.
Lorelyn, from the Phillippines team, said:
“This tournament has helped me to believe in the world again and to know that I am somebody.”
Lent appeal leaflets, posters and gift aid envelopes are available to order here. Every parish should have received publicity samples and instructions for treasurers by post.
Download the special Churches Fundraising Pack, which is full of ideas and resources to help everyone in the Diocese get involved, whether it is by hosting a church football tournament, putting on a Brazil themed coffee morning, or by giving something up for Lent for street children.
Whilst the Worship Resource Pack contains a range of readings, prayers, all age and sermon ideas to help churches talk about street children and the Street Child World Cup during Lent.
This Lent let’s make a difference for Street Children all around the world.
The Diocese’s first Clergy Study Summit took place last Thursday at Church House Westminster, hosted by the Bishop of London. It was attended by over 550 clergy and feedback suggests it was exceptionally well received.
Earlier this year we consulted parish clergy, laity of all ages, bishops and archdeacons about the ‘brand’ of the Diocese of London. The consultation showed us that the diocesan crest logo has become out-of-date and does not reflect the 21st Century church that we know ourselves to be.
This week’s post comes from my counterparts in Catholic 2012, in conjunction with More than Gold. I’ve changed a bit to include Anglican prayers and liturgy, these ideas are easy to manage with not very long to prepare.
This week’s post comes from Barney Wolstenholme, who’s been volunteering on our Olympics Helpdesk. Barney writes:
The reality facing most churches is that making a difference in your community costs money. The recent Bishop of Willesden’s Community Ministry day brought together local clergy and laity to share about their community ministry projects and also to share learning around fundraising and income generation, particularly from trusts and funds.
On we go with our third instalment of this series. For those of you joining us late, I’ll explain. Imagine I have been washed up on the shores of a desert island only to discover that I’m on the kids work rota that week in the little shore-side chapel. What items would I bring with me to ensure that I was able to do it and why? So far I have packed: [
During the (hopefully) hot summer, many are preparing to give away water to our visitors. I’d like to explore some of our motivations for doing this, and suggest some different ways to set up distribution.
I get asked a lot what I think about the practice of children coming to the front of church when they return from their groups to share a little of what they’ve been getting up to, normally by showing some craft and talking about this or answering questions from the priest.
