Newsletter 2013 - St Catharines Convent of Mercy

Mercy
Issue No. 16 | April 2013
Sisters of Mercy
St Catharine’s
4 Lauriston Gardens
Edinburgh
WHAT ST. CATHARINE’S OFFERS
We commit ourselves to be
Mercy to all with a preferential
option for the poor
WE OFFER
Hospitality
Support
Acceptance
Peace
Friendship
We meet basic needs
Create an atmosphere of respect
Help people to become whole
SERVICES OFFERED IN 2012/13
Breakfast/Brunch
Evening Meal
Shower and toilet facilities
Change of clothing
Help in setting up house
Guidance with job applications
Letter writing
Counselling
Help in seeking medical assistance
Transport to hospital where necessary
Help in finding accommodation
Support groups for addicts
Visits to hospitals
Visits to prison
Bereavement services
Giving talks to schools churches ad other groups
Trying to be a voice for the voiceless
WORDS FROM
SISTER AELRED
Dear Friends of Saint Catharine’s
He also noted the following – I
This month of April marks 20 years of
quote “While living in Edinburgh, the
Saint Catharine’s Homeless Project.
advertisement of a new thriller movie
Twenty years of ongoing support and
Service in Mercy Ministry from you our has caught my attention.”
benefactors and volunteer helpers who
“Payback has a new name. My time in
have enabled us to enter more deeply
into the spirit of faith and compassion Saint Catherine’s has convinced me
that learning to serve has got its new
of our Foundress, Catherine McAuley,
name too it is called Saint Catharines.”
who said:
“There are things that the poor prize
more highly than gold though they
cost the donor nothing. Among
these are the kind word, the gentle
compassionate look and the patient
hearing of their sorrows.”
I am encouraged when I see how our
many devoted Helpers practice her
advice.
This year we have had the privilege of
having two Jesuit Tertians, Father Lucas
and Father Anton doing a ten week
pastoral placement on our Project.
Father Lucas noted how he had learned
from our guests and our Mercy Helpers
three key serving skills – “a sincere
and gentle smile, a humble voice and
attentive eyes and ears” all necessary
ingredients for a warm welcome.
This year 2012-2013 is the year of faith.
Part of our outreach has been and is
to have vespers once a week. We have
been blessed that Fr. Robert op, Father
Anton and Father Lucas sj have been
able to give reflective inputs. Maureen
and her music group have created a
wonderful atmosphere of peace, prayer
and reflection.
My very grateful and sincere thanks
to all of you who over the years have
given such warm and attentive service
to our guests thus enabling us to make
hospitality our special aim, which is the
Charism of our Foundress Catherine
McAuley.
My grateful thanks for making it
possible for us to continue this Mercy
Ministry.
Sister Aelred
“There are things that the poor prize more highly
than gold though they cost the donor nothing. Among
these are the kind word, the gentle compassionate
look and the patient hearing of their sorrows.”
Catherine McAuley
Something’s
Cooking in
the Kitchen...
The kitchen staff at St Catharine’s Homeless
Project are the backbone of the service provided.
Morning and evening their efforts ensure that good
wholesome meals are available to Edinburgh’s poor
and homeless. Here is a week’s worth of reflections
penned by our wonderful cooks:
Monday –Tuesday Cook
Wednesday Cooks
Helga – “I am one of the many
helpers here at St Catharine’s
Convent. It is always a surprise what
ingredients are available but I just
create a meal with what’s available.
I cook using the all the nice fresh
nutritious vegetables, perfectly
peeled and chopped by our young
volunteers. Once I get my big pots
and pans arranged on the stove
I am ready to mix my ingredients
to stew, roast and steam the food,
with added herbs and flavours,
it’s perfectly yummy. The food is
then kept warm until the evening
volunteers serve it to our hungry
guests who arrive daily on the
doorstep.”
Katrina: It is a rewarding place to
volunteer with a nice atmosphere.
Nory: Every day is Ready Steady
Cook, it is good fun and I get a lot of
enjoyment from it.
Karen: Each Wednesday our
preparations of the evening meal for
our guests is like a magical mystery
tour, working with what is available
from the ingredients delivered by
food share or from our generous
wonderful donators. It is a calming,
spiritually encouraging place to work
and the feeling of serenity pervading
the Convent has a marked effect on
our guests whose life is enhanced as
a result.
Daniel: It’s a challenge to make the
best meal out of the ingredients we
have got, but a challenge I take on
with enthusiasm because I know
what and who it is for. And at the end
of the day it is satisfying to taste the
fruits of our work and to see that we
did a good job.
Heather: Coming to help cook every
Wednesday is definitely one of the
highlights of my week. Whether
chopping and peeling vegetables
or finding the perfect recipe for
making custard, it is always fun and
rewarding to make meals for the
evening.
Thursday Cooks
Dawn: St Catharine’s Homeless
Project is fabulous. I love the
interaction with everyone and have
met some lovely people. Every
week presents a new challenge. We
try to cook good wholesome food
providing “5 a day” using all our
lovely fresh ingredients which change
every day. All the meals are cooked
from scratch and it’s sometimes a
challenge to say the least.
Malcolm: Working in the kitchen
is really satisfying. It is a great
atmosphere working with a wide
variety of people from all over the
world. It is exciting coming into
the kitchen not knowing what you
are going to be making, rather like
‘ready steady cook’.
Comfort food is good for
the soul… and what better
food than a hearty bowl
of soup and bread. The
Project soup is legendary.
Recently Fr. Anton a
visiting Jesuit from Croatia
tried his hand, with the
help of Peter making soup.
Here is what Fr. Anton and
Peter have to say about
the experience:
Our soup
Every day we prepare the soup for
the following morning. It is very
important job because it must be
nutritious and tasty. We put in our
soup many different ingredients;
stock, lentils broth mix a little
seasoning (staff secret). But the most
important ingredient of all is Love.
That’s why our soup is the best.
Anton and Peter
The Friday Cooks/Girls
Angela, Liz and Mary-Frances – three women of a certain age for whom the
back kitchen is home every Friday morning.
Charged with the task of making
custard on an industrial scale, we
approach our job with a degree of
scientific vigour – after all, Angela
was a Chemistry teacher in an earlier
life….though she is still trying to work
out why bubbles appear on top of
the vats of custard once the sugar
has been added.
We all arrive by different means. Liz
pedals down the road on her trusty
bike, regardless of the weather,
Angela is chauffeur driven and MaryFrances treks into town on two buses
and as she says herself “generally
shows up when all the hard work has
been done” but still manages to get
all the credit for her perfect custard!
As we write this morning, John S,
one of the other helpers, has just
walked into the kitchen and told us,
completely unprompted, that our
bubbles “are the sign of perfect
custard, guaranteed to be lump free”.
And Perfect Peter, another helper,
who pops in periodically to Project
Manage us, has also given the seal
of approval. Where would we be
without the men to keep us right!
Every Friday morning is different.
We get assistance from a wide range
of interesting helpers from all over
the world, we enjoy each other’s
company and we all find it really very
satisfying cooking for others….and
now John S has just walked in to say
that while we have been idling away
the time writing our wee article he
has washed 3 of our pots!!
Our Young Helpers
Reflections on Work
Placement and
Volunteering at
St Catharine’s:
Beatrix
Going to St Catharine’s Convent
every Thursday morning gives me a
change of scenery when I help serve
in the serving room and prepare
food in the kitchen. It is always full
of atmosphere as people come from
all walks of life. There is always a
gorgeous smell of fresh food whether
it’s in the kitchen while I am chopping
potatoes and preparing vegetables
or when I am serving the soup and a
variety of foods in the serving room.
Helping arrange all the different
foods from the harvest collection and
the clothes and items for Christmas
were particularly enjoyable activities.
I feel coming to the Convent has
given me new experiences which I
can take with me to university.
Beatrix
George Heriots School Edinburgh
My name is Sorley and for the past
six months I have been volunteering
at the Sisters of Mercy convent. I go
to school nearby so working at the
convent seemed a natural choice
when I made my decision about
voluntary service at the start of
the year. What I had not expected
from St Catharine’s however, was
the universally kind and friendly
way in which the staff welcomed
me and supported me throughout
the entire time I have been there. I
also tremendously enjoyed serving
and helping all of the people who
came in on Wednesday mornings.
It has in many ways changed my
perspective on life. I hope that the
next few months can rival the ones I
have already experienced, and I will
definitely carry with me many fond
memories of St Catharine’s when I
finally leave.
Sorley
George Heriots School Edinburgh
megan
I started helping out with the Project
last summer and at first I had no
idea what to expect! However, very
quickly it became apparent that
there would always be someone
there to help me if ever I needed
guidance, making it clear from very
early on just how caring a place St
Catharine’s is.
As I’ve continued volunteering here,
I’ve met more and more incredible
people be it the Sisters or any of the
other volunteers and I’ve come to
appreciate the sense of community
that exists with the Project. It
genuinely makes me incredibly
happy to think of the positive effect
of what everyone is doing and full of
admiration to think of the Sisters and
their unfaltering patience.
It feels good to know that regardless
of anything else that goes on in my
life I will have at some point made
a positive contribution through
St Catharine’s – even through the
smallest things- and I know I cannot
be alone in thinking this!
Finally, I just want to thank everyone
at St Catharine’s, both those that I
know and those who I haven’t yet
met, for all they do!
sorley
Megan
Philanthropy is defined as …“private initiatives, for public
good, focusing on quality of life”.
Youth Philanthropy
Initiative Project at
George Heriots:
Climbing
the
Corporate
Ladder
at St Catharine’s…
At school we have recently been
involved with participating in
the fantastic Youth Philanthropy
Initiative (YPI) project. This unique
project involves groups of young
people choosing a local charity
that they are interested in, finding
out about the charity and creating
a presentation, the winning group
receives £3000 for their chosen
charity. We chose St. Catharine’s
Convent of Mercy Homeless Project
because we thought it was such a
diverse charity which really does a
lot for our local community. After
visiting several times and finding out
all we needed to know, we made a 10
minute presentation to present to our
registration class. We were absolutely
thrilled when we found out we got
through to the final and actually had
a chance of winning.
We put in even more effort and
certainty to make sure that our
presentation would stand out and
that we were confident with our
speeches. We were very happy
that Sister Catherine and Sister
Aelred could come and watch our
presentation and we felt that made
us even more determined. After
an amazing afternoon of 8 diverse
and great charities we were over
the moon when we won the entire
competition. It meant so much to us
that all of our hard work had paid
off. We have now won £3000 for St.
Catharine’s and we are so delighted,
as they are such a deserving cause
and we feel passionately that they
deserved the money.
Kirsty Naismith, Stephanie Cremona
and Emma Burns-Brown
Our work here began
predominantly in the project
room serving tea and soup but,
in a gradual promotion to the
position of ‘runners’, our mornings
are now spent swinging among
the labyrinthine corridors of St.
Catharine’s. While we still serve the
odd cuppa here and there, Sister
Catherine or Sister Aelred will
often send us about the kitchens
and cupboards to wash potatoes
or sort through soup cans.
Through a process of rigorous
training we are now capable of
concocting a bag of cosmeticsrazors, soaps and shampoos – in
a matter of seconds. These are
gifts handed out to the guests in
the project room and so, working
behind the scenes, we are also
able to witness the fruits of our
labours. The promotion of ‘runner’
at St. Catharine’s might be called a
promotion because we are invited
to interact with the project and
the people it helps beyond the
surface – among the simple, backstage tasks that form a great act
of Mercy.
Kate Banks and
Stuart Lindsay
Volunteering
what’s in it for me?
From the moment I walked into
the dining room I was made to feel
welcome by the other volunteers
and by Sr. Catherine who vowed to
have me ‘trained up’ in no time.
Several years ago a friend of mine
had been a helper at St. Catharine’s
and when I mentioned to her that
I was thinking of volunteering
myself, but was unsure if I was
up to the task, she replied, “What
do you mean? You can sit and
listen to people can’t you?” At
that time I just didn’t know what
to expect. Would I have to deal
with drunkenness and anti-social
behaviour?
Now, having been a helper for
several months, I can say that my
misgivings were unfounded. I have
found St. Catharine’s to be a place
where everyone is welcomed and
treated with dignity and respect.
When I first started helping, Sr.
Catherine advised me not to ask
questions but to just introduce
myself and to ask the name of
the person I was serving. At first I
found myself wondering why some
came in the first place and was
told that everyone who came had a
need of some kind but sometimes
it was just not obvious. Gradually,
as I have got to know some of
our guests better, I have learned
a little of their backgrounds and
circumstances. If, several years ago,
someone had told me that I would
be sitting enjoying a cup of tea with
people suffering from alcoholism or
drug addiction or with others who
had been in prison several times I
would have considered it unlikely.
Several of my friends, on hearing
about my time at the project ask,
“But do you enjoy it?” The answer
to that is, “Of Course!”
Irene Smith
“I have had the best year of my life making
soup and peeling potatoes and have found it
very therapeutic.”
Wullie McD
Car Boot
Sale
One of our sources of funding is
car boot sales. Liz Reid and her
Team of helpers are just great and
the Project benefits from their
hard work. We are so grateful to
them
School of
2013
Graduation
Day at St
Catharine’s
To graduate from any school, college
or university you need the following,
good grades, good attendance and
good conduct. It is no different here
at St Catharine’s! Luckily our recent
Jesuit helpers Fr. Anton from Croatia
and Fr. Lucas from Hong Kong met
that criteria. They were a welcome
addition to the Team and very soon
go to grips of the various tasks
expected of them. We miss them
now they have returned to Dublin
to continue their studies. To mark
their departure we had a graduation
ceremony for them and they were
presented with their (non-academic)
honorary degrees confirming them
as fully fledged Mercy Helpers. We
wish them well.
christmas
at St Catharine’s
The annual Christmas lunch is a
special day at St Catharine’s. A
fantastic lunch is prepared and
served to our guests. It is a lunch
both volunteers and guests try hard
not to miss. The room is decorated
and we even have a few VIP guests
on hand to have a chat with the
guests. Each guest receives as well
as lunch a gift of some welcome
essential items gloves, hats, socks
and a few toiletries. All items donated
by friends of St Catharine’s.
A fundraising group
The Women’s Guild from St.
Gregory’s Parish who raised
£1000 at their social evening.
Volunteer helpers and
benefactors from Father
White’s Parishes of Roswell,
Bonnyrigg and Gorebridge:
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SPECIAL THANKS TO ALL
OUR GENEROUS DONORS
Cardinal Keith Patrick O’Brien for his twenty years of ongoing support
Eric and Janis Milligan
Father Dermot O.P. and the C.S.U for their generous help
Carol Ann and her Fare Share Team for daily food deliveries
The Caledonian Ball
Margo Dickson and Miriam Fogarty for all the hard work organising the Irish Ball
Maureen Henderson and her team for the Folk Evenings
Aileen Charleston, Mark Mulgrew and the Ladies of St. Gregory’s Guild
Elizabeth Reid and her team for the Car Boot Sales
The YPI Team from George Heriot’s School
Peter and Jane Clee for the HBOS Foundation
The Church of Scotland Fairmilehead
The Churches: Catholic, Episcopalian, Church of Scotland, Methodist
and Unitarian Schools and other groups
Valvona and Crolla
To all of you our generous benefactors
Last but not least, to our wonderful teams of volunteer helpers
and Mercy Associates without you we could not run the project
I would like to take this opportunity to wish each of you every blessing
as we go forward in Faith together in a spirit of service to proclaim the
Good News of the Gospel of Love to all with whom we live and work
God bless you all
Sister Aelred
Director of Homeless Project
SISTERS OF MERCY
WORKING WITH HOMELESS PEOPLE
Saint Catharine’s Convent of Mercy
4 Lauriston Gardens
Edinburgh EH3 9HH
Tel: 07411666411
E Mail: [email protected]
www.mercycentre.org.uk
Union of the Sisters of Mercy Trustees, Incorporated under the Charitable Trustees Incorporated Act 1872
Registered Office 11 Harewood Avenue, London NW1 6LD
Charity Registered in Scotland (SCO39153) and in England and in Wales (288158)