Mini Vinnies 2022-23

This year, we have twelve Mini Vinnies – four children from Year 4, Year 5 and Year 6! We had an incredible amount of interest for this role this year so our new Mini Vinnies are very excited to be embarking on this very special role for this academic year.

St Vincent de Paul and founder Blessed Frederik Ozanam’s Birthday Celebrations at St Edward’s, Boston Spa 

On Monday 24th April, our Mini Vinnies joined the Mini Vinnies at St Edward’s in Boston Spa to celebrate the birthdays of St Vincent and founder, Blessed Frederic Ozanam at St Edward’s Catholic Primary School. This event was for the full afternoon, with the Mini Vinnies from both schools and the parish SVP community too. We enjoyed a range of birthday party style activities, such as pin the SVP logo on the bear, as well as fun quizzes linked to our Catholic way of life. We also all spent some time getting to know one another, enjoying a game of get to you know you Bingo, as well as asking each other get to know you questions. We came together in worship and prayer, singing familiar songs to praise the Lord. And of course…no birthday party would be complete without birthday party food! All of the Mini Vinnies, children, parishioners, school staff and parent helpers, enjoyed a tea party together too! This was a wonderful event where we were able to bring two school and parish communities together.

Easter Fundraising and Donation to Wetherby Food Bank

A huge thank you to our whole school community in supporting our Easter appeal to support those in need within our local community around Wetherby. As always, we were overwhelmed by our school community’s generosity. All donations were delivered to the Wetherby Food Bank just before the Easter holidays. 

Friendship Club at Christmas

Our Mini Vinnies regularly attend our parish ‘Friendship Club’ which is a group to support members of the parish to socialise, come together, and enjoy each other’s company. They hold regular sessions on Wednesday afternoons in the church hall, and the Mini Vinnies are often invited to join. At Christmas time, the Mini Vinnies helped out the Christmas party where they served teas and coffees, joined in with Christmas carols and spent time chatting to, and getting to know members of the Friendship Club. It was an extremely enjoyable event for all, and members of the Friendship Club always comment on how they look forward to seeing our Mini Vinnies.

Mini Vinnie Christmas Appeal

Mini Vinnies at the Foundation Stage Crib Service

Every year, our pupils in Foundation Stage hold a Crib Service at St Joseph’s Church and Mini Vinnies support in this process whilst also fundraising for families less fortunate than us through the SVP Centre. The Crib Service was held this year Thursday 24^th November this year in church. Our Mini Vinnies to joined the Foundation Stage during this service and help Foundation Stage staff and children on the day and in the lead up to the service. Here are some of the ways that the Mini Vinnies helped for this special event:

• Preparing for the crib service by helping Mrs Gray at school folding the Advent Crib orders of service and bagging up the hay.
• Donating mince pies or biscuits for refreshments after the service
• At the crib service, setting up the church and church hall
• Handing out Advent Crib orders of service to families
• Holding the collection baskets after the service has finished for donations
• Helping in the hall with juice and biscuits after the service
• Tidying away afterwards

The Foundation Stage crib service is always a really popular event amongst our youngest St Joseph’s children and the Mini Vinnies supported this service to run smoothly. We are very grateful to our Foundation Stage parents for their generous donations, as on this evening, the Mini Vinnies fundraised £136.75 for the St Vincent de Paul centre.

Take a look at some of the wonderful cribs that our youngest children created to help them prepare for the birth of Jesus, during Advent. The Mini Vinnies worked hard to create this wonderful display in church before the service.

Friendship Club – Flower Arranging

The Mini Vinnies attended their first Friendship Club of the year, where they joined members of the parish community at a social event, and what an event it was! The children spent time getting to know the parishioners, talking to them, as well as helping to serve refreshments. The afternoon was spent flower arranging, making bouquets. Our Mini Vinnies helped the members of the friendship club with their bouquets, and even got to make an arrangements for themselves to bring home. They also learnt about different types of flowers and plants, such as lavender, roses, rosemary and eucalyptus. The Mini Vinnies had a wonderful time and felt that they really shared God’s love with the parishioners through such an exciting activity.

Mini Vinnie Commissioning Mass – Leeds Cathedral

On Wednesday 28th September, our new Mini Vinnies visited St Anne’s Cathedral in Leeds for a very special Mass where they made their Mini Vinnie promise and were commissioned into this new role. This was the first event of the academic year in which our newly appointed Mini Vinnies came together in prayer at Mass with other Mini Vinnies from around the city. We were reminded of the important work of the Mini Vinnies, through the St Vincent de Paul Society. Our new parish priest, Father Andrew, also joined us at this very first event to help Bishop Marcus say Mass.

The Mini Vinnies promised to:

• use their gifts and talents to serve
• reach out to others and respect others
• strengthen their friendship with Jesus by talking to him each day and talking to others about him
• care for others in their school and community by being a friend to those who are alone, in need or in trouble
• care for and enjoy God’s world
• treat others the way they would like to be treated

They were then commissioned as Mini Vinnies in the name of the Mini Vinnies’ patron St Vincent de Paul and the founder, Blessed Frederick Ozanam. Our Mini Vinnies are now proud members of the Vincentian family.

Harvest Appeal and Liturgy in School: Tuesday 11th October 2022

Over the past week, our Mini Vinnies have been working hard for their Harvest Appeal and we are extremely grateful to all our families and members of our school community for supporting this appeal. We have been overwhelmed with the number of donations, both foods and other items which we have now donated to Wetherby Food Bank and monetary donations which we will be donating to Cafod, in support of their work to support those in need around the world. We celebrated with a Harvest Liturgy in school where the whole school community came together in prayer, song and worship.

Mini Vinnies 2021-22

Franciscan Sisters Urgent Appeal

A huge thank you to all our families for their food and monetary donations in response to our school appeal for the Franciscan Sisters which our Mini Vinnies collected in just over one day. We were overwhelmed, once again, by the response and we are so pleased that we were able to support our local community. The Franciscan Sisters support many families in need in our local area of Leeds. Thank you also to Mrs Conner who informed us about this urgent appeal and so kindly delivered our donations to the Franciscan Sisters.

Ukraine Urgent Appeal

Our school community came together for one of the biggest appeals we have ever done in school. We cannot thank our school community enough for their generous donations towards our school’s Ukraine appeal which was part of a wider scale community appeal. Discount Feeds in Wetherby teamed up with Millbry Hill Country Store to help with assisting in collections of vital items for the Ukrainian people. Our Mini Vinnies collected donations for 3 days and then loaded 3 cars full for the donations to be taken to Discount Feeds round the corner. We were astounded by the support from our school community and as a school, have continued to keep the Ukrainian people in our thoughts and prayers during this difficult and worrying time.

Thank you to all of our families at St Joseph’s for your continued and valued support and for all of your very generous donations. Because of this, we will be able to help so many people in our Ukraine who are in need.

Remembrance Sunday – Wetherby Remembrance Parade

Our Mini Vinnies, Mrs Tate and Mrs Armitage joined our community in Wetherby for the annual Remembrance Parade. This was something we very much missed being a part of last year due to the restrictions and we were extremely excited to be out with the local community again for such an important event commemorating Remembrance Sunday. The Wetherby Silver Band led the parade which started at the Town Hall and marched towards the town’s war memorial. Our Mini Vinnies laid school’s poppy wreath at the memorial, along with other local groups. They then went back to St Joseph’s Church and prayed for the dead, which is a Catholic tradition in November. Thank you to the Mini Vinnies for giving up their own time for this special occasion on Remembrance Sunday.

Harvest & Good Shepherd Appeal October 2021

Our Mini Vinnies completed their first project in the first half term of this academic year to support those less fortunate than us. First of all, they asked for food donations for the Harvest collection for our local SVP centre which acts as a food bank for those in need. They also asked our families who were able to donate, for monetary donations towards the Good Shepherd Appeal through Catholic Care.

We were overwhelmed by the support and the donations given to us by our families in school. The Mini Vinnies collected all of the food donations in the picture below for the SVP centre.

The Mini Vinnies raised a huge total of £281 for the Good Shepherd Appeal which was a fantastic amount.

Some of our Mini Vinnies then attended the Good Shepherd Celebration in Leeds Cathedral to present our donation as a school.

This was a chance to thank God for being there for us all of the time and for giving us the skills and strength to be able to support others. We also prayed that those in need and those less fortunate than us can be granted with peace and help by God. Mini Vinnies also took the food donations to the SVP centre and had a tour around the SVP centre to learn about how our donations can help.

Thank you to all of our families at St Joseph’s for your continued and valued support and for all of your very generous donations. Because of this, we will be able to help so many families in our local community who are in need.

Promise & Pledge

Our Mini Vinnies this year are made up of 4 Year 5 pupils and 4 Year 6 pupils. Once they had been chosen, the children had to prepare to officially become the Mini Vinnies of St Joseph’s. They had to read out their Mini Vinnie’s pledge and say a prayer together. We are extremely excited for what we are sure will be another successful year of kindness, care, generosity and charity and look forward to seeing the work our young people do in their year as a Mini Vinnie.

Mini Vinnies (2019-20)

Promise & Prayer: Becoming Official Mini Vinnies

Once our Mini Vinnies from Year 4, Year 5 and Year 6 had been chosen, they had to prepare to officially become the Mini Vinnies of St Joseph’s. They had to read out their Mini Vinnie’s pledge and say a prayer together. This took place at the mass in school to mark the start of the year.

All of the school came together to celebrate the start of a new school year as well as the introduction of this year’s new Mini Vinnies. Well done to all of our new Mini Vinnies on becoming official Mini Vinnies!

Harvest Festival

A group of pupils led the Harvest Festival today along with the help of the Mini Vinnies. During the lead up to our Harvest Festival in school, the Mini Vinnies collected food items and monetary donations to offer to the less fortunate through our local SVP Centre (St Vincent de Paul). We enjoyed a Harvest celebration full of readings, prayer, song and dance where parents and visitors also joined us too. During this time, we thanked God for all of the wonderful things he gives us each day and also kept those less fortunate than us in our prayers.

After the Harvest Festival, our Mini Vinnies visited the SVP Centre along with Mrs Tate, Mrs Armitage and Mrs Frost who drove the minibus. Whilst they were there, they had the opportunity to learn what goes on at the centre and how their work as Mini Vinnies helps others. They were able to ask any questions they had about the work that goes on at the SVP Centre and were able to see a ‘day in the life’ at the busy centre that helps so many people in our local community. They also delivered the food donations they had collected over the recent weeks and saw where all this was kept. Thank you to the SVP Centre who took time out of their busy day to show us round and answer our questions!

To find out more about the SVP Centre, please visit http://www.stvincentsorg.co.uk/.

Remembrance Sunday

Wetherby Remembrance Parade

On Sunday 10th November, Remembrance Sunday, our Mini Vinnies joined the community in Wetherby to commemorate Remembrance Sunday. We joined the Mayor of Wetherby, Representatives of the Royal Navy, the Army and the RAF, officers from the Fire, Police and Ambulance services, the Air Cadets and many other groups and organisations. The Remembrance Parade started at Wetherby Town Hall and moved all the way to the War Memorial at the Bridge Foot. This was where all groups and organisations lay their wreaths. At 11am, we held our Act of Remembrance through a two minute silence and then the wreaths were laid around the War Memorial to pay tribute to those who have fallen and given their lives for us and for peace in our country. After the Remembrance Parade, we had some time to pray and reflect in church and pray for the dead, which is a November tradition in church. Thank you to our Mini Vinnies for being such fantastic representatives of our school at this very important annual event.

Foundation Stage Crib Service

Raising funds for the SVP

Each year, pupils in Foundation Stage create their own crib in preparation for Advent. They then have a crib service in church to bless their cribs and to provide them with hay that they put into their cribs each evening after saying prayers with their families. The Mini Vinnies went down to church earlier to help Mrs Gray and the rest of the FS staff to set up the church and the church hall ready for refreshments for parents and families after the service.

After the service, the Mini Vinnies then collected for the SVP charity and we raised over £100 – thank you so much to all parents and families of our pupils in Foundation Stage. Because of these donations, we can continue to make a difference to those less fortunate than us, especially at Christmas time.

Friendship Club Christmas Meet

Sharing our Christmas Carols

On Thursday 12th December, the Mini Vinnies (past and present) were invited to join the Friendship Club in our local community for their final meet of the year. The Friendship Club is a local community group for the elderly and those who would otherwise be on their own who meet regularly. We sung a range of our Christmas carols that we have learnt for our Christmas production on the stage in the church hall and then we helped the organisers provide refreshments for the Friendship Club members and also got to know the members a little more. We had time to speak to the Friendship Club members who had attended the final meet and engage in conversation. The Mini Vinnies really enjoyed speaking to everyone they met at the Christmas meet and wanted to stay as long as they could.

We were honoured to be able to join the Friendship Club at this very special, festive event and really enjoyed spending time with everyone there. Thank you for inviting the Mini Vinnies along to your final meet of the year. We look forward to joining you at events in the new year.

The Franciscan Sisters – Christmas Appeal

The Franciscan Sisters have asked St Joseph’s to help with their Christmas Appeal so that they can support families in need. The Franciscan Sisters have supported less fortunate families with Christmas gifts, Christmas dinners and other foods to get them through the Christmas period. A time that can be so happy and exciting for some but also a time of worry and sadness for others. Through supporting the Franciscan Sisters’ Christmas Appeal we hope that we can ensure that Christmas is a happy and holy time for all.

The Mini Vinnies collected donations between Wednesday 14th-Friday 16th December. They collected non-perishable food donations (such as christmas cakes/puddings, biscuits, chocolates, ready made custard, non-alcoholic drinks, tins etc) and monetary donations also. Mrs Tate then used the money raised to do an extra food shop to donate to the Franciscan Sisters which will then go to families in need in our local community.

Thank you to all who donated a monetary or food donation –  we really appreciate all your support in helping those less fortunate than us.

Saint Nicholas

To mark our final meeting before Christmas, Mrs Tate shared the story of the St. Nicholas, who is believed to be the ‘first Santa Clause’. We learned how St. Nicholas was a Bishop who lived in the fourth century in a place called Myra in Asia Minor (now called Turkey). He was a very rich man because his parents died when he was young and left him a lot of money. He was also a very kind man and had a reputation for helping the poor and giving secret gifts to people who needed it.

The most famous story about St. Nicholas tells how the custom of hanging up stockings to put presents in first started! It goes like this:

There was a poor man who had three daughters. The man was so poor that he did not have enough money for a dowry, so his daughters couldn’t get married. (A dowry is a sum of money paid to the bridegroom by the brides parents on the wedding day. This still happens in some countries, even today.) One night, Nicholas secretly dropped a bag of gold down the chimney and into the house (This meant that the oldest daughter was then able to be married.). The bag fell into a stocking that had been hung by the fire to dry! This was repeated later with the second daughter. Finally, determined to discover the person who had given him the money, the father secretly hid by the fire every evening until he caught Nicholas dropping in a bag of gold. Nicholas begged the man to not tell anyone what he had done, because he did not want to bring attention to himself. But soon the news got out and when anyone received a secret gift, it was thought that maybe it was from Nicholas.

Each Mini Vinnies was then given a bag of chocolate gold coins to use throughout the day, whether they secretly gave a gold coin to a friend or someone in their class they weren’t so close with or they could give a gold coin to a family member at home or an adult in school. This was a lovely way to end a whole term of hard work and was a lovely reminder for the Mini Vinnies about how important the work they do, day in, day out, is.

The Mini Vinnies wish everyone a restful, happy and holy Christmas holiday.

Mini Vinnies (2018-19)

Westminster Cathedral Mini Vinnie Celebratory Mass – London Trip!

Our Mini Vinnies have rounded off their year with a very full day trip to London for the Thanksgiving Mass at Westminster Cathedral. The children arrived at school very early – some a bit sleepier than others – and went off on the school minibus to York Station. There, they boarded the train for London Kings Cross. They had lots of fun on the train playing word riddles and i-spy, not to mention enjoying lots of snack, particularly the wonderful chocolate cake baked especially for them by Mrs Horner!

When they arrived in London, many of the children were surprised to see such busy streets. They walked out of Kings Cross and saw the big St Pancras station building where you can get a train all the way to Paris! After that, they walked past the British Library building, and on towards our first destination: The Foundling Museum.

The Foundling Museum, in Brunswick Square, tells the story of a man called Thomas Coram who set up the first ever children’s charity and public art gallery in the UK over 275 years ago. He saw many abandoned children on the streets of London, and decided to do something to help. He set up the Foundling Hospital, which women could bring their children to, in order to be cared for and brought up, on the understanding that if or when they could afford to return and collect their child, they could. Each child would be left a token which would identify them to their mother. The children were taught basic literacy and numeracy skills and then trained for employment. The girls mostly went to work in service, and the boys into the Army. The Mini Vinnies learned about how hard life was for these children. Many of them already knew quite a bit about the hospital from watching ‘Hetty Feather’ on CBBC.

After looking around the museum, the children went for a play in the sunshine at Coram’s Fields. On the site acquired by Thomas Coram from the King, Coram’s Fields are a seven acre playground and park for children and young people. No adults are allowed in without an accompanying child. They were very lucky to have lovely sunshine.

After the park, they went on the London Underground ( a first for many of them) to Leicester Square. They walked past the famous cinema where lots of the UK film premieres are held, and on to McDonalds for lunch. After lunch, they went on an interesting walk through Trafalgar Square, seeing Nelson’s Column and the Mall towards Buckingham Palace, before walking down Whitehall past many famous buildings they recognised from TV like the Household Cavalry Museum and Horse Guards Building, guarded by two horses; the Ministry of Defence, Scotland Yard, the Cenotaph, and the big black gates into Downing Street. They turned left at the end and saw the Houses of Parliament, with the Elizabeth Tower mostly covered in scaffolding apart from the clock. They looked across the River Thames to the London Eye and City Hall. After that, they walked through Parliament Square and looked at the many scultures of famous people like Winston Churchill, Nelson Mandela and Abraham Lincoln. They walked past Westminster Abbey which many of them had seen on television before and on to Westminster Cathdedral.

They were impressed with how big the Cathedral was, and by the many groups of children who were also Mini Vinnies from other areas. This was such a fantastic event – seeing Mini Vinnies from all around the country join together to celebrate their hard work from the academic year.

After Mass, they made a quick dash to Victoria tube station for the short journey back to St Pancras. They arrived at Kings Cross with plenty of time to spare to choose and buy their tea from M&S. There were lots of different sandwiches, wraps, salads, and several chose sushi! Canon Nunan kindly bought all the children some chocolate to eat on the journey home.

There were lots of very tired children and adults on the train home; some of whom didn’t manage to keep their eyes open all the way back to York Station, then on to school on the minibus. A long, busy, but fun and interesting day!

The children were absolutely fantastic all day. It was very busy, especially with travelling via the tube lines and walking round a very busy London but our Mini Vinnies were definitely their best selves and represented their families and their school amazingly.

Check out some pictures from our fantastic trip! A huge thank you to Canon Nunan, Mrs Tate and Mrs Macaskill who joined us on the trip!

Supporting Those in Need in our Local Community

Our 12 Mini Vinnies visited the SVP Centre this Harvest to deliver the goods collected from our Harvest Festival. Our collections were shared between the SVP Centre in Leeds and The Franciscan Sisters in Wetherby who help provide food parcels to those in need in our local community.

Remembrance Day Parade

On 11th November 2018 our Mini Vinnies, along with many other children from school as part of their community groups, participated in the Remembrance Parade in Wetherby. Please click here to see more photos from the day which has kindly been put together by Mrs Towse.

The last thing of the year for the Mini Vinnies was to take part in The Backpack Project, which is something we have run at St Joseph’s for the past three years now. By ‘living simply’ and recycling everyday items that they had in their homes, the children across school are invited to put together a backpack filled with important tools for learning, to be sent to those less fortunate children in Malawi who are supported by the charity, Mary’s Meals.

We have not counted up the final total of backpacks for this year but we were aiming for at least 40! This video explains all about what happens next…

Mini Vinnies (2017-18)

We have a group of 14 Mini Vinnies from Years 4, 5 and 6. Our new Mini Vinnies made an excellent start to the year which begin with their commissioning ceremony at assembly. Each Mini Vinnie made the pledge:

“As a member of Mini Vinnies, I promise to make a difference in my world by:

• Caring for, respecting and loving myself.
• Strengthening my friendship with Jesus by talking to him each day and talking to others about him.
• Caring for others in my school and community by being a friend to those who are alone, in need or in trouble.
• Making my family happy by my help, respect and showing kindness and consideration.
• Caring for and enjoying God’s world.
• Treating others the way I would like them to treat me.”

We talked about the way in which the SVP carries out all of the works of mercy that we learned so much about during Pope Francis’ Year of Mercy last year. Once commissioned, our Mini Vinnies were very keen to get to work carrying out these acts of mercy in our local community.

Harvest Visit to the St Vincent’s Centre in Leeds

They began by bringing in from home, and collecting food from others in school for our Harvest Festival. We collected lots of non-perishable items, which we packed into crates and brought to the St Vincent’s Centre in Leeds on our minibus.

During our visit to the St Vincent’s Centre, we learned about the range of different help available to people there. For example, the SVP offer free lessons in English as a Foreign Language, they offer counselling services, free debt advice, a non-profit making café, art classes, ICT classes and preparation for job interviews. They even have a ‘working wardrobe’, where they can give people suitable clothes to wear to a job interview, to help them get into employment and support themselves. We met some of the volunteers, and asked lots of interesting questions about their day-to-day work there. We helped to sort and put away our Harvest Festival donations into their stock cupboard. We saw picking lists of items that would go in an emergency food parcel for one person, two people, right up to a large family who are in great need.

Remembrance Day Service

In November, we talked about our Catholic tradition of praying for the dead. We felt very proud and responsible to represent our school and our parish at the Wetherby Remembrance Day Service on Sunday 12 November. Kyle, our president, laid a poppy wreath at the Cenotaph to remember all of those who have died in conflict. Nine of our Mini Vinnies braved the cold to complete the parade without coats so that everyone could see we belong to the St Joseph’s community. After this, we met in our church with Mrs Salomon who kindly lead us through a decade of the rosary. We talked about the repetitive nature of this prayer and how that can be comforting to us. Because we are so used to saying these prayers, we can use this time to reflect upon the mysteries of the rosary. Each Mini Vinnie received a rosary prayer card so they can continue this prayer at home.

Foundation Stage Crib Service

Our Mini Vinnies are very much looking forward to helping out at the Foundation Stage Crib Service where they will be helping to welcome families as they arrive, and serving refreshments afterwards in the church hall. They will be taking a collection for the SVP which will be used to help those less fortunate manage over this difficult time of year when many are forced to choose between turning on their heating or buying enough food to eat.

The final figure raised for the SVP from the collection plus bun sales was £205.34. Thank you to all of the families who supported this great cause!

Friendship Group

The Mini Vinnies have continued to be busy with events this summer term. On Thursday 21^st June, they attended the parish ‘Friendship Group’, which takes place on the third Thursday of each month. It’s a great way for elderly people to meet up, listen to an interesting talk, then enjoy tea and cake. Instead of giving a talk, the Mini Vinnies led a game of Bingo and sang the school song. They then broke off into smaller groups and played draughts, chess, snakes and ladders, and cards. Nathan really entertained his table teaching card tricks, and Francois enjoyed playing draughts with his new 92 year old friend!

The children helped to draw the raffle and give out prizes, whilst the kettle boiled. After that they helped to serve-and to tuck into-cups of tea with cakes and scones. They made light work of clearing the tables, with several assisting Mrs Grafton with the washing up!

They were thanked for their attendance, and invited to return in November. The Friendship Club also made a very generous donation to the SVP as a thank you for everything the Mini Vinnies provided. They are hoping we will return and visit the Friendship Club again next term.

The Back Pack Project

Click here to find out more about the Backpack Project

Mini Vinnies (2016-17)

Our Mini Vinnies were asked to feature in the SVP National Magazine and we were very proud so share the work that we had been doing over the year.

When Mrs Gray asked our Mini Vinnies to help with the Foundation Stage Crib Service, they were only too happy to help. Several gave up their break and lunchtime in order to help prepare the leaflets and the little bags of hay for the children. All of them came to help greet Foundation Stage pupils and their families in Church, give out the leaflets and show people to their seats. They were a wonderful help in preparing and serving the refreshments afterwards in the Church hall, even helping to wash up the plates. Connie deserves a special mention for almost single handedly putting out about 80 chairs in the hall! In recognition of these fine efforts, the Mini Vinnies took a retiring collection for the SVP, raising over £100.

Our final task of the year came after a call for help from the Franciscan Sisters of the Renewal in Leeds. They asked our Mini Vinnies to help them to support some families in their Corpus Christi parish, who were in need of food parcels to see them over Christmas. Many of our families donated dry and tinned goods. Mrs Tate agreed with Miss Milivojevic to spend some of the money collected at the Crib Service to create food hampers for families in our community who are in need. Mrs Tate and Mrs Lowe took the Mini Vinnies shopping! It became apparent that some of our Mini Vinnies are more savvy shoppers than others! Ryan excelled himself at sniffing out the bargains on offer in Morrisons, and Mrs Lowe coerced the store to donate several boxes of mince pies to our cause. We were able to deliver these to the sisters at their Live Nativity service so that the families received the goods in time for Christmas. We also collected toys and other Christmas presents for the SVP which were taken to the St Vincent’s Centre, York Road.

We are looking forward to more events next term. If anybody has any more good ideas for our Mini Vinnies please contact Mrs Tate.

Supporting Mary’s Meals

Our Mini Vinnies have been working very hard this term for two very important causes: Mary’s Meals and the Community of the Franciscan Sisters of the Renewal in Leeds. Our focus for the term was going to be Mary’s Meals alone, but when Sister Faustina got in touch to ask for our Mini Vinnies’ help, we felt we could not refuse!

The CFR Sisters live in Osmondthorpe, Leeds. They try to reach out and help their neighbours, many of whom are in need of such basic things as food. The Sisters make up food parcels for many families, particularly over Easter and Christmas. The Sisters seek to help those in need, regardless of religious background, so some of the people they help are Catholics but many are not. They asked us to provide non perishable food items to be distributed amongst their neighbours. Our Mini Vinnies donated many items themselves, but they also got to school early for a whole week and set up a table collecting these food donations, which they then helped to load into Mrs Tate’s car to be delivered to the Sisters in time for Easter.

In addition to this good work, the Mini Vinnies have been learning all about another charity called Mary’s Meals. Founded in Scotland by Magnus MacFarlane Barrow, Mary’s Meals is now a multinational charity which works in 14 of the world’s poorest countries to provide a meal in a place of learning for children. The charity was founded and inspired by Magnus’ encounter with a 14 year old boy called Edward, as he sat with his dying mother and 5 brothers and sisters in Malawi. Magnus asked Edward what his hopes were for the future and he replied “I would like to have enough food to eat, and I would like to go to school one day”. Magnus fully embraced the Mini Vinnie motto of ‘See, think and do’, as he went on to create a model which could then be replicated in many schools around the world. He assembled a group of local volunteers to arrive each day at the school, collect wood, light fires and cook basic meals mainly of porridge or rice to be given for free to all children who attend the school. Because the charity relies on over 200,000 volunteers, it keeps costs down to a minimum, and so can feed a child in the developing world for just £13.90 for a whole school year!

Our Mini Vinnies were very impressed by the way the charity works, and by what they are ultimately trying to achieve by their belief that food + school = hope for children. A free school meal will enable their families to let them attend school rather than work in the fields. An education gives them the best chance to break the cycle of poverty into which they have been born.

Our Mini Vinnies delivered an assembly on Mary’s Meals in order to educate their classmates and their teachers about how the charity works and what it hopes to achieve. They decided they would like to do a fundraising Sponsored Walk in empathy with the many children who walk for miles barefoot in order to receive a Mary’s Meal at school. They walked to school from Spofforth, along the old railway line, arriving at school just in time for the start of their lessons. Each Mini Vinnie was set a target of raising £13.90. Many of our children smashed this target and in total their sponsored walk raised £401.60. Well done to all involved and the Mini Vinnies would like to thank all those who supported their efforts and donated throughout the spring term!

Here are some of us on the sponsored walk before school!

Mini Vinnies Visit to the St Vincent’s Centre, Leeds

Our Mini Vinnies were lucky enough to visit the St Vincent’s Centre in Leeds on Tuesday to learn more about what the St Vincent de Paul Society does in Leeds to support people. When we arrived, we meet Sheena the Centre Manager. She asked lots of questions about what we knew already about the centre. We knew that it:

• Has an emergency food bank
• Offers free English lessons to non-English speakers
• Has a café providing fresh food at a low price
• Has a shop where people can buy reasonably priced clothes, furniture, toys, DVDs and baby equipment

Sheena explained that the St Vincent’s Centre does all of these things and more! They provide:

• ‘Art of Conversation’ classes which are drawing classes aimed at people who are lonely and or don’t speak English to help them meet others and make friends
• Provide legal advice
• Offer debt counselling
• ‘Job/Work Club’ which helps prepare people for getting into work by coaching them for interviews and offer a ‘Working Wardrobe’ giving them suitable clothing to attend an interview
• ‘Good Mood Group’ which is run by volunteer counsellors and helps people with their mental health and wellbeing
• Provide ICT lessons for people so that they can learn to access the internet and use a computer
• Presents for children at Christmas time who may not receive any other gifts due to family circumstances or poverty. Sometimes these gifts might be given for a child’s birthday if their family cannot afford to buy them a present even from the Centre’s shop

We had a guided tour of the whole premises, starting with the food cupboard where we learned that they give out food parcels for individuals, couples and families. These parcels include enough basic food to last them for about three days. The food is all donated by people. A local bakery donates any bread they don’t sell on the day it is baked and that is given out to whoever comes into the Centre. All the food in the store cupboard is non-perishable so that it can last for a long time and be available for people when they find themselves in a difficult situation. Sheena explained that this happens more often in the winter when many have to choose between spending the small amount of money they do have either on heating their home or on feeding themselves and their family.

We saw the shop was stocked with all sorts of items of clothing, furniture, toys and baby equipment, books, CDs and DVDs. All of these items were at a very reasonable price for those on a low income to afford. In the same way, the café makes fresh food every day including soup, scones and a main meal. People can get a cup of tea and a scone for £1.30, or a full balanced meal for just £4. The café is open Monday – Friday, and was even open on Christmas Day when they served Christmas Dinner to 15 people who might otherwise have been on their own, along with several volunteers. They had a party and everyone who came got a present!

Sheena gave an example of a family who had been referred to them in the past week and had arrived at the centre. There was a Mum, Dad and three children aged 10, 8 and 5. They had fled from their home in Mosul, Iraq due to the ongoing war there. They arrived in Leeds with little more than the clothes they stood up in. Thanks to the St Vincent’s Centre, they were given food parcels, clothing, toys for the children, a meal, and they will hopefully return to the Centre soon for some English lessons. The Mum was so overwhelmed with the kindness they were shown by the SVP that she cried. Our Mini Vinnies could see from this example that the SVP really carry out the message Jesus gave us in Matthew’s Gospel 25: 35-6

“For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you made me welcome, lacking clothes and you clothed me, sick and you visited me, in prison and you came to see me.”