St Nicolas and Social Action

St Nicolas takes its responsibility to serve the outside community – locally, nationally and globally – very seriously. Here are just some examples of recent projects.

Linkline – acting locally

This service provides a telephone link to the elderly housebound and infirm. Based on similar successful schemes in other parts of the country, a weekly phone call provides not only contact with the ‘outside world’ but our volunteers are able to point their clients to sources of help and advice. The project is being supported by Age Concern, Citizens Advice and Wokingham District Council. The Linkline Project is being developed by our Community Action Group led by Rev’d David Webster.

Outward Giving – acting locally, nationally and globally.

Each year the PCC, on behalf of the members of St Nicolas, donates a lump sum to three chosen charities: one local, one national and one international. Individual charities are nominated by members of the congregation. In 2009 we donated to:

• The Mukti Project (www.mukti.traditionalyoga.org), a project that supports the education of dispossessed and endangered children in India

• The Church Housing Trust (www.churchhousingtrust.org.uk) is a charity dedicated to the rehabilitation and resettlement of homeless people of all ages and backgrounds. By tackling the longer-term issues that perpetuate homelessness, rather than providing quick fixes, Church Housing Trust offers new beginnings for homeless people of all ages.

• The Alexander Devine Children’s Cancer Trust (www.adcct.com) has been set up with the aim of building and funding a children’s hospice in Berkshire.

Harvest – acting locally

The people of St Nicolas and local schools who come for their Harvest Festival Services donate non- perishable food (about 2 van loads!) which is taken to CIRDIC – Churches in Reading Drop In Centre for the homeless and needy (see www.churchesinreading.org.uk) and CIRWC – Churches in Reading Women’s Centre

RE-Inspired – acting locally

A charity set up by churches in East Reading to support the RE curriculum in local schools by providing ‘inspired RE teaching’. Members of St Nicolas are actively involved in the management of RE-Inspired and also in delivering the sessions to local schools. For more information see www.reinspired.org.uk.

Other key events – acting where it’s needed

2005

• we wrapped the church in a huge banner to show support for the Make Poverty History
campaign

• we supported one of our youth members who set up the ‘No Presents No Poverty’ campaign, with the aim of raising £1600 to fund a Mango Plantation through the Oxfam Unwrapped Scheme. At Christmas, instead of receiving presents, those involved asked for a cheque to Oxfam instead. When all these cheques were collected, the final total was £3245, enough to fund not one but two mango plantations.

2006

• in 2006 we raised money to set up our own trust bank in Peru through Opportunity International

2007

• as part of our Golden Jubilee celebrations, we raised £6.060 for local children’s hospices Helen House in Oxford and Naomi House in Winchester

• we hosted a touring exhibition on the life of anti-slavery campaigner Olaudah Equiano as part of the ‘Set All Free’ campaign to mark the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the slave trade

2009

• We marked World Aids Day with an exhibition in Church – take a look at the pictures under the ‘Current Matters’ heading

• A group joined The Wave march for climate justice in London in December (www.stopclimatechaos.org)

Social Action in Many Other Ways

Members of St Nicolas have also collected milk bottle tops to be used as counters in math’s lessons in Malawi, old printer cartridges for children’s hospices, bras for women in the developing world; organised dances to raise funds for the local air ambulance; held coffee mornings for a variety of causes …not to mention to activities of associated groups like the Mother’s Union, Christian Aid week collections, and the box for donations the Children’s Society, and the response emergency appeals like the Pakistan Earthquake Appeal, Tsunami and Haiti Earthquake Appeals.

St Nicolas is a Fair Trade church and was one of the first to use Fair Trade communion wine. We regularly support the Big Brew campaign during fair-trade fortnight.

Our World Issues Group meets regularly to look at our response to social justice issues. You might like to read some of the articles Steve Brown from the Group has written for our Parish Newsletter

• “I Have A Dream”…….. “Thy Kingdom Come”

• In praise of protest

• The Wave