Bath Abbey’s congregation has raised £30,000 in just over a month for five charitable projects around the world from Zambia to Sri Lanka, including over £5,000 for supporting the homeless and vulnerably housed in Bath.
This was £3,000 more than the total donated at a similar appeal last year after the Rector challenged the congregation to match or increase their giving.
Each year the Abbey congregation raises money as part of Pentecost celebrations to support their ‘Big Five’ mission links. Each of the ‘Big Five’ projects is based in a different part of the world, but all support those in financial or emotional need or help those who have suffered hardship rebuild their lives.
These comprise the Wycliffe Bible Translators’ Tunen project in Cameroon, development work with women-headed families in Sri Lanka, a women’s shelter and vocational training centre in Northern Zambia and support of Church Mission Society (CMS) partners in Egypt.
Locally the money supports the homeless and vulnerably housed in Bath, through the Abbey’s work with local charities and housing organisations including the Genesis Trust. The Abbey has a particularly close working relationship with Genesis Trust and currently house the Lifeline drop-in centre in their vaults.
Edward Mason, Rector of Bath Abbey, said: “At Pentecost, the congregation of the Abbey celebrates our call to join in God’s mission around the world. We recognise our common humanity and support those in need in special places. To achieve so much in just five weeks is testament to the generosity of our congregation.”
A couple from Bath recently visited Sri Lanka to continue their work helping women-headed families, who have been devastated by tsunami, to set up their own businesses.
Tim and Liz Westbrook carried out a project with Voluntary Service Overseas living in the south of Sri Lanka for two years from 2008 to 2010, and were so moved by the lasting legacy of the Boxing Day 2004 tsunami and its devastating effects on the local people, that they became involved in a number of humanitarian projects, calling on their church back in the UK, Bath Abbey, to help. The Abbey’s congregation responded by donating £26,040 over the last five years.
Just last month, the Westbrooks returned to Sri Lanka and spent a week in the south visiting a development project they helped set up which supports disadvantaged women-headed families in Hambantota, one of the poorest districts in the country. It was severely damaged by the tsunami in 2004, and local residents continue to face the consequences of the destruction.
With continuing support from Bath Abbey, this pilot scheme has proven to be a great success providing start-up capital and training for local women to use their own skills and initiative to develop their own small businesses such as clothes making or spice grinding.
Many of these women are extremely vulnerable having lost their husbands through accident, illness or desertion, and now have to fend for themselves with young children, and often older relatives, to care for.
Liz Westbrook said: “Each time we go to the area we know and have grown attached to, we find another needy family that touches our hearts. We come back to Bath, talk about it and in turn, others are moved to help. What is especially heartening is the spirit of perseverance and the sense of community, shown both by the people in Bath by giving generously, and by these women themselves.
“For example in early 2011, six women, who recognising their different strengths, combined forces to set up a successful spice grinding business: one washes the spices, two grind them and three go selling door to door. During our latest visit, they could hardly keep up with the demand! What a privilege it is to see the look on the faces of these women when they realise just what they are managing to achieve.”
Another project supported by the Westbrooks and Bath Abbey focuses on training women to start home gardens, providing them with containers, fertiliser and seed to grow their own vegetables such as chillies, cucumbers, beans. By doing this they can save money on their market shopping. One woman, Priyanka and her daughter have reported savings of 350 rupees (£2) a week. The significance of this £2 should not be underestimated – this is almost half of the family’s weekly food bill.
