The Road to Resilience is a journey for all who are working for social justice within parishes, schools and community groups. Its aim is to support those who are reaching out to vulnerable people in our communities, to create truly transformational social action projects.
By joining us on the Road to Resilience you will:
- Be invited to reflect on Catholic Social Teaching and “The Why” of what you do;
- Become part of a network, sharing ideas and best practice across the diocese;
- Benefit from expert training and advice; and
- Use the resources we have developed, alongside your Development Worker, to build successful and resilient projects.
To hear all the latest news and events from Caritas Westminster please sign up for our e-newsletter, which is sent out around once a month.
Find out about our events and training here. The information and resources included on this page are intended to be used alongside your Development Worker. Find out who the Development Worker for your hub is here.
As part of the Road to Resilience we encourage all those involved in social action projects in the Catholic Church to pause, and think about the faith which underpins their work.
We are running a series of events, and producing a series of resources called “The Why” – this presents Catholic Social Teaching in the light of the Covid-19 pandemic and our response to it. You are welcome to use the resource linked below with your parish or community, and we hope to see you at the next The Why event – keep an eye on our events page
To take your parish on a fuller journey of understanding of Catholic Social Teaching, you can use our Love In Action course.
For schools wishing to explore Catholic Social Teaching with their children, we have the Caritas Ambassadors programme.
A first response for all of us is to provide immediate assistance to those in need.
We can support your project in providing ongoing relief to people in desperate circumstances.
- Grants for both projects and individuals are available through the St John Southworth fund.
- Through the Caritas Food Collective we can help you find sources of food for your food project. Email cfc@rcdow.org.uk
- Your Development Worker can link you with local community organisations already in existance or help you set up a new project.
- The Caritas Volunteer Service can help you find volunteers for your project.
- Some useful tips for fundraising can be found in this document: Be Fundraising Ready (.pdf) or download it in microsoft Word: Be Fundraising Ready (.docx)
As new situations arise, Caritas Westminster will be there, co-ordinating the response across the diocese.
We invite people to come together across the Diocese to share ideas, challenges, partnerships and data so we can understand and better respond to the needs.
We host quarterly meetings for people involved in
- working with people who are homeless,
- welcoming refugees and migrants,
- providing food relief, and
- journeying alongside older people.
As part of the Road to Resilence, Caritas Westminster is encouraging those working in projects providing emergency relief, to gain new skills enabling them to support the people they help to become more resilient.
Financial Resilience
Caritas Westminster is working with Advice4Renters, running a course called Firm Foundations to train Money Champions across a number of projects in the diocese.
To find out more, and to express interest in the next training course, please contact your local Development Worker
Read more about Firm Foundations here.
Dignified Work
Supporting people into Dignified Work is a key focus of Caritas Westminster and is part of the mission of our services, Caritas St Joseph’s and Caritas Bakhita House, as well as the Road to Resilience.
Advocacy means calling out injustice in our society and giving people in difficult situations a voice. Long term change can only be achieved when the economic, social and political structures which trap people in poverty are changed.
Caritas Westminster is developing a programme to strengthen grassroots campaigning, advocacy and awareness in our parishes and communities.
We regularly encourage our supporters to write to their MPs on a variety of issues which impact on our work. Sign up to our e-newsletter to hear about these calls to action.
Our Project Set Up resource contains all you need to know to run a social action project in a professional and safe way. We aim to help you sort out those tricky areas like finance, safeguarding and management without stress!
Our Project Resilience Audit is an exercise you can do with your Develpment Worker, to help your project become truly transformational by
- Celebrating what you are already doing well,
- Changing the focus from direct relief to resilience
- Involving and empowering those you seek to serve,
- Looking at the impact you are making, for individuals and changes to wider society,
- Putting Catholic Social Teaching into action.
For help and advice using this audit, please contact your Development Worker – their details can be found on this page.
We have designed this toolkit for parishes and projects to self-assess how they fit into the wider community.
By looking at your organisations aims, the needs of the people you are serving, and the connections you have, you can easily see your strengths and weaknesses, and learn where you might need to work with other groups in your community to achieve greater success.
The booklet can be used by projects that are just starting and looking for where to begin, or by existing projects to become even stronger, more connected and resilient. You might choose to work through the booklet methodically or dip into the areas that feel most applicable to you and your project. The booklet contains interactive exercises, resources and tips.