There are so many ideas and initiatives floating around in my head that I barely got any sleep last night. I’m not the best sleeper at any time, but waking up at 3:10am and not falling back to sleep is just wrong! Hence I was not exhibiting my typical positive, cheerful personality first thing this morning. I decided that, before I really got down to things, I would watch an ACN dvd sent to me in one of the numerous boxes of literature from Mike Cowie in the Sutton office (thanks, Mike!). The dvd presents an 8-minute portrait of the history of ACN, how it works and the many different projects we support. The images of so many people in the most humble of chapels or in the open air worshipping with such fervour and devotion reminded me all over again why we do this and why I, in particular, feel so strongly about needing to help. I know that we can’t ever eradicate the suffering and persecution of Christians, but I know that, working together we can all make a big, positive difference to those who live under threat every single day. Tired or not, I am back on track after watching that short film!
Yesterday Lorraine McMahon in Scotland and I attended the first ever Regional Strategy and Marketing Meeting. Lorraine and I, as is fast becoming the norm(!), attended courtesy of our telephones while Portia Borrett, Office Manager & Head of HR at ACN, and Patricia Hatton, Head of Fundraising & Marketing, sat together in the meeting room at HQ in Sutton. I am thinking that Lorraine and I should have life-size cardboard cut-outs of ourselves made so that Portia and Patricia feel more like they are actually addressing people and not disembodied voices…We discussed my strategies for 2014, as well as Lorraine’s ideas for Scotland. She is rather further along than I am (who isn’t, at this point!) and I intend to mine her for loads of advice and top tips (thanks in advance, Lorraine!) There are some obvious and important differences between our two patches, but our relative geographical proximity means that as time goes on we ought to be able to team up for various initiatives and large-scale events. Just wait and see what we will be able to accomplish before too long!
Yesterday afternoon and most of this morning (once I’d self-caffeinated and renewed my ACN mojo with the dvd) were spent sorting out some new Parish Reps. I am fast learning to love the concept of the Parish Rep. Why? ACN is a huge international Catholic charity. It was founded in 1947 by a Dutch priest, Fr Werenfried van Straaten, who sought to relieve the suffering of German refugees in the aftermath of the Second World War. The work eventually spread to Christian communities behind the Iron Curtain and thence to Africa, Asia and the Americas. Aid to the Church in Need is a Pontifical Foundation, meaning that our standing within the Catholic Church comes directly from the Vatican. This is a great honour, and it binds us to all of the other international offices of our charity, but it also means that ACN UK was not begun under the auspices of either of the British Bishops’ Conferences. So, we have to work doubly hard to get our message heard and we need to rely heavily on the support of individual bishops and their help in spreading the word out ACN’s good works throughout their dioceses.
We work on a parish-by-parish basis and our parish-based appeals are given week-in-and-week-out by our hard-working team of Area Secretaries. These wonderful and enthusiastic people address congregations within their assigned geographical region and let them know about what is happening to so many struggling Christians throughout the world, what ACN does to alleviate their suffering and how we as Catholics can help. These appeals add countless names to our mailing list and bring in much needed donations—one-offs and, increasingly, regular donations—without them we would really struggle to get our message heard. I believe that there are about 25 Area Secretaries in all—a mere four cover the NW (at around 600 parishes the NW provides plenty of work for these good people!). With this sort of coverage and without the institutional endorsement of one of the charities founded by the Bishops’ Conferences, ACN still manages to get into most parishes at least once every five years. This is amazing…tremendous even…but it is not enough, not nearly enough.
And, so, finally, we get to the Parish Rep. Parish Reps provide the crucial week-to-week link between ACN and their fellow parishioners. They keep the fire burning between appeals—which, since appeals may only happen once every five years,—is of immeasurable importance. I would like to thank all of those Parish Reps out there who help—from those who are only able to hand out our newsletters or post the occasional flyer(thank you!) to those who have a bit more time and host bake sales or sell our merchandise (thank you, too!) to those whose hard work and persistence have resulted in their parishes actively supporting ACN every year, all year round (THANK YOU!). So you see, without Parish Reps, we would begin every appeal from a virtual state of anonymity; we would have to start all over again every time. With a Parish Rep in place, an Area Secretary can walk into a parish that is already aware of—and often committed to—the goals and aims of ACN. Thank you Parish Reps everywhere!
With such a rewarding job description, who would not want to be a Parish Rep? My thoughts, exactly. And so, here in the North West, from this week, we begin a mighty drive to locate all of those would-be Parish Reps out there and to get them on board. Area Secretaries will ask for help when they present appeals, I shall contact those parishes where we have been welcomed in the past and we will use all of the means at our disposal to spread the word that WE NEED MORE PARISH REPS here in the NW! I have set myself a target of increasing the Parish Reps for each of the five dioceses under my care to a minimum of 20% of parishes by September…can I do this? On my own: never. With much prayer, lots of enthusiasm and perseverance and the help of the Area Secretaries and the Catholic community in the NW: definitely!
Does your parish have an ACN Parish Rep? Can you help?
Thanks for reading! Caroline
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