“Good Mooooooooorning, SHREWSBURY!”

Caroline's Mars Bar and Banana Cake

St Andrew's, Sampford Courtenay

Yes, the title of this blog entry is my own, small, personal tribute to Robin Williams, who sadly died just a couple of days ago. It is, however, also directly relevant to the goings on at the NW Office as I have just returned from giving my first press interview as the NW Manager—I was interviewed by Simon Caldwell, the Communications and Press Officer for the Diocese of Shrewsbury. The interview will appear in the autumn issue of the Shrewsbury Voice. It all seemed to go well; Simon is very supportive and will help spread the word about the new NW Office and my regional initiatives. Afterwards he showed me the diocesan website and how he already uses ACNUK press releases to post news bulletins on the homepage; he also has an events section and he is happy to highlight upcoming ACN events. Thank you, Simon! Here’s hoping that this is the first of many successful NW Office forays into the complex world of the Catholic and regional press.

I am now firmly back in the saddle following my week away. The cottage turned out to be just outside of Chagford in North Devon (so, not Dorset this time!). It was a beautiful old farmhouse, not substantially altered since about 1650, complete with outbuildings and a lovely secluded garden. Very relaxing and an excellent base for visiting the local sites. I attach a picture of St Andrew’s Parish Church in Sampford Courtenay,   wherein began the Prayer Book Rebellion of 1549 (not familiar with this instance of religious persecution within in our own country? Shame on you—read up on it!). There is also a photo of my world-famous, patented Mars Bar and Banana Cake (which my three nephews—11, 8 and 4—made all by themselves in the lovely farmhouse kitchen while we were on holiday.) Maybe this will be my entry should we ever have an ACNUK NW Office Bake-Off!

The past week has seen the situation in Iraq go from atrocious to whatever the word is that indicates that something is exponentially worse than ‘atrocious.’ Patriarch Louis Sacko, the leader of the majority of Iraq’s Christians, asked for a Global Day of Prayer for Iraq last Wednesday  (6 August—the Feast of the Transfiguration) and our own Bishops’ Conference teamed up with ACN and the Patriarch to ask  English and Welsh Catholics to pray for peace and an end to suffering in Iraq at all Masses over this past weekend. ACN has promised to send more emergency aid to Northern Iraq; in fact, so far ACN has sent £160,000 and just yesterday Baron Johannes Heereman, ACN’s International Executive President and two others from our International Office in Germany left for Erbil, where they arrived this morning. It is this direct involvement that makes ACN such a great charity; I am extra proud to be a (small) part of the ACN team when I learn about the risks that many of our staff take to make sure that what aid we can offer goes to where it is most needed. The prayers requested by the Patriarch and our Bishops are already being answered by generous ACN benefactors. I understand that the phones at HQ and the ACNUK website are extremely busy with donors desperate to help—the NW Office has also taken several very generous gifts. Let’s keep it going so that we can really make a difference to the lives of these suffering, displaced people.

Thanks for reading!  Caroline