Nominations for St Margaret’s Church Charities 2017
Charity Name / Nominator / Brief description / Website link1
Archway Foundation / Marilyn Wiltshire / The whole purpose of Archway is to be alongside those who feel hurt by loneliness, to serve by offering support, friendship and a listening ear.Loneliness is an experience many of us may go through at various points in our lives. Feelings of loneliness affect people of all ages and backgrounds.
The Archway Foundation was established in Oxford in 1982 to help relieve some of the real distress caused by loneliness. We connect those feeling alienated with a diverse group of volunteers, many of whom know for themselves how damaging loneliness can be.Archway channels energy into action. /
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Emmaus House / Kathryn Bunch / Emmaus is a homelessness charity providing more than just a bed for the night to people who have experienced homelessness and social exclusion.We provide a home for as long as someone needs it and meaningful work in our social enterprise. Living in a stable environment with the opportunity to work helps our companions, as residents are known, to regain lost self-esteem and the confidence to get back on their feet. /
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USPG
(United Society Partners in the Gospel) / Martin Carr / USPGworks in direct partnership with Anglican churches around the world
For over 300 years we have been sharing God’s love through practical action, and seeing lives transformed. Our goal is to help more and more people ‘take hold of the life that is truly life’ (1 Timothy 6:19).
How we work looks different according to the culture and context of our church partners.
Our programmes have a deep impact because they are run by local churches that are embedded in the communities they serve – communities that have often been overlooked.We don’t give handouts, which can create dependency. Instead, we support the development of local skills and the empowerment of communities, leading to change from within. /
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Maggie’s / Cheryl Trafford / Maggie’s provides free practical, emotional and social support to people with cancer and their family and friends, following the ideas about cancer care originally laid out by Maggie Keswick Jencks.
Built in the grounds of NHS cancer hospitals, Maggie’s Centres are places with professional staff on hand to offer the support people need.
Our Centres are places to find practical advice about benefits and eating well; places where qualified experts provide emotional support; places to meet other people; places where you can simply sit quietly with a cup of tea.
The first Maggie’s Centre opened in Edinburgh in 1996 and since then Maggie’s has continued to grow, with 19 Centres at major NHS cancer hospitals in the UK, online and abroad. /
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Sightsavers / Hugh Series / What we want: We want avoidable blindness to be eliminated. We want equality for people with disabilities.
What we do: We help blind people to see again, and prevent people from going blind wherever we can. We improve the lives of people with disabilities, particularly those who have permanent sight loss.
We need to change the lives of people at risk of sight loss for the long term, not just today. So we campaign to make the world a fairer place for people with disabilities and we tackle the underlying causes of avoidable blindness. /
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Asylum Welcome / Sarah Escritt / Our vision: Asylum seekers, refugees and detainees feel welcome, respected and understood as members of a caring community. They live in dignity with hope for the future: they can exercise their rights and have their cases fairly considered, they can access services to meet their needs, and they have opportunities to develop and share their talents.
Our mission: Asylum Welcome tackles suffering and isolation among asylum seekers, refugees and detainees who have fled persecution and danger in their own countries and seek refuge in Oxford and Oxfordshire.
Our values: Common humanity:We are all one people, part of a local and a global community. Social justice:A fair and compassionate society provides rights and opportunities for all people. Voluntary action:Through enabling volunteers to give their time generously to help others, much can be achieved. /
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Thalia Carr / Diocese of Northern Uganda (All Saints Pakwelo Parish) / The Diocese is a member of the Anglican Church of Uganda and covers a large region, has 9 Archdeaconries, 42 parishes and around 196 sub parishes. It’s been though a lot in the past 25 years including civil war and rebel activity as well as the more normal poverty and hardship that a country like Uganda endures. The Parish of Pakwelo is near Gulu, the main town of the Diocese and is working hard to finish a new church building, and especially to engage youth in the area, who experience many problems, one way forward has been to start a football club, and they are second in the local league! The Vicar is Okoyo James, you can see him talking about the parish here /
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Friends of Mangochi Orphans Education and Training / Stuart Brand / What is FOMOE?:We are a registered charity, based in the UK, which raises funds to advance the education, relieve poverty and sickness and enhance the preservation and protection of good health of children in Malawi who are orphaned, in particular but not exclusively by helping to fund a school known as ‘Mangochi Orphans Education and Training’ (MOET)
Why was FOMOE set up?:Since MOET School started in 1999 it has been mainly reliant on just a few generous benefactors.In addition to this there have been 4 people who have been raising funds in their own communities in the UK independently – all connected to the school in their own way. Early in 2010 they came together to form a charity.FOMOE was set up to bring those efforts together in a co-ordinated way and to help put the school on a more secure financial footing by widening the donor base.This should enable MOET School to not only carry on doing its good work but also to develop new initiatives to enhance the lives and futures of its pupils and the communities they live in. /
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Home Start / Lucia Nixon / Home-Start is one of the leading family support charities in the UK.
Home-Start volunteers help families with young children deal with the challenges they face. We support parents as they learn to cope, improve their confidence and build better lives for their children.
Our support for families
There are 269 local, independent Home-Starts.At the heart of each Home-Start’s work is home visiting volunteer support.The work of H-S is even more important now that Children/s Centres are to be closed.
The families receiving helpinclude BME and refugee families, who may be struggling with post-natal depression, isolation, physical health problems, bereavement and many other issues, and they receive the support of a volunteer who will spend around two hours a week in a family’s home supporting them in the ways they need.Home-Starts across the UK also support families in groups, hold day trips and Christmas parties and help access localservices, as well aslots of othersupport. /
org.uk
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The Gatehouse / John Davey / The Gatehouse is a drop-in cafe with an open door for anyone who is 25 or over.It is open Monday – Friday 5.00-7.00 pm, Sundays 4.00-6.00pm, at the St Giles Parish Rooms,10 Woodstock Road, near the centre of Oxford, and offers a warm, welcoming environment for those who are homeless or poorly-housed – a couple of hours each day (except Saturday) to relax, meet others (or not if that’s what you choose). Other agencies in Oxford provide a whole range of services, but our particular contribution is a friendly, accepting atmosphere with as little aggravation as possible, and all the sandwiches, tea and sympathy we can supply. The Gatehouse accepts people just as they are. /
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Friends of Africa International Christian Ministries / Trevor Williams / AICM seeks to reach, mobilize and empower rural , often marginalised communities and alleviate spiritual and material poverty mainly in south west Uganda
AICM currently works in the following main areas:-
1) Vocational Training College (VTC)
2) AICM facilitates access to health care in rural areas ,where government facilities are lacking,by aiding local communities to build health centres and continuing to facilitate equipment, drugs and staffing.
3) education: In some marginalised Batwa communities AICM has provided a primary school and teachers, and supports pupil attendance by helping supply of uniform and equipment, provision of a daily meal, and finds sponsors for youngsters
4) AICM works as an advocate for minority community groups whose rights are ignored, such as theBatwa(pygmy) groups who have been forcibly removed from the rainforest along the Ugandan/Rwandan Congo borders.
5)worksamongst the rural communities of the Bwindi forest regions with Community Based Development Groups (CDG`s). Many of these are AIDS widows, AICM has field workers who encourage health, literacy, evengelism, and income generation.
The Friends of AICM (FAICM) see as their main task to support, encourage and advise this work. /