We always welcome new members to assist in this very rewarding work so if you feel you can offer even an hour or two of your time and would like to learn more or join the SVP then please come along to one of our monthly meetings or contact the Conference President, Michael Wilson-Smith, via (07881) 867974 or michael.wilson-smith@cliftondiocese.com. 

You can find out more about the work of the SVP at www.svp.org.uk.

Click here to download this report

Annual Report of the English Martyrs Parish SVP Conference 2024

Parish Saint Vincent de Paul (SVP) Society Conference Report 2023-24 (Clich here to download PDF)

Our parish is one of only two in our new Pastoral Area District (the other being Yeovil). We now have eight members and one applying and we meet together at 2.15 pm on the first Tuesday of each month.

In our parish, our main focus is contacting the house-bound, the sick, the  bereaved and the lonely. We currently visit people in their own homes or in sheltered accommodation, as visits to residential and nursing homes stopped post-Covid though we would like to restart these, if possible.

We occasionally provide transport for Doctor or hospital appointments or to attend Mass. We can also offer support to those in financial difficulties. We work to assist people in the wider community as well as members of our own parish. There are currently about 20 beneficiaries whom we regularly contact, visit and support.

Three of our members help with the Lord’s Larder in Chard on a weekly  basis and we host a Spring/Summer Afternoon Tea and a September Coffee Morning (which raised £300 in 2023). This year we also hosted a Healing Mass (Mass with anointing of the sick) followed by tea/coffee and cake and we hope to make this an annual event. Another exciting initiative this year was the formation of a Mini-Vinnies group for children aged ~7-11 and we now have 10 members who are learning about and experiencing how to  ‘See, Think, Do’.

Other key figures from the last year are: Over 850 contacts and visits made

Financial support as follows:                                                                                                 

£200 for feeding two babies in the Sudan for a year                                                         

150 to our twinned conference in Kallayam, Kerala, India                                   

£470 worth of vouchers at Christmas and £180 at Easter to local people·

£200 in assorted gifts to local individuals and families as recommended by members and requested by other organisations, but also providing practical help in various ways in accordance with people’s needs.

We welcome new members to assist in this rewarding work so if you feel you can offer an hour or two of your time and would like to learn more then please come to one of our meetings, or contact the President, Michael Wilson-Smith (michael.wilson-smith@cliftondiocese.com) or via the Parish Office. You can find out more about the work of the SVP at www.svp.org.uk

“Charity is the cement which binds communities to God and persons to one another.” (St. Vincent de Paul)