Andy Drozdziak
CAFOD has praised Catholic schools in England and Wales for their ‘wonderful’ generosity during a period of financial difficulty.
In the last academic year (2022-2023), 44% of Catholic schools in England and Wales raised over £610,000 for CAFOD.
Catholic Primary and Secondary schools also raised over £170,000 in emergency funds for appeals such as the floods in Pakistan and the earthquake in Syria.
Monica Conmee, head of education at CAFOD, paid tribute to the efforts of schools in ‘going above and beyond’ to support people in need.
“It’s been wonderful to see Catholic schools rise to the challenge of standing in solidarity with our sisters and brothers around the world. Times haven’t been easy here at home, but this hasn’t stopped schools going above and beyond to help those in need around the world,” she said.
CAFOD pointed out that Catholic schools ‘also showed remarkable commitment to Catholic Social Teaching and tackling the climate crisis’ by achieving the LiveSimply award. 37 schools won this award, which sees schools committing to live simply, sustainably and in solidarity with the world’s poorest communities.
Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School in Chorley is one such school. Deputy Headteacher Charlotte Chenery said: “We really do feel that working towards the award has given us the chance to find further ways of bringing our faith into action and helped us to focus on making better choices for the benefit of our world and those within it.
“Our children have certainly embraced the need to take action for the greater good; it has been very rewarding to see them using their voice to create change.
“The whole journey has been well supported by yourselves at CAFOD and continues to be the place to which we will turn for future inspiration.”
There are also now 444 CAFOD clubs in Catholic Primary Schools, which help pupils to take the lead in putting Catholic Social Teaching into action. The clubs undertake a range of activities including writing prayers, art and crafts.
Monica Conmee underlined CAFOD’s commitment to education and in enabling young people put ‘faith into action.’
“I am constantly amazed at the creativity and sheer determination of young people to build a more just and peaceful world. We will continue to support schools in helping children and young people put faith into action,” she said.
CAFOD provides a range of free resources and activities for primary and secondary schools, including lesson plans and assembly ideas, as well as ways for children and young people to get involved in campaigning. These can be found at their website: cafod.org.uk/schools