1st December 2019

Tea And Coffee:

Tea and coffee are generally served after 9.15am Mass on Sunday every week. Come and enjoy a cuppa with friends. Everyone is welcome.

Little Joes Craft Club

Come into the hall after Mass on Sunday and join in with the fun crafts for little fingers. All children welcome. It is free of charge with toast and juice available. See you there.

Repository:
Christmas cards now on sale, boxed sets and single cards. We also have a stock of 2020 Catholic diaries that include The Order of Mass.

Advent Deanery Reconciliation Service:
Here at St Joseph’s 7pm on Wednesday 4th December, a number of priests will be available for individual confession. What better way to prepare for the birth of our Saviour, please do your best to attend.

St Joseph’s Care:
Once again, we are, with the help of our young people, making up bags of groceries for young families most in need at St Cuthbert’s school in South Shore for Christmas. Any additional contributions you can make to our after-Mass collections would be most appreciated.

Repository:
Christmas cards now on sale, boxed sets and single cards. We also have a stock of 2020 Catholic diaries that include The Order of Mass.

Advent Vigil
at Cardinal Newman College on‘Tues 3rd Dec at 6.30pm See the poster for details.

Women At Prayer:
If anyone would like a lift to the Women at prayer group on Wednesday December 4th at the Xaverian Missionary Spirituality Centre please call Wanda on the number in this weeks bulletin. It starts at 2pm and lasts an hour. One space is available.

Stella Matutina:
invite you to their Christmas Markets, with Festive Afternoon Tea on Sat 7th Dec from 2 – 4pm. Christmas cards & gifts and tombola. See notice in the church porch.

HMP Kirkham:
The annual Carol Service for residents and their families will be held on Monday 16th December (time tba later). We have a fantastic record of attending this Service so let’s see if we can keep that up this year with possibly some new faces as well. As usual we have to submit names in advance so please enter your name on the sheet at the back of church If you are interested.

Hospice 200 Club Draw November 2019:
Hospice 200 Club Draw November 2019:
£100. Mrs Broadbent
£ 75. Mrs. S. Crook
£ 60. Miss B. Kelly
£ 55. Mrs. C Hill
£ 50. Mr. M. Wormleighton
£ 50. Mr. Gledhill
£ 45. Mr. M. Hamilton
£ 40. Mrs. 8. Wall
£ 35. Mrs Grayson
£ 25. Mr. MB. Crean
£ 20. Mr. P. Jones
£ 20. Mrs. G. Turner.
£ 15. Mr. P. Kelly
£ 15. Mrs. G. Fielding.
We gave a cheque for £1500 to the Hospice representative last Friday evening With the proceeds of the Quiz night and raffle, we are now able to send the Hospice, a further £675. Thank you to all the members of the 200 Club and all who helped make the Quiz night such a success.
We gave a cheque for £1500 to the Hospice representative last Friday evening With the proceeds of the Quiz night and raffle, we are now able to send the Hospice, a further £675. Thank you to all the members of the 200 Club and all who helped make the Quiz night such a success.

CAFOD:
Thank You for the amount raised for Cafod from the Family Fast Day. Total £1442.74

Clothes For St Joseph’s Care:
St. Joseph’s Care, through your generosity, is able to continue to support the needy in the local area by providing vouchers for food and other necessities. Now with the cold weather coming there is also a great need for warm clothing, especially shoes, jackets, coats for both children and adults. if you have any of these items which your children have outgrown or you no longer need or wear please bring them to church on the first weekend of each month and we will make sure that they reach those in need. We will start this initiative on the weekend of 6/7‘h of December. Your help is greatly appreciated.

Foodbank:
This weekend we have our Christmas collection for Cenacolo, warm socks, gloves etc., – mens toiletries and food items very welcome. For the next 3 weekends we will collect for St Cuthbert’s SVP who help those struggling in their area. Thank you for your continued very generous offerings for our two charities, your offerings really do make a difference.

Advent:
A limited number of the popular Advent Extra is available from the Repository reduced to £1.50. Also available: Advent Celebrate especially for children at £1 which includes an Advent Calendar. Walk With Me bookIets are also now available at the back of Church. Cost £1.

New Liturgical Year:
Our Mass books from the First Sunday in Advent are yellow. If you have any other colour of Mass book at home please can you return them as soon as possible. We are grateful for the donation of 3 bookcases enabling us to now store all the books not in use in the Presbytery.

Christmas Dinner:
Now we have our volunteers in place our Christmas Dinner Guest List is now open, please pass the word on. If you would like to join us for a 3 course Christmas Dinner please sign up on the list at the back of church. The list will remain open until 10 December. If you are interested in volunteering to help then please sign the volunteer list. We are grateful for the kind and generous donation received recently to offset costs for this event.

Prayer Intentions:
Once a month, starting with the first Sunday of Advent, the prayer intentions placed on the Board at the back of church and received on Facebook, will be gathered up, placed in a basket and offered up into the hands of Mary at the Thursday Rosary at noon and then before the altar at the Saturday Vigil Mass and Sunday Masses.

Hospital:
If you, or someone you know, is going into Blackpool Victoria Hospital please infonn the RC Chaplain on 01253 956299 giving the name as known by the hospital and the ward. Should the Chaplain be required urgently please ask the ward staff to contact the on-call RC Chaplain.

Rosary:
We meet at noon on Thursdays in church to recite the Rosary. This is a very prayerful and contemplative time and everyone is welcome.

St. Joseph’s Care:
Thank you — your efforts are really making a difference to those living in the margins in the wider community who are often living in desperate circumstances. Providing help without judging people is a real charitable action.

We are also here to help when you most need it! Helpline open each day from 9am until 7pm Tel: 07840 112 265.

We are always looking for more volunteers to ‘man’ the telephone or help out from time to time with lifts and odd jobs. 80, if you think you could spare an hour here and there please complete the volunteer form at the back of church.

Parking:
we would be grateful if you could avoid parking over the bus stop on Blackpool Road and over the white T-bars at each of our entrances. We had a complaint from a wheelchair user recently that she was hampered leaving the bus because a car was parked over the bus stop and cars were parked over the T bars and where the kerbs have been lowered.

Property:
The re-varnishing of our entrance doors is now complete. We are grateful to Lytham Forge who waived their invoice for the refurbishment of the door handles.

Altar Servers: 

We are looking for more volunteers (from age 8 to 80) to join our committed team. Full training will be given, don’t be shy, this is a great way of serving the Lord and the parish. Just leave your details in the Sacristry or speak to one of the servers.

Bellringing:
If you are interested in learning to ring, age no barrier, then contact Richard on the number in this weeks bulletin or just come along to a practice session held each Thursday at 7 pm. This is a really social group who enjoy the art of bellringing in a relaxed and friendly environment. Why not give it a try!

Hospital:
Please don’t forget to let Fr. David know if you are admitted to hospital so that a hospital Chaplaincy visit can be arranged.

CCTV:
We now have coverage externally covering the Hall and the rear of the church as well internally within the Narthex (behind the screen) and the main body of the church. Images are being recorded but viewing of coverage is limited to investigating any misdemeanour.

Piety Stall:
General cards are available as well as rosary beads, prayer books, prayer cards and small gifts..

Canonisation:
Pope Francis has announced that Cardinal Newman will be canonised in Rome on Sunday 13 October 2019.

More On Safeguarding:
We all have a role to play in safeguarding the young or adults that maybe at risk. It is for this reason that The Catholic Safeguarding Commission have worked with EduCare to bring you an e-learning package that will raise awareness throughout the Catholic Community of England and Wales. The e-learning programme is available to all members of the Catholic Community free of charge. By providing an opportunity to access this free on line training at a time that suits will help individuals . familiarise themselves with safe guarding matters, helping to create a nurturing and safer environment. The Child Exploitation & Online Safety programme will be of particular interest to parents or indeed grandparents, who will be keen to understand how children and young people use technology and better understand the associated risks. Each programme is modular and divided into its sizeable format, to access this training email elearningsafguardinglrcd.org.uk to register your interest. Your e mail should contain your name e mail address the name of your parish and your role e.g. Parent volunteer etc. On receipt of your email the safeguarding administrator will register your email address with EduCare. Then you will receive a welcome email from EduCare where you will set your own password. Then you will have instant access to the training programmes.

St. Joseph’s Care:
Here to help when you most need it! Helpline open each day from 9am until 7pm Tel: 07840 112 265. Thank you for your continued generosity via the after-Mass collections which are enabling us to support local needs as well as reach out into the wider community and provide help to those who find themselves in desperate circumstances. If you would like to volunteer and help out from time to time please complete the volunteer form at the back of church.

Hospital:
Please don‘t forget to let Fr. David know if you are admitted to hospital so that a hospital Chaplaincy visit can be arranged. Also don’t forget to let the Catholic Chaplaincy team know if you or a member of your family is admitted to hospital, whether it be Blackpool Vic, Clifton, or the Hospice, or any other hospital. Often, the faith of the person is not recorded when they are admitted, especially at times like these when nurses are overstretched. This makes the chaplains role very difficult when visiting wards. The best approach is to inform your parish priest of the details so that these can be passed on to the chaplain of the hospital where your family member is staying.

St. Joseph’s Care:
We are very thankful and fortunate to have a team of telephone operators who ‘man’ our helpline 10 hrs a day and a team of volunteers who give up their time to provide assistance in all sorts of ways when needed. We are also now making outbound calls to our housebound parishioners just to say hello and ensure that they have everything they need. Your generous after Mass offerings are continuing to help us provide direct and practical assistance to those in need within our local community Please continue to support St Joseph’s Care as we strive to allow Christ to work through us so that we can make a real difference. Through St Joseph’s Care we are fulfilling our mission of evangelisation in the local community.

Taking An Active Part In The Parish:
Remember your talent is God’s gift to you and what you do with it is your gift to God. Please consider in what way you might be able to help the parish, practically, administratively or spiritually. Just drop your details in the Suggestion Box and someone will get in touch with you.

Lost Property:
Our lost property box is located in the Sacristry. Please note that items will be retained for 3 months before being disposed of.

St Joseph’s Facebook Page:
We now have over 300 people regularly following us on Facebook which is allowing us to reach out to those in the wider community and fulfil our parish commitment to evangelisation. In the last couple of months we have been able to help a number of people who have sought assistance through this medium.

Used Postage Stamps And Supermarket Vouchers:
Thank you for your continued donations of used postage stamps. St. Peter’s school are very grateful for all your support. The school will be collecting stamps for many years to come. The stamps provide a good source of revenue which is used to further enhance learning for the whole school. Thank you.