Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Radical Catholic group setting up night shelter & resource centre for migrants in Mattison Road
Radical Christian Catholic Worker movement group, London Catholic worker have been given the disused St Augustine's church and the house next door at 49 Mattison Road to use for 2 years. As a key part of their plan, they aim to create a night shelter providing overnight accommodation for up to 30 destitute refugees.
The Catholic Worker describe themselves as follows:
The night shelter is apparently due to open very soon and the group are spending time cleaning and decorating to prepare the space. There will be a chance to meet those involved and see the space on a forthcoming work day Saturday July 24th between 10am and 4pm. Access via 49 Mattison Road, next to the church.
Visits can be arranged on other days via londoncatholicworker@yahoo.co.uk.
There are also plans to use the space during the day as "a resource centre and networking space in London for migrants and other activists". The next meeting for looking at this aspect of the project is on Sunday July 25th at LARC, 62 Fieldgate ST, Whitechapel, E1 1ES.
For those wanting to offer support, the organisation has circulated the following request:
We rely totally on voluntary donations in cash and in kind, and volunteers, for our work. So if you have anything that is surplus to what you need, please think of us. and also please forward this around to anyone you think might be willing and able to help us. We need basically everything you might need to furnish and equip a house, plus office stuff. AND, in addition, we will be providing overnight accommodation for up to 30 destitute refugees. So we will need extra stuff, especially mattresses and bedding, also fridges/freezers.
Money is always needed too, of course!
We also need volunteers for all aspects of the work, 'front line' and support roles like admin, book keeping and organising. Especially we are always looking for people who want to commit to the full time live-in life and work of community, hospitality and resistance that is the Catholic Worker!
thanks
All at London Catholic Worker
tel: 020 7249 0041
FURNITURE AND EQUIPMENT NEEDED
Toiletries,
household cleaning materials
Food - non-perishable and regular donations of fresh food
Bedding
Mattresses & Beds
Desks
Shelves
Wardrobes
Computers
computer printers
chairs
sofas
telephones
storage boxes
TV
DVD / video players
DVDs / videos
A4 paper & notebooks
lamps and shades
pens etc
tools
bike locks and parts
light bulbs
clothes (mainly mens, but also womens)
Kitchen equipment
Cups
Plates
Bowls
Pots / pans
Industrial cooker
Washing machine
Fridge freezer
Pressure cooker
Tables & chairs
Microwave
Kettles
Water boilers / urns
Bread bins
Knives chopping boards (inc. colour coded)
Etc . etc .. Etc ..
The Catholic Worker describe themselves as follows:
Catholic, ecumenical, pacifist, communitarian and anarchist in the spirit of gentle personalism. Our work in London is now made up by two houses of hospitality, a community café and a drop-in soup kitchen, and continue to focus our resistance on the 'war on terror', British nuclear weapons and the arms.
The night shelter is apparently due to open very soon and the group are spending time cleaning and decorating to prepare the space. There will be a chance to meet those involved and see the space on a forthcoming work day Saturday July 24th between 10am and 4pm. Access via 49 Mattison Road, next to the church.
Visits can be arranged on other days via londoncatholicworker@yahoo.co.uk.
There are also plans to use the space during the day as "a resource centre and networking space in London for migrants and other activists". The next meeting for looking at this aspect of the project is on Sunday July 25th at LARC, 62 Fieldgate ST, Whitechapel, E1 1ES.
For those wanting to offer support, the organisation has circulated the following request:
We rely totally on voluntary donations in cash and in kind, and volunteers, for our work. So if you have anything that is surplus to what you need, please think of us. and also please forward this around to anyone you think might be willing and able to help us. We need basically everything you might need to furnish and equip a house, plus office stuff. AND, in addition, we will be providing overnight accommodation for up to 30 destitute refugees. So we will need extra stuff, especially mattresses and bedding, also fridges/freezers.
Money is always needed too, of course!
We also need volunteers for all aspects of the work, 'front line' and support roles like admin, book keeping and organising. Especially we are always looking for people who want to commit to the full time live-in life and work of community, hospitality and resistance that is the Catholic Worker!
thanks
All at London Catholic Worker
tel: 020 7249 0041
FURNITURE AND EQUIPMENT NEEDED
Toiletries,
household cleaning materials
Food - non-perishable and regular donations of fresh food
Bedding
Mattresses & Beds
Desks
Shelves
Wardrobes
Computers
computer printers
chairs
sofas
telephones
storage boxes
TV
DVD / video players
DVDs / videos
A4 paper & notebooks
lamps and shades
pens etc
tools
bike locks and parts
light bulbs
clothes (mainly mens, but also womens)
Kitchen equipment
Cups
Plates
Bowls
Pots / pans
Industrial cooker
Washing machine
Fridge freezer
Pressure cooker
Tables & chairs
Microwave
Kettles
Water boilers / urns
Bread bins
Knives chopping boards (inc. colour coded)
Etc . etc .. Etc ..
Tags for Forum Posts: Harringay's churches, St Augustine's Church, london catholic worker
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by John D on
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The CW was started in 1933 New York by Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin to “explode the dynamite of Catholic Social Teaching”, and has been comforting the afflicted and afflicting the comfortable ever since.
Hope nobody living on Mattison is feeling comfortable :-)
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Permalink Reply by Alan Stanton on
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"Hope nobody living on Mattison is feeling comfortable :-)"
Why's that, John?
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It was a joke, based on their published objective " afflicting the comfortable "
According to their website they seem a nice bunch.
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Permalink Reply by Omotn on
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Definition of afflict:
▸ verb: cause pain or suffering in ("Afflict with the plague")
▸ verb: cause bodily suffering to
▸ verb: cause great unhappiness for; distress ("She was afflicted by the death of her parents")
So " . . . afflicting the comfortable . . . " is an odd choice of activity for an organisation espousing nonviolence
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Permalink Reply by Old-Age-Emporium(OAE) on
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Delighted to see our old church about to be put to such dynamic use - more dynamic than anything we ever managed there since I first attended St Augustine's in 1977. (Don't tell Fr Seamus Noctor, now happily retired.) There are worse things you could do with dynamite on Mattison Road. So anything we can do to help would be welcome. Strikes me the original Primitive Methodists who built the church might well welcome the advent of the Catholic Workers.
The comfortable ones in need of affliction are probably not living on Mattison. The CW in the States made a memorable attack on the US Catholic Bishops position on the Iraq war a few years ago. So Westminster Archdiocese, prepare to be afflicted!
ps. Absolutely not, Omotn. Afflicting the comfortable is what it's all about - as a means to comforting the afflicted of course.
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Permalink Reply by Takaokagiejin on
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This is wonderful news and very much needed resource for Harringay.
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Permalink Reply by Adedayo Ige on
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Praise God!
thanks the catholic workers for using the building for charitable purposes for which it was built originally and I believe it is a worthwhile project to help people in dare need.
we understandt that it will not be easylike any charitable projects but it is do-able and will be successful.
I will put words out to our local community to see if people can spare time and materials things to support you in the good work.
Well done
Rev Adedayo Ige
Harngay United Church-Baptist
corner of Allison Road & Green Lanes
London N8 0RG
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Great to see the community coming together to support refugees who are so in need and who in my experience will in their turn contribute so much.
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Permalink Reply by Hugh on
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We've heard that people are getting turned away from what the organisation billed as a chance "to meet those involved and see the space". We're trying to find out what's happening and will let you know.
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Okay, I've just talked with Chris & David from LCW on the phone. Apparently the email we've reproduced above hadn't been intended for general distribution so they hadn't expected people dropping in and aren't really prepared for it.
However, they're keen to develop good relationships with the community and so are happy for people to pop in and say hi. However they ask that we understand that it's primarily a working day. So you'll have to take them as you find them and please don't go expecting a whole heap of answers. These guys won't have them.
We're talking with them about having a more formal open day down the line a bit.
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Yes I spoke to Martin (Newell) and Conor there a couple of hours ago. They're obviously in the throes of setting up house and slightly taken aback by the attention. I think as they get to grips with it over the next few weeks they'll welcome any assistance towards resources we can offer. Clearly running costs, utility bills etc will be a constant need as they run into autumn/winter and try to extend their use of the building as well as No.49 Mattison. 'London Catholic Worker' is a network, not an organisation. In other words, each Outreach such as St Augustine's is independent - there isn't any central HQ to call upon for funding; they depend on local goodwill.
To clarify any misconception (not springing from this thread) Martin and Conor stress that they will be starting small with, maybe, three or four refugees referred to them by other agencies; their provision will be bed, breakfast, evening meal - over a few weeks in most cases to help get people on their feet or refer them onwards; there is no question of this being a magnet for destitute migrants or beggars or drunks; it is not a resource for 'care in the community' or the mentally ill. Apparently there have been some such speculative rumours going around!
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