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At the beginning of June, Siân and Michael joined a group travelling to Rome for the Caritas Social Action Network Leadership Conference, and it’s fair to say we brought back a wealth of ideas and inspiration. Under the conference theme Flourishing Together: Building Compassionate Communities, we gathered from across the Catholic social action network, with organisations such as other diocesan Caritas agencies, SVP, Nugent, CCLA, JRS and Million Minutes. We spent the week sha

See below for a new campaign from a coalition between the St Vincent de Paul Society, the Jesuit Refugee Service and Caritas Social Action Network. Join us in putting faith into action – and help build a society that protects people seeking sanctuary. Today, people seeking asylum in the UK are facing laws and policies that deny their dignity. Families are kept apart. People are forced into poverty and isolation. Many live in fear, unable to rebuild their lives even after bein

Recently, students from St John Payne Catholic School in Chelmsford contributed to a national resource for Refugee Week 2026. Offering their reflections on both courage and community, a video including the recordings of the students are now available to view as part of a collective worship assembly resource created by Caritas Brentwood and Caritas Social Action Network. When reflecting on community and what makes a community thrive, the students said: “Community for me is sur

The National Justice and Peace Network Annual Conference is taking place between 24th-26th July 2026 at the Hayes Conference Centre, Swanwick, Derbyshire. The conference will focus on the theme ‘Just Talk,’ addressing the challenges of communication in a world increasingly shaped by disinformation and brief, often misleading sound bites. The weekend will explore how individuals and communities can promote genuine communication and meaningful encounters, guided by the Spirit o

This month we are highlighting the work of the BCCS, whose amazing work ensures that young people and their families across the diocese are able to get mental health and financial support when they are in need. Below is a list of some of the services that the BCCS offer, along with some of the statistics, showing how crucial their work is to supporting young people in our diocese. Child & Family Counselling Service Based at their dedicated centre in Billericay, the Child & Fa

In our most recent Caritas Round-Up, we briefly touched on the diocesan pilgrimage to Walsingham, which took place back in May. We now want to take the opportunity to revisit that experience in light of the work we do at Caritas Brentwood and the wider mission of the Church. Diocesan pilgrimages, including the annual pilgrimage to Lourdes, hold deep significance in the life of the Church. They are not only expressions of faith and devotion but also powerful witnesses to the u

💎 ‘Treasure Within’ 💎 A brand new RISE Theatre Primary school day, centred around Catholic Social Teaching. Booking is now open for Autumn 2026! Treasure Within is a dynamic, all-day experience for primary schools that creatively brings the 7 principles of Catholic Social Teaching (CST) to life through live theatre, music, classroom activities, and immersive workshops. The story follows a school child who sets off on a modern-day treasure hunt to discover and apply the CST

Welcome Papal Insights for the month of May 2026! This edition is a particularly special one as we will be focusing on Pope Leo XIV’s first encyclical Magnifica humanitas. Released on the 25th May, the encyclical discusses the importance and dignity of the human person in the age of artificial intelligence. We recommend that you give it a read, and have placed a few recommended resources below to help you get to grips with it. To read the document online, click here<< Archbis

Welcome to our Caritas Round-Up for May 2026! We’ve had an exciting month, full of networking and developing relationships, with even a short pilgrimage at the end! We are continuing to build up a presence in both local and national conversations, ensuring that we can continue to help the people of our diocese in the most impactful way. Mass for Migrants 2026 At the beginning of May was the joyful celebration of the annual Mass for Migrants. We were delighted that Caritas

In case you missed it: St Mary’s University, Twickenham has re-released its free Laudato Si’ Champions toolkit for Laudato Si’ Week (which took place 17-24 May).  Developed in response to research showing many Catholic students were unfamiliar with Laudato Si’, Pope Francis’s encyclical on ecology, the project helps educators explore Catholic teaching on sustainability and care for our common home.  Over the last year, the resources have been downloaded by almost 300 organi

On Monday 11th May, the SDEN held a meeting evaluating our achievements since the beginning of the year, as well as offering a reflection for Laudato Si’ Week 2026. The two inputs were provided by Chee Yan Shek and Sr MaryAnne Francalanza, respectively. Chee’s section about our achievements and actions celebrated the work of our meetings since January 2026, and how – looking ahead – we might continue to develop and see further progress. Sr MaryAnne’s section focused around me

Read below to learn more about Million Minutes’ schools and parishes CST programme – Celebrating Young People: Revival Million Minutes is delighted to announce the re-launch of our fully resourced Celebrating Young People: Revival programme for the 2026/27 academic year. We warmly invite schools, parishes, and all those working with young people to join us for a special online event to learn more about this inspiring initiative. The event will take place on two convenient tim