Consultancy Opportunity – Community Consultation

Our Lady’s Roman Catholic Primary School, Boycott Road, Hereford, HR2 7RN is looking for a new headteacher, (Group 3 Leadership pay range), full-time, permanent position. Required for 1st September 2025. A senior leadership application form, Notes to Applicants, Recruitment Monitoring and Rehabilitation of Offenders form can be downloaded at www.our-ladys.hereford.sch.uk Closing Date: 12noon on Monday, 17th March 2025.

1st March – Jumble Sale. 11th March, 10:30am – Community Coffee Morning, CAB in attendance. 25th March, 10:30am – Community Coffee Morning, CAB in attendance. These coffee mornings will be held regularly on Tuesday mornings every 2 weeks and are open to all. 13th April - Easter Raffle and Easter Hat Parade after Morning Mass. 17th May - Parish Quiz. 13th July – Bring a dish to share, Pimm’s, strawberries and cream. 26th September – MacMillan Coffee Morning. 11th October – Parish Quiz. 18th October – Jumble Sale. 15th November – Christmas Fayre. 7th December – Christmas Lunch, bring a dish to share plus raffle. To be arranged, Bingo, Children’s Film Night, Children’s Quiz.

As part of our ‘Warm Spaces Project’ the parish will be hosting regular coffee mornings every two weeks on Tuesdays from 10.30am beginning on Tuesday 11 th March. On that day and on the 25 th March we hope to have representatives from the Citizens Advice Bureau in attendance for private consultations. Please do your best to support the coffee mornings and bring your friends as holding these community events improves our chance of obtaining Lottery grants and other funding towards our hall renovations.

We are thrilled to announce that the Cardiff-Menevia Youth led by Father Martin Donnelly on behalf of the Cardiff Menevia Youth Council will be joining 10,000 others at Wembley Arena on 15th March 2025 for the much-anticipated return of the CYMFed FLAME Congress! We’ve secured a limited number of seats on behalf of the Archdiocese of Cardiff Menevia at just £31 per person, which includes transportation (please bring your own packed lunch). We hope these seats will be near the front of the arena! Seats will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis and are only fully confirmed upon payment of the ticket price (you will receive an email with payment details once you have booked). This incredible event is open to young people from Year 9 (typically 14 years old) to university age. Due to the nature of the content, it’s not suitable for those in Year 8 or younger. The day will be filled with: Inspiring speakers from around the world Award-winning musicians Representatives from various organizations The event will conclude with Adoration led by most of the Bishops of England and Wales. If you would like to attend, please sign up through link: https://forms.gle/6bD2kM3hfQv2sFjC9 or scan QR code on poster by Friday 21 st February 2025. Please contact Fr Martin Donnelly on olqpllanelli@btinternet.com or Deacon Christian Mahoney on youth@rcadc.org 07764515864 if you require further details. We can’t wait to share this unforgettable experience with you!

A Parish Stewardship Initiative encourages parishioners to reflect on the blessings they have received from God and, in thanksgiving, return a portion of the gifts of time, talent and treasure allotted to them. So, please think about sharing the talents that God has given each of us, for example skills and gifts to do certain things well, so that we can use them for the good of the parish and for others. On the newsletter (19th January 2025) there is an appeal for people to join the team to help with preparing the flowers displayed in the Church. Over the coming weeks, there will be further requests for people to help with church cleaning, reading at Mass, welcoming, serving tea and coffee and much more. Please pray and think about how you could contribute your skills and talents.

The Children's Film show was postponed last Friday. This will now be held on Friday 14th February at 6.00pm in the Parish Hall – Disney’s ‘Elemental’. Tickets £5 each including party food, available from John McGowan in February. Tickets already purchased remain valid or can be refunded if you cannot make the new date.

The Holy Father has decided that 2025 will be a year of Jubilee, something which happens every 25 years. The theme is “Pilgrims of Hope” We are all on a pilgrimage towards Heaven, towards ‘sharing the glory of God’, as St Paul puts it. Any pilgrimage or journey is sustained by hope: hope in the destination. We are currently preparing for the Jubilee Year 2025, which Pope Francis has given the theme, Pilgrims of Hope. We might say that this Jubilee Year, and our preparations for it, are another pilgrimage within that great pilgrimage of our faith, one in which we seek to deepen our sense of hope in God’s promises, in ‘sharing the glory of God’. As we look at the world around us, hope is something that is very much needed in these times. We need it, too, in our personal lives, in the lives of our families, and as a virtue cultivated in all of our relationships. It is important that we share the hope we gain in faith, with others, a hope borne of the knowledge of God’s love and the experience of knowing Jesus Christ. Our Year of Preparation for the Jubilee Year is to be a year of prayer, focusing, in particular, on the Lord’s Prayer, in order to foster our relationship with God our Father. This will open us up to receiving the graces and blessings that He wishes to bestow on us during the Jubilee Year…Archbishop Mark O’Toole.

Our small team of volunteers needs more help with the soup lunches on Saturdays from 11.30am to 1.30pm. We serve tea, coffee, soup, bread & butter and biscuits to a small group of regular visitors. It is easy to do, no qualifications are needed except a willingness to be on a flexible rota and chat to those we support. Contact Denise, John or pop along one Saturday to see how it works. Thank you!

Would you like to have a birthday or special occasion celebrated for a friend or family member or Sympathy for the loss of a cherished person? You can have a Mass said for that person on these special occasions or for any other special intention. Grab a Mass Intention envelope and enter the name and date for the Mass you require. Envelopes are available at the rear of the church. You can call or email the parish office at the Presbytery. This is a beautiful and special way to pay tribute to our loved ones. There is no better gift that we can that offer, none more supreme than the Sacrifice of the Holy Mass.