Lent Appeal 2025
This Lent we aim to raise awareness and support three focussed, achievable targets at a local, national and international level.
- Local: BURPS, the charity dedicated to making a difference for families on the Stoke Mandeville Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.
- National: St Matthew’s, Burnley, supporting young people attending the Bishop of Blackburn’s Youth Holiday.
- International: Siyabulela Pre-school, South Africa, a small pre-school in a township west of Cape Town. It serves children from the local Township, as well as the Informal Settlement.
Donate Now
(note, your donation must be processed through the church accounts, but is clearly marked ‘Lent Appeal 2025’)
BURPS
BURPS (Baby Unit Relatives and Parents Support) is the charity dedicated to making a difference for families on the Stoke Mandeville Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.
Can we help BURPS? The neonatal unit needs more specialist feeding chairs, with the goal of having one for each cot space.
These chairs allow mothers to comfortably spend prolonged periods of time next to their baby and their features support mothers with bonding and, once they are able to, with feeding their baby. The length of NICU stays can vary – from a couple of days to months. The chairs are important both when a mother is recovering from birth and during the hours-on-end that families spend beside their little one.
£1000 would support BURPS buying a specialist feeding chair.
St Matthew’s Church, Burnley
We know there is deprivation in our own parish, which we seek to address. But it is not on the same scale as the deprivation that families face in places like Burnley, in Lancashire. The area around St Matthew’s Burnley is in the top 1% of the most deprived neighbourhoods in England (61 out of 32,844). Holy Trinity, Prestwood sits in the top 5% of the least deprived neighbourhoods in England (31,424 out of 32,844).
Can we really make a difference for the community of St Matthew’s Burnley? The Bishop of Blackburn's Youth Holiday is from Monday 26th—Thursday 29th May this year. It is a three night residential with Christians their own age, including a wide range of games and activities, outdoor water and land based activities, brisk and engaging Christian teaching, all in the context of worship. Fourteen young people from the parish have already booked, but cost is a barrier to them and others.
We can support their community life by subsidising bursaries to cover 50% of the £100 cost of the Youth Holiday for each young person who needs it.
Siyabulela Pre-school, South Africa
Siyabulela is small pre-school in a township west of Cape Town. It serves children from the local Township and an Informal Settlement (self-constructed huts made from planks, street signs, corrugated iron sheets). Residents are day-labourers, struggling to pay the monthly pre-school fee of £20 to provide education and two nutritious meals per day.
The pre-school is in a beautiful setting, but wild animals are a danger. Baboons are a real threat, breaking into any dwelling they can get into and raiding all food supplies indiscriminately. Males get to 1.5m and have the strength of 8 humans—not to be ignored. Wild dogs are another threat, roaming the playground in search of scraps and frightening the children. Night-times bring the risk of burglaries.
What can we do? The solution is a 2m high, close-mesh fence, unscalable by animals and humans alike. £1000 will help fund part of this fence, alongside local supporters committed to completing it in the next three years.
If we as Christians claim to follow Jesus yet fail to hear the cries of the oppressed and refuse to act, we’re not being Christ-like at all.
Jesus boldly spoke out against inequality, helped the oppressed, condemned the oppressor, and embraced the alienated. Social Justice wasn’t a side-project for Jesus. It wasn’t a moral hobby, a ministry strategy, or a means of gaining populist support. Instead, it was a central part of his message. It isn’t a minor add-on to the gospel; it is a central part of the gospel!
From our privileged positions many of us are protected from the worst effects of poverty. But there is significant need at a local, national, and international level. Need is everywhere, but we can make a difference. We can respond.
Donate securely online now.
(Note, your donation must be processed through the church accounts, but is clearly marked ‘Lent Appeal 2025’)
Or you can write a cheque payable to Holy Trinity, Prestwood but clearly marked “Lent Appeal 2025” on the back and give to:
- One of the clergy
- The Church Treasurer
- The Church Office at 134, Wycombe Road, Prestwood, HP16 0HJ
Please hold the appeal and the three strands in your own prayers.
Loving God, this Lent help us reach out to others, seeing their needs and caring for them. May we love as you love: extravagantly and indiscriminately. May we care as you do: without expectation and without counting the cost. Lead us to a deeper understanding of your compassionate care for others. We pray for BURPS, St Matthew's Church Burnley and Siyabulela Pre-school, South Africa, that through our prayers and geneorisity they may be able to continue to support those in their care and share your love to those in need. Amen
You can send thanks, solidarity and support to the trustees and volunteers at BURPS, Fr Alex Frost and the people of St Matthews Burnley, or Siyabulela, with whom our local village schools have also partnered, sending their old-style uniform there.
Ask your friends if they would like to support this appeal and share our posts on Social Media
Let’s think about how we might make connections with all these different peoples with equal needs that we want to support. What lasting connections could we make? How can we celebrate our common share in the Body of Christ? What are your ideas?