UK
CL in UK
CL choir

Charitable Work

Charitable work is a fundamental educational dimension of Communion and Liberation, which aims at teaching, through faithfully performing an exemplary gesture, that the ultimate law of existence is charity, gratuitousness.

“Life should be a total sharing, but distraction, fear, convenience, the impediments of the milieu, and malevolence empty life of the value of charity. To train ourselves to fill this void continually, to create an outlook of charity, the most humble and effective method is to start to give some part of our free time expressly and willingly as a sharing in other people’s lives.”
(Luigi Giussani, The Journey to Truth is an Experience)

There are numerous activities available around the UK. We suggest that the gesture either starts and/or finishes with a prayer and reading a paragraph from the booklet “The Meaning of Charitable Work”, in which Fr. Giussani describes the aim, consequences and directives of charity work.


IMPORTANT NOTE: Owning to the pandemic, charitable work has been suspended.

LONDON
  • Action for Homeless

    We help this charity to offer food to homeless people, either working in the kitchen, or serving food. The convent feeds more than 100 people every day. People normally go any other Sunday.
  • Choir
    "There is no greater expression of human feeling than music...Truly there is no service to the community comparable to singing..When you sing at the retreat you express us, you are us and your voice rises and touches us like a gift. For this reason song is freely given, singing is charity. Song is pure charity...This is why the choir, why singing, is the most useful and charitable service given to the community (Luigi Giussani)." The choir aims to serve the community in expressing and growing in our awareness of our belonging to Christ through the charism of CL by singing at the various gestures. During Autumn we focus on preparing for a Carol Service in the final weeks of Advent, and during Spring we prepare for the Way of the Cross on Good Friday. We also serve the Church and wider community by responding to many requests for us to sing at weddings, funerals, baptisms, confirmations and other special occasions throughout the year.
 We meet every other Saturday for the choir rehearsals from 4-6pm, in London.
    If you are interested in joining the Choir, please contact the Choir Secretary: choir.cluk@gmail.com



  • Westminster Cathedral – Winter Night Shelter
    In the past we joined the West London Mission’s Churches Night Shelter Project. Here, we serve and have dinner with homeless once per week. Details to be confirmed by Westminster Cathedral.
  • Food Collection
    This charity work follows the experience of the Italian “Banco di Solidarietà“. Our aim is to share the needs of poor people while giving/serving them food and having a relationship with them. We are collecting non‒perishable food (any type) and distribute it to poor people through existing missions and organizations. At the moment we are involved with: Harrow Food Bank.
  • Missionaries of Charity (Ladbroke Grove/Elephant and Castle)
    We help the Missionaries of Charity to share the need of homeless people by attending Mass and then serving lunch. People normally commit themselves to go fortnightly.
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  • Housing Help Point
    This helps friends who move to the UK, to study or work, to search for accommodation by sharing advice or signalling possible solutions that the help point is aware of.
    For more information: clukhome@gmail.com


CAMBRIDGE

  • SVP soup run
    We join the St. Vincent de Paul society (based at Fisher House Catholic Chaplaincy) in their soup-run project which takes hot soup and sandwiches to homeless people around Cambridge city-centre.
  • Homeless project
    This charity work supports a project promoted by the local council with the help of several Churches of different denominations. It involves feeding and hosting homeless people in the Parish of Our Lady and English Martyrs.
  • Yellow House
    Once a month we gather to organise an afternoon of games, stories, and crafting with kids.
    For more information: clsoc.cambridge@gmail.com


EDINBURGH
  • Sisters of Mercy
    We help the sisters to offer food to homeless people, either working in the kitchen, or serving food. The convent feeds more than 100 people every day. People normally go on a weekly basis and we help the sisters on Tuesdays or Fridays.

    For more information: clscotland.secr@gmail.com

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For more information, please contact the Secretary Team.