The Archbishop of Canterbury has sent a video message to the people of South Sudan on the eve of the postponed joint Pilgrimage of Peace to the country with Pope Francis and the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland.In his message the Archbishop says he is “deeply sorry” that the joint pilgrimage of peace has been postponed. He says that God sees the “great suffering” of South Sudan and urges its leaders to pursue peace.The joint visit was due to take place from 5-7th July but was postponed last month after the Vatican announced that the Pope would not be able to travel on advice from his doctors.The Pope has released a video message today on the first day of his planned Apostolic Journey, which would have begun in the DRC before being joined by the Archbishop and the Moderator in South Sudan on Tuesday. The Moderator of the Church of Scotland, the Right Revd Dr Iain Greenshields, has also released a video message today addressed to the people of South Sudan.
Our parish Holy Communion service on Sunday is at 10 am at St Mary And All Saints' Church, Dunsfold. We hope you can join us.<br>If you can't be there in person you can join us online by clicking on this Zoom link.<br><a href="https://us02web.zoom.us/j/5253921788?pwd=MC9kNmpldmFrRSsrV1pkc1k5aU1vZz09">https://us02web.zoom.us/j/5253921788?pwd=MC9kNmpldmFrRSsrV1pkc1k5aU1vZz09</a>
Children will have access to free breakfasts during the summer holidays through a new initiative. Portsmouth City councillors George and Brian Madgwick are personally donating £4,000 to fund the scheme. The breakfasts will be held at St Michael and All Angels Church in Paulsgrove every weekend through the summer holidays. George Madgwick said they hoped it would "ease the pressure" of the current cost of living crisis.He said: "Paulsgrove is an area with a lot of social housing, higher rates of unemployment and lower income in general and there's been a really noticeable increase in the number of people using the foodbank recently."Our schools do a fantastic job supporting families during term time and we wanted to do something to extend that into the summer."According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service the scheme is being funded by the two councillors personally, rather than being financed by Portsmouth City Council. It comes after George Madgwick pledged to use his councillor allowance to fund projects in his ward. He added: "Families that have been just about managing to cope for the last few years have been tipped over the edge by inflation, particularly the huge increase in energy costs."We have the ability to give back and felt this would be the most effective way of doing it."The initiative will start after 23 July when the school year ends and run until the end of August. Food parcels and packed lunches will also be provided to families.
The Church Commissioners for England has appointed Jennifer Longstaff, formerly associate director of Savills’ Newcastle office, as Strategic Land and Affordable Housing Asset Manager. Longstaff (see photo) will help drive forward the Church Commissioners’ ambitions for affordable housing delivery, particularly in rural areas, across the Church Commissioners’ land portfolio. The Commissioners’ real asset portfolio includes significant landholdings, which have a critical role to play in supporting rural communities and maintaining their vibrancy across the country, including through the delivery of new housing. A chartered member of the Royal Town Planning Institute, Longstaff has nearly 15 years’ experience working for Savills undertaking project development and securing planning permissions to support new developments, including rural housing.At Savills, she managed several smaller development sites, as well as successful larger housing and mixed-use projects across the North of England. She also worked closely with the Church Commissioners’ teams as a development consultant on their rural housing projects across England, with great success.The Church Commissioners expect to deliver 9,000 affordable homes across its land portfolio in the next 15 years and, additionally, are seeking to accelerate the delivery of small-scale rural affordable housing sites across England, in partnership with housing associations and local housebuilders. Recent successes that Longstaff will seek to replicate include collaborations with English Rural Housing Association (ERHA) to provide homes of mixed affordable tenures in Shepherdswell, Dover, and local needs homes in Mersham, Kent, to be kept in perpetuity as an affordable housing option for the local community.Joanna Loxton, head of strategic land investment at the Church Commissioners, says: “We are delighted by Jennifer’s appointment and are looking forward to working with her regarding our commitment to accelerate the delivery of affordable housing across our land portfolio, aligned with the values outlined in the Archbishops’ Coming Home report that was published last year. “Jennifer’s extensive experience and proven track record, successfully managing both strategic land and rural housing projects, will offer valuable support in driving forward our mission to boost the delivery of affordable housing across the country.”
