On Saturday 10th March a group of staff, students and family members set off on seven mile walk from Our Lady’s High School in Stamford Hill to Westminster Cathedral, to raise money for The Passage, a Catholic charity in Victoria working with homeless and vulnerable people.
Upon arrival the group was greeted by Fr Martin Plunkett, the Sub-Administrator who also heads welcome ministry at the Cathedral and went for a tour of The Passage which is two minutes’ walk away. There they saw a specially designed ICT suite which helps provide the homeless with employment support through the CV writing service which benefitted over 100 people last year. This is a great addition to the charity’s work in helping clients find accommodation in adverse weather conditions.
Sixth Former Hannah Odebode said, ‘We counted the number of homeless people that we passed during our walk. It was 16, equating to one homeless person every 704 metres. This really emphasised the reason we were doing this sponsored walk.’
School Captain, Jenna Colaco adds, ‘After seeing the facilities provided, and the strong ethos of helping people, it is clear the The Passage is a brilliant charity that does a lot for the community. It was our pleasure to do this for them and are very grateful to all our sponsors for helping us make a difference.’
Andrew Hollingsworth, Business Director at The Passage, who joined in the walk, added, ‘I am impressed by the friendliness and enthusiasm of the participants. Our Lady’s charity committee have done an excellent job in promoting The Passage to the rest of the school.’
Deputy Head at Our Lady’s, Michael Feely, said, ‘I am so impressed that everyone managed to complete the 7 mile walk without stopping, and to raise in excess of £1,500 to support this cause. Supporting those in need, though living out our Servite values, is important to us here at Our Lady’s. Our weekly charity collections raised more than £7,000 last year and our aim is to raise even more this year. I would like to thank all of the participants as well as the sponsors.’
