Every year, there are 200,000 children across the UK who experience the distress and heartache of losing someone they love due to imprisonment. These children will deal with shame, embarrassment, stigma and loneliness. They often live in households with parents or carers who themselves may be struggling to cope. Prisoners' children are a largely hidden and forgotten group and Christmas can be a particularly lonely and painful time for them.
Since 2016 Caritas Westminster has worked with the Prison Advise and Care Trust (Pact), a Catholic charity which supports prisoners and their families, to encourage parishes to collect Christmas gifts for prisoners’ children. These gifts are then taken to the prisons Pact works with, and given to the children during their pre-Christmas family visits.
Each year Caritas Westminster has been able to help more and more children. The partnership began in 2016 with a small group of parishes donating 300 gifts between them. This year, 16 parishes across the diocese, two schools and a large number of Diocese of Westminster staff donated more than 1000 gifts between them, putting smiles on the faces of children in and around London and elsewhere in the country.
Caritas Development Worker Sr Silvana Dallanegra, says: ‘Every year I am moved and inspired by the generosity and enthusiasm of those taking part, and the care and love with which they buy gifts for children they will never meet. And I know some parishioners spread the love, by getting friends and colleagues to take part too. It’s a lovely example of faith and love being put into action in a very simple, tangible way.’
