Circle Walk – July 2014

The Circle had a superb day for their walk through the Lancashire countryside led by Sid and Phil and well supported by both the Circle and other Circles or at least Liverpool 4! Our Membership Secretary’s two dogs provided a distraction for some especially when one of them, the female, Roxy took a mud bath to cool off. Most of the walkers went off for lunch at the Stanley Arms in Aughton although the dogs and Steve Marston-Yim’s lads (who did a great job looking after the dogs), Leo, Noah and Chay – hope I’ve spelt that right! – had to leave. The lads went off to swimming, or some of them. The lunch was enjoyed by all and we look forward to the next walk which is scheduled for August and will be around Parbold led by Ian Robinson. Thank you Sid and Phil!

Here they come up the hill!

At the parting of the ways!

Bursary Awards for Warrington Youngsters – July 2014

14 young parishioners from St. Peter`s Parish Woolston in Warrington are looking forward to travelling  in Coach 6 to Lourdes with the Archdiocesan Pilgrimage this July. At a well attended fund raising event last Friday June 13th., Bro. Richie  presented  Bursary Fund Cheques to each of the young Lourdes helpers.The group included Katherine, Bro Richie`s granddaughter. The occasion was an excellent opportunity to explain to those present who the Catenians are and the purpose of the Bursary Fund.

Bursary Cheque Presentations – June 2014

Ormskirk Circle were privileged to present a number of Bursary Fund Awards recently including one in St Anne’s Ormskirk to John Ireland going with the Edmund Rice Family from St Mary’s College, Crosby to Lourdes on the HCPT Easter Pilgrimage. John was presented with his cheque by Membership Officer, Michael Brooks and it transpired that John was the only male pupil going from his school. Well done John and we trust you had a wonderful experience on this your first visit to Lourdes.

Tony Devine presented Jessica Ebo with her cheque for £350 to help her in Uganda. Jessica has already been once but is returning to further help the families out in Mugalike, Uganda. She will be there for five weeks in July and August and will be helping to lead a group of twelve other young people who are going to build a hostel for children so that they have a home to stay in, a place in which to do their school work to help them succeed with their education and an opportunity to meet with other children in the village. The hostel that they build will be vital for the expanding village in order to prevent homelessness and to try and control poverty.

Just some of the great work that the Bursary Fund is able to do as a result of the donations brothers make to it. So keep the donations coming!

Bursary Awards News – February 2014

In January the Trustees made awards to three young people in our provincial area – Jessica Ebo (£350) who is going to Uganda for 5 weeks to help teach English to orphans and to help build a hostel to provide accommodation for them; Joshua Wood (£350) who is also going for 5 weeks but to Kenya to help build much needed classrooms for local children and Ann-Marie Fraine (£1300) who is going for 12 months to Uganda to teach English to secondary school children.

We send them our best wishes for what will be a challenging time but a life changing opportunity and look forward to hearing from them. A previous recipient commented, “The young children taught me how life is a gift and a privilege, and that we have so much to rejoice and be thankful for, despite what life may send our way”.

We will in coming months be making awards to the many young people from our area who will in the summer be going to Lourdes with the Archdiocesan Pilgrimage to help look after the sick.
If you know young Catholic people, aged between 16-25, who are undertaking voluntary work to support others then encourage them to apply for a grant towards their costs.

Please click here to download our bursary fund poster.

Ormskirk Circle Weekend 2014 – February 2014

The Ormskirk Circle has organised a social weekend outside the area for the last few years: usually somewhere in the Lake District. This year we are heading in a different direction and going to The Peak District, staying at the HF Peveril of the Peak Hotel in Dovedale. There will be 28 of us setting off on Friday 4th April 2014 committed to enjoying our visit to a beautiful part of England.

We will see the countryside at first hand as we will be led on a walk on the Saturday. HF hotels are great places to relax in and offer comfortable accommodation and good food. After we have sampled that on Friday and Saturday evening we will probably all adjourn to the bar and start to put the world to rights. We will be setting off home after attending Mass on Sunday. If you could not join us on this year’s weekend why not think about it when we announce the venue for 2015.

Wisdom Lunch – February 2014

There were 10 of us present with two apologies on the day due to illness.

It was great to have John O`Nions joining us for the first time. Also it was good to have the `Father of the House` Ray Blakey also at the lunch. Sadly due to an eye problem Bill Turner is no longer driving and could not attend but we hope to provide him with transport for the next lunch on Wednesday March 26th, if he is able to attend.

Those present enjoyed a welcoming drink, followed by lunch before ending the afternoon with tea/coffee and of course the `chat`. The original wise men could muster but three, we found 10!

The Spirit of Christmas – January 2014

A party of twenty brothers and wives attended the Spirit of Christmas concert at the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall on Saturday 21st December. It was a most enjoyable evening with John Suchet from Classic FM as the Narrator, Ian Tracey conducting the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Choir and Orchestra, Simon Emery conducting the Youth Choir and special guests from Norway, Mari and Hakon Samueslsen, on the violin and cello respectively.

There was a mixture of traditional and new music and carols, with the ever popular and unusual rendition of The Twelve Days of Christmas. Everyone joined in the community singing. Music from Vivaldi, Rutter , Walters and Greig. In fact you may have hear a voice or two you recognised, if you listened to Classic FM at 5pm on Christmas day since the performance was recorded live for this programme.

This has been a regular event over the past ten years and it is hoped to repeat it again next year.

Fairbanks awarded ‘Business of the Year’ at The BIBAs 2013

Steve Jones is a member of the Circle and managing director of Fairbanks Environmental, who were crowned Business of the Year at a lavish annual awards evening held in Blackpool on the 20th September organised by the Lancashire Chamber of Commerce. They were presented with the award by TV presenter Eamonn Holmes in front of 900 guests in the famous Tower Ballrooms. Known as the ‘Be Inspired Business Awards’ – the BIBAs is seen as the largest business event of its type in Lancashire.

This caps an extraordinary 12 months for the data management specialists from Skelmersdale. Where a global contract from Shell led to over 85 new jobs being created, which doubled the size of the organisation in a short period of time. Their commitment to recruitment, quality, training and development was not only recognised by their BIBAs award but has also helped them to achieve a Best Companies Accreditation and the top ‘Gold’ award from Investors in People.

Steve Jones said “This award is a recognition for the fantastic group of people that we work alongside on a daily basis. We are delighted to have been chosen amongst all of the other outstanding businesses in our region and the level of competition we faced makes us value this accolade all the more”.

Bob Conlin added “We are acutely aware of the challenging trading conditions facing our industry sector, for us as a service provider as well as for our customers, but thanks to the hard work, talent and commitment of our people we have been able to not only grow the business significantly but also give a career start to over 100 graduates in the last 18 months .”

“Business of the Year is an award that acknowledges outstanding performance in the global marketplace and I would like to congratulate Fairbanks their superb achievement.  They should be praised because they are shining examples of what can be achieved, particularly in these difficult and challenging times, by people with a real aspiration to improve their business and significantly contribute to the local economy”.  Babs Murphy, Chief Executive of the North & Western Lancashire Chamber of Commerce, 24th September 2013

Liverpool 10th Santa Dash – 19 January 2014

On 1st December our Membership Secretary, Michael Brooks, dressed up as Santa and joined over 10,000 other Santas in Liverpool City Centre as part of the Liverpool 10th Annual Santa Dash.

The official event charity for the Liverpool Santa Dash is Claire House Children’s Hospice, with supporting charity Walking With Giants and this year’s media charity, Liverpool Unites, for Alder Hey Children’s Charity.

Michael was raising money for the Catenian Bursary Fund and is well on his way to achieving his donation target. To contribute to this very good cause please visit Michael’s Just Giving Page.

Rudolf on Hope Street – January 2014

Whilst most of the Circle went to The Spirit of Christmas, there was a presence at this children’s concert. It was good fun – noisy and atmospheric with Santa Claus and elves, and reindeer outside the Philharmonic. The usual songs appeared and there were, of course, plenty to sing along with – Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Santa Claus is comin’ to town and of course White Christmas and Jingle Bell Rock. We all had a bright and cheerful time and look forward to doing it again next Christmas!