BENEFICE CHARITIES / MISSION PARTNERS

The Upper Itchen Benefice, individual Parishes, and of course individual people all support a wealth of different charities throughout the year - giving their time, support and money. As a Benefice we have nominated 5 particular charities for extra focus - enabling us to promote their work more directly, develop volunteer teams from across the Benefice, and run fundraising and awareness raising events. The charities we have chosen at present include those focusing on local and global concerns, and span age groups and categories of support.

For each of the 5 Benefice Charities, we aim to:
1. promote their work & issues;
2. promote volunteering opportunities;
3. run fund/profile-raising events and collection schemes;
4. donate via our benefice churches' annual giving.

THE BENEFICE CHARITIES / MISSION PARTNERS:

WINCHESTER CHURCHES NIGHTSHELTER	Our Mission Partner: WATSAN, Uganda	CHRISTIAN AID
Offering Hope and Help for the Homeless. The Nightshelter provides high quality food, accommodation, and crucially vital specialist support to the homeless in Winchester - focusing particularly on helping people restore their self-esteem, life-skills and social networks and employment opportunities, and move into long-term accommodation to suit their individual needs. Hence enabling people to escape the homeless cycle for good. The Nightshelter also works with rough sleepers on our Street Outreach project (with Trinity), and links closely with other homeless charities in Winchester (Basics Bank, Trinity, Emmaus, Keystone etc). Located behind the Discovery Centre in Winchester, the Nightshelter operates on very limited staff and resources and relies on many wonderful volunteers to operate alongside one paid member of staff per night. How can you get involved? One-off Events: Nightshelter AGM & Talk October 18th on Homelessness & Alcohol Dependency Homelessness Sunday January 2011 Next Big Sleep Out c.February 2012 Ongoing involvement: Join the Benefice Cooking Team Volunteer at the Nightshelter Donate goods or money Find out more about the charity: www.wcns.org.uk	The Upper Itchen Benefice has chosen WATSAN in Uganda as our new Mission Partner. As part of their mission to share God's love in practical ways, the Anglican Dioceses of North Kigezi and Kinkiizi manage an integrated project for drinking water supply, hygiene education and sanitation improvements. The project aims to help rural communities in the districts of Rukungiri and Kanungu, irrespective of creed or allegiance, to improve their quality of life by providing local access to good quality water services, hence encouraging social and economic development.The project covers an area of some 2600 sq. kms. (about the size of Oxfordshire), with a population of about half a million people, 30 - 40% of whom still lack access to satisfactory and convenient water and sanitation services. Our benefice secretary, Margaret Pickthorne, is a trustee of the UK Support group and would be delighted to answer any questions, provide further information, organise visits and accept donations. Ongoing involvement: Support by donating via the benefice account, or visiting Uganda. Find out more: watsan-uganda.homestead.com	Christian Aid has been severely hit by the recession and will have to cut back its work unless donations increase. Christian Aid and its partners are working to bring an end to poverty around the world - tackling its root causes as well as its effects. Christian Aid works with the world's poorest people in nearly 50 countries, regardless of faith or race, tackling the causes and consequences of poverty and injustice. By supporting Christian Aid's emergency appeals you'll be helping people whose lives have been affected by crisis, conflict and disaster. We believe in life before death. Ongoing involvement: Volunteer to collect during Christian Aid Week Give to the Blue Bucket Benefice DEC Appeals (Christian Aid part of DEC) Find out more about the charity: www.christianaid.org.uk
LANGO UGANDA LINK	THE CHILDREN'S SOCIETY
The Church of Uganda was set up in 1897, becoming in 1961 the Province of the Church of Uganda and Rwanda-Burundi, which also included part of Zaïre (now the Democratic Republic of Congo). John Taylor had served as a missionary in Uganda before becoming Bishop of Winchester and in 1977 he launched a formal partnership with the Ugandan Church. Deaneries in the Diocese of Winchester have Mission Committees made up of members from different parishes and some very close and rewarding links have been established, with visits made in both directions. Alresford Deanery is linked with Lango in Uganda. Parishes are encouraged to give financial contributions towards the partnership link. Ongoing involvement: Support events which raise funds for Lango, or donate directly via the benefice account. Find out more: www.winchester.anglican.org	The Children's Society is a leading children's charity committed to making childhood better for all children in the UK. We take action to prevent, rescue and support children facing life trapped in a vicious circle of fear and harm. A national network of projects, pioneering research, influential campaigning, the UK’s first independent national inquiry into childhood...and more Ongoing involvement: Have a loose change Children's Society Collecting Box in your home Become the Upper Itchen area co-ordinator Find out more about the charity: www.childrenssociety.org.uk

WINCHESTER CHURCHES NIGHTSHELTER

Our Mission Partner:
WATSAN, Uganda

CHRISTIAN AID

Offering Hope and Help for the Homeless.

The Nightshelter provides high quality food, accommodation, and crucially vital specialist support to the homeless in Winchester - focusing particularly on helping people restore their self-esteem, life-skills and social networks and employment opportunities, and move into long-term accommodation to suit their individual needs. Hence enabling people to escape the homeless cycle for good. The Nightshelter also works with rough sleepers on our Street Outreach project (with Trinity), and links closely with other homeless charities in Winchester (Basics Bank, Trinity, Emmaus, Keystone etc). Located behind the Discovery Centre in Winchester, the Nightshelter operates on very limited staff and resources and relies on many wonderful volunteers to operate alongside one paid member of staff per night.

How can you get involved?

One-off Events:
Nightshelter AGM & Talk October 18th on Homelessness & Alcohol Dependency
Homelessness Sunday
January 2011
Next Big Sleep Out
c.February 2012

Ongoing involvement:
Join the Benefice Cooking Team

Volunteer at the Nightshelter

Donate goods or money

Find out more about the charity:
www.wcns.org.uk

The Upper Itchen Benefice has chosen WATSAN in Uganda as our new Mission Partner.

As part of their mission to share God's love in practical ways, the Anglican Dioceses of North Kigezi and Kinkiizi manage an integrated project for drinking water supply, hygiene education and sanitation improvements.

The project aims to help rural communities in the districts of Rukungiri and Kanungu, irrespective of creed or allegiance, to improve their quality of life by providing local access to good quality water services, hence encouraging social and economic development.The project covers an area of some 2600 sq. kms. (about the size of Oxfordshire), with a population of about half a million people, 30 - 40% of whom still lack access to satisfactory and convenient water and sanitation services.

Our benefice secretary, Margaret Pickthorne, is a trustee of the UK Support group and would be delighted to answer any questions, provide further information, organise visits and accept donations.

Ongoing involvement:
Support by donating via the benefice account, or visiting Uganda.

Find out more:
watsan-uganda.homestead.com

Christian Aid has been severely hit by the recession and will have to cut back its work unless donations increase.

Christian Aid and its partners are working to bring an end to poverty around the world - tackling its root causes as well as its effects. Christian Aid works with the world's poorest people in nearly 50 countries, regardless of faith or race, tackling the causes and consequences of poverty and injustice.
By supporting Christian Aid's emergency appeals you'll be helping people whose lives have been affected by crisis, conflict and disaster.
We believe in life before death.

Ongoing involvement:
Volunteer to collect during Christian Aid Week

Give to the Blue Bucket Benefice DEC Appeals (Christian Aid part of DEC)

Find out more about the charity:
www.christianaid.org.uk

LANGO UGANDA LINK

THE CHILDREN'S SOCIETY

The Church of Uganda was set up in 1897, becoming in 1961 the Province of the Church of Uganda and Rwanda-Burundi, which also included part of Zaïre (now the Democratic Republic of Congo). John Taylor had served as a missionary in Uganda before becoming Bishop of Winchester and in 1977 he launched a formal partnership with the Ugandan Church.

Deaneries in the Diocese of Winchester have Mission Committees made up of members from different parishes and some very close and rewarding links have been established, with visits made in both directions. Alresford Deanery is linked with Lango in Uganda. Parishes are encouraged to give financial contributions towards the partnership link.

Ongoing involvement:
Support events which raise funds for Lango, or donate directly via the benefice account.

Find out more:
www.winchester.anglican.org

The Children's Society is a leading children's charity committed to making childhood better for all children in the UK. We take action to prevent, rescue and support children facing life trapped in a vicious circle of fear and harm. A national network of projects, pioneering research, influential campaigning, the UK’s first independent national inquiry into childhood...and more

Ongoing involvement:
Have a loose change Children's Society Collecting Box in your home

Become the Upper Itchen area co-ordinator

Find out more about the charity:
www.childrenssociety.org.uk