Chancellors’ Budget Statement, Autumn statement and the Queen’s Speech. A report, ‘Caritas Cares: the Impact of Welfare Changes’ drew together evidence from the network and recommendations for action. CSAN exists to put Catholic Social Teaching into action. Looking forward the quotation from at the start of these remarks strikes me as the essence of what CSAN is trying to Evangeli Gaudium do. Pope Francis comments that this means not only small daily acts to meet the needs we encounter but also working to eliminate the structural causes of poverty. I hope that during the current Year of Mercy CSAN will do all it can to respond to the cry for justice. Review of the year 2015: Public Affairs A strong Catholic voice on migration Refugee Crisis CSAN has worked extensively on the Refugee Crisis since August 2015. A key pillar of our work in this area has been coordinating a response to the crisis in Calais. CSAN has offered support and solidarity both to the local Kent based charity run by Ben Bano, and to Secours ‘seekingsanctury’, Catholique (Caritas France). CSAN has acted as a conduit for financial donations for the camp, and facilitated donations raised through the website and seekingsanctury. So far we have sent £7,000 for use for a new van for Secours Catholique for moving people to medical appointments, and – things to where they are needed. A CSAN led delegation visited the camp (commonly referred to as Jungle’) in Calais in ‘the September, to gather intelligence and develop an advocacy plan with Secours Catholique. Hosted by Secours Catholique, CSAN visited and spoke to many in the camp and at their day centre in Calais. A joint-statement, calling on urgent action from both the French and British government received coverage in almost all of the Catholic press. The three asks were: The immediate convention of talks between the UK and French governments to develop and implement an enduring solution to the crisis in Calais. The expansion of safe and pathways to the UK, so that refugees are not forced to undertake dangerous journeys in order to seek the sanctuary they require. The creation of a fair and just asylum system, ensures the maintenance of human dignity at every stage of the process. Detention
Chancellors’ Budget Statement, Autumn statement and the Queen’s Speech. A report, ‘Caritas Cares: the Impact of Welfare Changes’ drew together evidence from the network and recommendations for action. CSAN exists to put Catholic Social Teaching into action. Looking forward the quotation from Evangeli Gaudium at the start of these remarks strikes me as the essence of what CSAN is trying to do. Pope Francis comments that this means not only small daily acts to meet the needs we encounter but also working to eliminate the structural causes of poverty. I hope that during the current Year of Mercy CSAN will do all it can to respond to the cry for justice. Review of the year 2015: Public Affairs A strong Catholic voice on migration Refugee Crisis CSAN has worked extensively on the Refugee Crisis since August 2015. A key pillar of our work in this area has been coordinating a response to the crisis in Calais. CSAN has offered support and solidarity both to ‘seekingsanctury’, the local Kent based charity run by Ben Bano, and to Secours Catholique (Caritas France). CSAN has acted as a conduit for financial donations for the camp, and facilitated donations raised through the website and seekingsanctury. So far we have sent £7,000 for use for a new van for Secours Catholique – for moving people to medical appointments, and things to where they are needed. A CSAN led delegation visited the camp (commonly referred to as ‘the Jungle’) in Calais in September, to gather intelligence and develop an advocacy plan with Secours Catholique. Hosted by Secours Catholique, CSAN visited and spoke to many in the camp and at their day centre in Calais. A joint-statement, calling on urgent action from both the French and British government received coverage in almost all of the Catholic press. The three asks were: The immediate convention of talks between the UK and French governments to develop and implement an enduring solution to the crisis in Calais. The expansion of safe and pathways to the UK, so that refugees are not forced to undertake dangerous journeys in order to seek the sanctuary they require. The creation of a fair and just asylum system, ensures the maintenance of human dignity at every stage of the process. Detention
160204-CSAN-annual-review-2015.docx