From receiving CAFOD Lenten reflections from a local priest to becoming a dedicated parish volunteer.
Volunteer with CAFOD and help to bring our work to life in your community.
Start here if you're new to CAFOD.
CAFOD representative will help you find the best way to get involved.
Michael who is retired, is a Parish Volunteer from the Hallam Diocese.
I became a volunteer about 3 years ago at Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Doncaster. I have known about CAFOD’S work for many years but it's only since I became a volunteer that I have helped and become involved.
After retiring from work I needed to do some voluntary work to occupy myself that would make a difference not just to my life but to other people. I asked at a local charity but no vacancies, then I thought of CAFOD. A priest I have known for some years told me about Lenten reflections he receives from a theologian from CAFOD. So he sent me the latest with a link to register and then I found a section that read 'Volunteer with us'. I did this and found the local CAFOD Community Participation Coordinator (Angela Powell) and contacted her who in turn sent me an application form and that's how I became involved.
I love volunteering for CAFOD and it gives me great pleasure and reward to know that I am helping other people in countries that have so few basic facilities to live on. It's comforting to know that the money (raised by his parish’s generous fundraising) is going to help the people in the Global South to have a better life.
My faith plays a large part of my life and makes me stronger, braver and better. Faith helps me through times of hardship and trouble and allows me to help others going through their own sets of trials. Here is the biblical definition of Faith; "Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. "
I would like to think it was God that made me decide becoming a volunteer. I have always had an inclination of helping people as it gives me so much reward and a sense of well-being. There is that satisfaction and maybe I take after my mother (who recently passed away). It is what God would expect me to do as that is part of being a Christian.
If someone asked me why I volunteered for CAFOD, I would say it's the just reward of knowing that my contribution makes a whole lot of difference to the people who are affected by drought, floods and famine.
