Walking, cycling, speaking up for peace!
Choose your date between
15 – 21 May 2021
From Matt Jeziorski, Executive Committee member
Rarely has the imperative to be creative in our fundraising been as urgent as it is in 2021 and we can all find imaginative ways to raise funds for the ongoing work for Pax Christi. On International Conscientious Objectors’ Day (15 May) I will be making my Pilgrimage for Peace, cycling from my home in Warrington to the graves of Tom and Peter Allen in Barrowford, Lancashire – Catholic Conscientious Objector brothers of the First World War. My route is a little over 50 miles and takes in various other sites of CO interest. I will be inviting sponsorship to encourage me on the road. Others will be joining me. More ideas below.
You can choose which team member you want to support on the GoFundMe page
Pat Gaffney has signed up for a walking pilgrimage between Victoria and the Peace Pagoda in Battersea Park, London, which will focus on peace and women. This will take place on 18 May. The route is available for others to use. If you would like to join Pat contact the Pax Christi office.
Rachel Sweetman of the Pax Christi team, will make a cycle pilgrimage on 15 May. She plans to cycle for 75 miles, one mile for each year of Pax Christi’s existence.
Bruce Kent plans to visit Downing Street and the embassies of the other nuclear countries on 19 May. Outside each he will read part of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, and deliver a personal letter to the Ambassador (and Prime Minister) requesting that they sign the Treaty.
Bellerive FCJ Catholic College in Liverpool will have a ‘Month of Peace’ from 21st April-21st May, culminating in a visit from Archbishop Malcolm McMahon. Among many initiatives, pupils will be making pledges for peace and some will investigate the peacemaking activities of the founder, Marie Madeline, and the work of other women peacemakers. The main fundraising task is going to be ‘Sunflowers for Peace’. Each form group is going to plant a sunflower seed in a locker which would otherwise have been thrown away.
Fausta Valentine invites you to a ZOOM Dance-a-thon on Sat 15 May, 13.00-18.00 BST. Amateur dancers teach a routine, you have some fun and join for any length of time. £10.00 each to support this event. Invite your friends and family too. Register with admin@paxchristi.org.uk
Holly Ball will embark on an ambitious walking programme to visit all 21 Catholic cathedrals in England beginning in May. Holly will first visit those in or closest to London, e.g. Westminster; St George’s Southwark; Brentwood; then Northampton, Norwich, Nottingham and Newcastle and more, finishing no later than Easter 2022.
Sean Finlay, Pax Christi member from Wisbech, will undertake a loop bike ride, with friends, starting at the disused RAF Sculthorpe via Walsingham. At the start and end Sean will unfurl the Peace Flag and poster of Pope Francis with a dove. This will take place on 20 March.
Tim Devereux, in 2002 I joined my brother Chris for the last 5 days & 250 miles of his cycling pilgrimage from Le Puy to Santiago de Compostela. Chris died from Covid 19 on Good Friday last year. I will do the same daily mileages between 15 – 19 May, riding Yorkshire hills not Spanish ones, home each night not the pilgrim hostels of the Camino. I expect to see lots of cathedrals, and will certainly visit ‘RAF’ Menwith Hill – a US spy base.
Joan Sharples and Ann Farr are knitting4peace and the Beanie Hats and Scarves will go to Care4Calais to be given to destitute refugees. Please support us by donating to the Pax Christi Pilgrimage for Peace or join us in knitting and encourage donations from your family, friends and community.
Margaret Pitt, Pax Christi member and acting Treasurer will join the London walk on 18 May.
Aisling Griffin invites you to join the Pax Christi Quiz on 19 May from 7.00. Individuals and teams welcome. Details here
We invite you to join too!
Between 15 May, International Conscientious Objectors’ Day and the Feast of Blessed Franz Jägerstätter on 21 May we are encouraging Pax Christi members, supporters, friends, volunteers and staff to make their own Pilgrimage for Peace. Walk, cycle, row, run, pray, read out … whether as an individual, a group, a school, or a family, the possibilities are endless.
- Make 1,000 origami cranes.
- Spend a weekend creating a peace garden.
- Organise a prayer marathon.
- Take a walk to one of the many landmarks with a peace connection. (Coventry, London, Leeds, Manchester, Cambridge all have Peace Trails that could help you plan)
Set yourself a challenge, get sponsored for it, and raise vital funds to support this work for peace that we all cherish. I have set myself a challenging but achievable target of £500. 10 Pax Christi members raising a similar amount would be £5000. If 100 of us join in then we are beginning to make serious inroads into any deficit that a COVID Peace Sunday might have left us with. So, please join us. Have a think about what your Pilgrimage will be…
AND LET US KNOW.
