Submitted by Val Hiscock on
Last evening the Cardiff Oratory and the Commandery of Wales co-hosted a fundraiser for the Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) Syrian Christian Refugee appeal. This is the second year that we have supported ACN. Our guest lecturer was John Pontifex, Head of PR & Information at ACN. John’s superb lecture graphically set the scene for the challenges facing ACN on the ground in Syria. He illustrated his talk with examples of the various rebuilding projects amongst the Christian communities within the diocese of our Spiritual Protector His Beatitude Joseph I Absi, Greek Melkite Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, of Alexandria and Jerusalem.
Yet again the hospitality of the Cardiff Oratory was magnificent. The dinner was a most convivial occasion.
The total raised to date is £4,300, which with the gift aid contributions increases to an interim figure of £5,328.75. More monies have been pledged by donors who were unable to be present on the evening.
ACN have published a press release detailing this event https://acnuk.org/news/uk-50-sit-down-to-dinner-and-raise-5000/
Thank you all for your generosity in supporting this appeal that really encapsulates the work of an Order of Christian chivalry.
At the start of the evening it was a great pleasure to present our fourth annual Commandery of Wales medical student bursary of £1,500. This year’s recipient is Niamh McSwiney, a final year medical student in Cardiff who will be undertaking her elective in the Tokyo Women’s University studying dermatology and cardiology.