Elouise from aid agency CAFOD shares details of this fundraising event taking place next week. Ed
An Isle of Wight drama group is planning a special Christmas performance in aid of the refugee crisis.
West Wight Christian Drama group, which consists of parishioners from both St Saviour’s Catholic Church and Christ Church Anglican church, decided that this Christmas, they would pen ‘Peace on Earth’, an original play inspired by the Nativity Story.
Proceeds for refugee appeal
Proceeds of the play will be donated to aid agency CAFOD’s refugee appeal, which is going to help provide vital food and cold weather supplies to refugee families across the world this Christmas.
The performances, which will be held in Christ Church, Church Hall, Totland Bay, on 21 December at 2:30pm and on 22 December at 7pm, have largely been organised by James Malia who is both the production director and producer.
On the performance, he said:
“It is a Victorian drama based on a cruel landlord, two hungry children, a poor widowed mother and the village choir, who are engaged in a very serious effort to get the landlord. The play within the play illustrates the Bible account of the narrative that mother is supposedly reading to her children.
“The sub-plot has a very serious theme: how did Mary react to the angel’s message? How did she break the news of her pregnancy to Joseph? Why did they go to Bethlehem?”
James, who first came across aid agency CAFOD in 1968, when the charity funded projects in his native Nigeria, said:
“Our motivation to fundraise for the CAFOD refugee crisis appeal was the picture on the cover of Catholic magazine, The Tablet, where four young boys were wandering aimlessly along a railway line. The blurb for our play is: imagine these were your sons or your little brothers: they are!”
22,000 messages of hope
This year, aid agency CAFOD has received over 22,000 messages of hope written to refugees, from over 400 schools, parishes and organisations. These messages were dedicated by the Bishop of Salford at a special event at the start of December.
Throughout Advent, communities across England and Wales will be fundraising for refugees through CAFOD’s World Gift scheme. The scheme, which was established twelve years ago, has raised over £12 million to help communities across the world at Christmas. Last year, CAFOD launched two special refugee gifts to help sustain families during the cold winter months. These gifts raised over £40,000 for the refugee crisis appeal in the run up to Christmas.
CAFOD representative in the Isle of Wight, Lynda Mussell, said:
“During Advent, we are reminded of Mary and Joseph’s long journey to Bethlehem and how they relied upon the kindness of strangers to provide them with shelter.
“This Christmas, as millions of families have been forced to flee their homes and make their own difficult journeys, we would like to say thank you to St Saviour’s, Christ Church and all those who have supported their efforts.
“This amazing fundraising will make a huge difference to lives of so many to help transform lives this Christmas and show kindness to those who have lost so much.”
Find out more about World gifts on the Website.
Image: optictopic under CC BY 2.0
