A Christmas appeal from the Hydebank Chaplains
Greetings from Hydebank Prison Chaplains.
Last November we sought your help with Selection Boxes for the boys at Hydebank Young Offenders Centre. Thank you to the 12 Parishes who got involved and who made a great effort to collect 367 selection boxes. These were given to the inmates, families of inmates in visits and children of some inmates who had left the prison over the Christmas period. The boys will receive their gifts this year from the Roman Catholic Chaplaincy budget, via the generosity of St Vincent de Paul.
This year, on behalf of the Combined Chaplaincy team, I have decided to make a special effort for the ladies in Ash House; the only women’s prison facility in N.Ireland. Last year I had a small budget from some local MU members for gifts for the girls and was grateful to Liz Miller for coming in at Christmas to give out the gifts.
Together with Sister Oonah, the Roman Catholic Women’s Chaplain, I am hoping to give the ladies a decent Christmas gift. We are going to provide a gift from M&S, so that the ladies feel valued, remembered and loved by God’s people. The gifts are given from the Chaplains to the girls with a simple gift tag saying: ‘Wishing you God’s blessing from the Chaplains on behalf of their church communities’.
We need to raise around £420 for these gifts; any excess of monies received would go into the st Vincent de Paul account which is used by all the church traditions to fund necessities for the inmates throughout the year.
If you, or anyone in your Parish would be willing to make a donation towards this project, the Chaplains at Hydebank would be greatly encouraged and blessed to have your partnership in this ministry.
Please let me know how much you are willing to give to this project. We would need the monies by Friday 7 December.
Cheques will be paid directly to Hydebank, and the monies diverted from there to Sister Oonah for this project. Each cheque will be acknowledged by Christine in the Hydebank Prison Accounts Department.
I look forward to hearing from you in the next few days.
If you would like more information, please do not hesitate to contact me by phone: 07764277771 or email: revwillie@drumbegparish.org
Yours in Christ
Rev Willie Nixon
Prison Chaplain
Hydebank Wood Women’s Prison