Diocesan Press Release

Southwark's Lent Call tops £100,000

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  1 December 1998

The Bishop of Southwark's Lent appeal has topped £100,000 for the first time. The Rt Rev Tom Butler presented cheques totalling £78,951 to four charities on Saturday 30 November, and a further £20,000 went by hand recently to St Anne's Hospital in Malawi. The United Society for the Propagation of the Gospel (USPG) received £21,000 for a Build A House project in Chile; the work of the Georgian Orthodox Church received £8,000 via the Church Missionary Society (CMS); Christian Aid's Clean Water Project in Mozambique received £20,951; and Mildmay Mission Hospital in London received £30,000 to finance their Education Centre.

The Bishop of Southwark presented the cheques during a celebration of the Eucharist with the Bishop's Council at St George the Martyr Church, Borough High Street, Southwark. The Bishop of Kingston, the Rt Rev Peter Price, formerly General Secretary of USPG, preached on the Christian responsibility to address a world in conflict and offer reconciliation. "Jesus is not a gift for Christians, but for the world," he said.

Derek Foster, Lent Call's Treasurer, said, "I am delighted that the Bishop's Lent Call has gone over £100,000. It has been creeping up towards this point for the last few years." The money is raised each year during Lent by churches and church schools throughout the Diocese of Southwark, covering south London and east Surrey.

Ends.