Parish+Buddies

Parish Buddies

A visit to your Parish Priest should enable you to aquire a list of parishioners in your area who receive Holy Communion in their homes. Discussion with the Priest or Parish Worker might help you identify those Parishioners who would benefit from a buddy. A letter explaining your venture and asking for their permission is a first option. The students then write to the buddies and deliver the letters. Regular letter writing is encouraged even if no reply is received. Over five years I ran Parish Buddy programmes with lifelong friendships created. Many of the elderly Parishioners do not have family near and they feel really involved in the student's and school life. Real successes were when we invited buddies to school assemblies, shared lunches or class or school masses. Many of the buddies write back and a class file of copies of letters is a very popular read.