Anna Chaplain Maggie Dodd has been at the city’s cathedral demonstrating the breadth of what Anna Chaplaincy can offer at an event called ‘St Albans Community Showcase’:
‘On 10 June, St Albans Anna Chaplaincy was one of the stall holders at the inaugural St Albans Community Showcase; an event with more than 50 community groups and charities, each with the opportunity to talk to members of the public and dignitaries about their organisations.
‘Visitors included the bishop of St Albans, the mayor of St Albans, the lord lieutenant of Hertfordshire and the high sherriff of Hertfordshire, each making their way around the event talking with stall holders.
‘The mayor was particularly interested in the multigenerational work we’d organised in care homes in the city. His mayoral commitment is to encourage social cohesion. He said: “I intend to be a very active mayor and will be going around the district to meet and talk with community groups, charities and other organisations to find out about their concerns and their ideas for drawing the generations together. The All Ages Together emphasis is about increasing social cohesion, helping people forge new relationships and enabling friendships.”’
‘More than anything, I want to help to connect our communities in order to banish loneliness and isolation which for many have been made worse by the continuing impact of the pandemic.’
‘It was a very valuable event’, said Maggie, ‘with some very interesting conversations with other stall holders and visitors, and a number of people taking Anna Chaplaincy details and making arrangements to meet me in the future.’
‘The event was also an opportunity to distribute the latest booklet published by St Albans Anna Chaplaincy detailing the various hospitality, groups and services churches across the city offer to older people.
‘This latest edition lists 22 churches and details about local carers’ charity “Carers in Herts”, as well as including some top tips for accessing support for local people when it comes to health and finance.
‘It was a wonderful, lively and collaborative event held in an amazing space. Roll on the next one!’
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