03.10.2018
‘Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is’ – Diocesan Synod Members Urged to Support Tiglin Next Week
Dublin & Glendalough Diocesan Synod members will have an opportunity to support a homelessness and addiction charity when they attend Synod next week. Diocesan Synod takes place in Temple Carrig School in Greystones on Tuesday October 9 and the catering on the night will be provided by Tiglin which, through its No Bucks Café bus, provides hot meals to people experiencing homelessness in the Dublin area. The charity also offers programmes to people tackling addiction.
In return for a cash donation (a minimum of €12) Synod members will receive a simple meal of soup and sandwiches, similar to that served nightly by the No Bucks Café. A representative of Tiglin will also give a short presentation at the beginning of Synod.
The move is the brainchild of Powerscourt Curate, the Revd Niall Stratford. Each year Synod members spend up to €14.50 on a meal provided by caterers. Niall spotted the No Bucks Café in Greystones a few years ago and the seed of an idea was planted.
“At a time, then and sadly continuing ever since, when so many individuals in our Dioceses were experiencing homelessness and/or having to go without food, it occurred to me that we as Synod members could do something practical at Synod to assist our less fortunate brothers and sisters. Instead of indulging in a full catered meal, we could experience at first hand what they experience on a daily basis. They don’t have a choice – but we do. So why don’t we consciously exercise our choice: not to have a lavish meal,” he explained.
Niall believes that partaking in the type and quantity of food that the No Bucks Café brings to people on the streets of the city and its suburbs Synod members can experience what it is like not to have a choice and by paying a similar sum that they would have paid for a catered meal, Tiglin can receive a donation which will more than cover their costs and which will make a real difference to the lives of others.
“My slogan for this initiative is ‘Putting our Money Where our Mouths are’. We are exercising in a meaningful way the ‘social Gospel’. Synod members have an opportunity not just to talk about social responsibility but to do something practical [James 1:22–25],” he added.
Temple Carrig School’s charity of the year is Tiglin. As the charity does not have the personnel available to serve the meal, students of Transition Year will step in and serve the food. Tiglin will continue providing their services to the people who need them most on the streets of Dublin on the night.
The cost of the food provided by Tiglin will be reimbursed and all money donated on the night will go directly to Tiglin.
All Synod members are being asked to make a donation – a minimum of €12. Please bring cash as there will be no facility for credit/debit cards. The figure donated is to be viewed as a charity donation rather than the price of the food.