Support volunteers caring for the sick & disabled in Lourdes

Every year, the Westminster Diocese takes a group of sick and/or disabled “assisted pilgrims” to Lourdes. We help them make a spiritual pilgrimage to the Shrine, following the instructions Our Lady gave to St Bernadette during the apparitions of 1858 - to go in procession; to wash in the waters; to pray the rosary. A pilgrimage to Lourdes is an enormously beneficial act of faith for those assisted pilgrims - following in the footsteps of the 71 miracle cures and coming closer to Our Lady. It provides not just a spiritual benefit but, for many, a pastoral one too, through the service and attention of volunteer helpers who enable them to enjoy every aspect of their week, from attending mass, processions and other services to enjoying an ice cream, a game of bingo or an afternoon in a scenic garden overlooking the Pyrenees. It also provides a much-needed respite for their families and carers back home. The pilgrimage relies on volunteer helpers to care for the assisted pilgrims and make it possible for those pilgrims to enjoy the benefits of Lourdes.

This summer, more than a hundred volunteers will be joining the Westminster Pilgrimage to care for the assisted pilgrims. Each will be giving a week of their time in service to enable these pilgrims. They will all work hard to help those in their care have a truly wonderful week and make a difference to their lives.

Our volunteers are all responsible for raising the funds to cover the cost of their service. Travel to Lourdes and accommodation is not cheap and each of them will need to raise around £1,000 to cover it. As part of this, we are organising a sponsored walk, covering 10 miles from Westminster Cathedral through the parks of London, to help our volunteers raise funds. Each participant in the walk will be seeking their own sponsorship through individual GoFundMe pages. All the money raised through this GoFundMe page will be distributed evenly among all participating volunteers to top up their own efforts and help them reach their individual targets.

If you would like to help enable our hardworking volunteers to serve the assisted pilgrims in Lourdes, we would be very grateful for any contribution you can make.

With thanks from the organisers

Stephanie Bates

Nick Leonard

Rosie McIlroy

Isabella Poston

Rules by which the money raised here will be distributed among participants in the sponsored walk

1. All participants must register with the organising team to join the sponsored walk by emailing [email redacted].

2. All participants must set a fundraising target amount based on the package costs for their pilgrimage (travel and accommodation). If they are receiving other support/bursaries, these must be declared and the target set for the balance only

3. Participants must share a link to their own GoFundMe fundraising page with the organisers once they have set it up.

4. All participants must send a screenshot of their fundraising page at the end of the event.

5. In order to have access to 'top up' funding a participant must have raised at least £100.

6. This is the first year in which we have tried to create a pool of 'top-up' funding. We do not know yet how much will be contributed to the pool. We cannot guarantee that there will be sufficient to give each participant as much as they would like to receive.

7. The 'top-up' funding will be distributed to those who attended the walk as follows:

a) The total amount in the pool will be divided by the number of participants;

b) The amount calculated by (a) will be distributed equally to every participant, subject to (c);

c) If the amount an individual participant needs to reach their target, is less than the amount calculated by (a), that participant will receive as much as the person needs to reach their target. The difference between the amount calculated by (a) and the amount needed to reach the individual's fund-raising target will be kept by the pool;

d) Once the process in (b) and (c) is completed, the amount kept in the pool will be divided by the number of participants who still have not reached their target;

e) The amount calculated by (d) will then be distributed to every such participant equally, subject to the same process as set out at (c);

f) The above process will be repeated until either the fund reaches 'zero' or all participants have reached their target.

8. These funds will be distributed in the two week period following the walk.

9. Full details on the amounts received into this common pool; the participants who it helps; and the amounts they go on to receive will be published after the final disbursement and made available on request. Donations to the pool can be made anonymously;

10. Any excess in this fund (should we manage to help every participant reach their target) will be donated to the diocese for the Pilgrimage.

11. This sponsored walk is not connected to or organised by the diocese. It is an independent fundraiser, organised, administered and overseen by volunteers for volunteers to enable their service on the Diocesan Lourdes Pilgrimage. The organisers are Stephanie Bates, Nick Leonard, Rosie McIroy and Isabella Poston.

12. Administration of the common fund will be by Francis Hutchinson, Paul Leonard and David O’Mahony, and at least 2 of them will be required to make any payment (all three are long-standing volunteers on the pilgrimage).