CHURCH AND SOCIETY
Diocesan Offering 2009
A message from David Lewis, Church & Society Officer
The other day I was looking at a web site www.netpoets.com and I came across this poem by Megan Hance. For me it powerfully expressed the feelings of a young person struggling with depression in our modern society.
Am I Alone By Megan Hance
I get a funny feeling,
It comes from deep inside.
I get all mad and angry
Wanting to go and hide.
My doctor calls it depression,
My dad says it is just me.
But the thoughts and feelings,
No one will ever be able to see.
Some say I’m psycho,
Some say I am just weird.
It’s like I’m a different person
And the old me just disappeared
I get really edgy,
I want to commit suicide real bad.
Then I get a headache,
Followed by feeling sad.
I wish I could get help,
I wish it would go away.
For many people the feelings expressed in that powerful poem are only too real. They feel alone, isolated and tortured.
The recipients for the 2009 offering are Rhyl Samaritans and Hafal and it is their business to break down the walls of isolation that so many people with mental health problems feel.
Hafal is a small charity that works in the Province, helping people recovering from severe mental illness and giving support to their families and carers.
Rhyl Samaritans help and listen to people who are in crisis, giving a non judgemental ear to their stories. Although The Samaritans are a nationwide charity, each branch has to raise it funds independently. The Rhyl Branch’s catchment area is the whole of North East Wales.
Both charities have offered real lifelines to people in crisis. Cassie, a young woman, said this of Samaritans
"I have been diagnosed with bipolar disorder (manic depression). Friends and family, though they care, cannot really understand it or support me to figure it out. It often feels like mental health is the last taboo to be overcome... Some people don’t want to know in case they catch it. So just when people need support they don’t get it.
Samaritans have been an invaluable life line and support for me. They listen unconditionally."
Both our nominated charities for this year’s Diocesan Offering offer that ear and support unconditionally.
This year we have also decided to revamp the Diocesan Offering. We have distributed Diocesan Offering Packs at this year’s conference. These contain profiles of the charities, intercessions to pray for their work, stories of people helped and supported by the organisations for use in a sermon and an envelope to return the offering.
The Diocesan Offering service will be on Monday October 12th at 7pm in the Cathedral.
Please return the envelope on that evening, or if you are unable to attend return it to Mr Graham Walker, The Diocesan Office, High Street, St Asaph LL17 0RD. Please make cheques payable to DCSR.
Please help us to make this year’s offering the most successful yet.