Caritas Leeds
Services
Caritas Leeds 
Caritas Leeds is a network providing practical resources that support and enable social action initiatives across the Diocese to be safe and to follow good practice.
Jesus gave his followers two great commandments:
- To love God
- To love our neighbour
Today, Christians around the world show this love through all kinds of practical works of charity. Caritas is the Latin word for charity, or love.
In 2023 Bishop Marcus designated our charity, Catholic Care, as ‘Caritas Leeds’. This means that Catholic Care, in addition to engaging in charitable works itself, also supports other diocesan and parish groups in their social action.
As Caritas Leeds, Catholic Care supports, enhances and, when deemed appropriate, coordinates – not replace or take over – the various charitable projects already being done by many Catholic groups and parish projects in the Diocese, and also enable new initiatives to flourish. Caritas Leeds will provide capacity building to promote the development of volunteer-led initiatives across the Diocese.
Sharing the love of God. Caritas is the Latin word for love.
Practical resources
Parishes, groups and charities will still run their own initiatives and have complete responsibility for them. Those that want to be part of Caritas Leeds , and we hope all of them will, will be invited to sign up to a Code of Mutual Understanding and Good Practice and become members of Caritas Leeds.
As a member you will be entitled to use the Caritas branding, which is recognised world wide as a sign of the Church’s loving care.
The Caritas Toolkit is now available, created to give you ideas of initiatives you can run in your parish and advice on how to do this. For those groups who complete all the necessary requirements, they will become members of Caritas Leeds thereby bringing a sense of identity and a feeling of belonging to the Diocese of Leeds.
The toolkit helpfully includes the following sections:
- Building relationships with your Parish
- Finding out what is already going on for people here and now.
- Discerning opportunities to build on what is already available
- Getting new activities going
- Examples of activities already taking place
- How to gain Caritas Leeds Accreditation
- Examples of volunteer role descriptions
- Volunteer application forms and reference template
- Examples of publicity material.
Forthcoming events
March – April 2025: Catholic Social Teaching Course
CSAN (Caritas Social Action Network) is an agency of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England & Wales charged with encouraging social action, and Catholic Care Caritas Leeds is a member.
20 September 2025: Jubilee for Justice
CSAN is organising a large-scale event taking place in Liverpool. Details to follow.
18 October 2025: Caritas Leeds Day of Reflection & Action
Building on the success of our first Day of Reflection & Action in September 2024, this event will be held at Hinsley Hall in Headingley, Leeds. Timetable and details to be confirmed closer to the event.
Community Market/Pantry
Community
Community Market
Catholic Care operates a Community Market – in Wibsey, Bradford.
Location & Operating Hours
St. Winefride’s Church Hall, 54 St. Paul’s Avenue, Wibsey, Bradford, BD6 1ST
Wednesdays, 10am – 11am (tea and coffee available from 9.45am)
About the Market
The Community Market has been in operation since November 2020. Since then, it has grown significantly, mostly because of the increase in the cost-of-living.
During this time the market has provided food – and sometimes toiletries and cleaning products – to 300 adults and 225 children. Many of these customers come most weeks, and a great sense of community has developed.
We serve tea and coffee, and the customers sit and chat with each other swapping stories, recipes and hints and tips. The customers are a real community, looking out for one another, and some have become volunteers with Catholic Care.
Unlike other food bank type operations, our customers don’t have to prove that they need us, they don’t need to be referred to us and they can come as many times as they need.
When we first opened, local funding enabled us to offer food for free. With that funding gone, customers now pay £5 for which they can have up to 15 items (such as coffee, sugar, milk carton, cereal, meat products) and up to 20 items of fruit and vegetables.
In addition to food and toiletries, we have a ‘pre-loved’ stall of clothes and household goods.
Our family support worker often attends to offer advice and support on issues such as benefits and debt management. And local councillors attend once a month providing a “surgery”.
Further information
Please contact Sue Parsons, Community Market Coordinator.
Email: sue.parsons@catholic-care.org.uk
Tel: 07702 255113
Community Pantry
The Community Pantry is our newest food support facility and is based at Holy Rosary Community Room in Leeds.
Location & Operating Hours
Holy Rosary Church, Chapeltown Road, Leeds, LS7 4BZ
Thursday from 9.30am – 11.00am
About the Pantry
We open on a Thursday from 9.30am – 11.00am providing free tea/coffee for the service users and a friendly listening ear. The service costs £5 per person and for that you will receive 15 items such as dried/tinned foods, fruit, veg and toiletries.
Every fortnight we have a member of staff from the DWP who can provide help and support for those requiring information around this service. We also have other agencies such as Yorkshire Water, housing etc for 1-1 advice.
Further information
For further information please contact:
Louise Fineberg, Community Development Worker
07708 485891
Catholic Care has changed our lives. We're giving back the help we've had over the years.
– Community Market customers-turned-volunteers.
Nutrition and Mindfulness
Community
Nutrition and Mindfulness
Our Nutritional Advisor and Coach provide information about the science of food to help people make better choices. The aim is to promote good health and prevent diseases such as type 2 diabetes, obesity and heart disease.
HEALTH is like a bank account, what we put in today we will collect later in life. From what we eat, what we do and how we think, it’s all connected.
For further information please contact Ingrid Fernandes on 07540 047973
- We offer one-to-one support with weight loss or weight gain.
- We offer Healthy Eating classes to schools with a program called P.E.A. (Practical Eating Advice) for children in Years 4-6.
- We can offer workshops for adults giving guidance on nutrition.
- We can offer Healthy Eating and Cooking Classes within a Community Centre environment.
- We can offer a 4-week weight loss/weight maintenance program.
The staff were wonderful, reassuring to know they are there when needed.
– An older person.
Mindfulness Facilitators
Here at Catholic Care we have two Mindfulness Facilitators. Mindfulness is a great tool to learn how to cope with anxiety, stress, mental load, over/under eating, anger, sleeplessness. This is just to name a few. The benefits are endless.
You learn how to be present in the moment and to take time for yourself. You can learn how to shift your mindset to be able to work more effectively and cope with various scenarios. It is about being in the moment and present. We currently offer this service to our staff and service users.
For further information please contact Keelie Morton on 07599 653211.
Extra Care
Older People's Services
Extra Care
Catholic Care are working in partnership with Housing 21 at Eller Beck Court, a purpose -built development in Skipton, North Yorkshire.
Eller Beck Court offers self-contained, fully accessible, modern housing, enabling residents to maintain their independence, while benefitting from optional care and support packages tailored to their needs.
Living in Extra Care housing means I can stay independent but still be active and enjoy socialising within the complex. There is lots to do and the other residents are very friendly.
– Resident
Working in partnership with Housing 21 to deliver Extra Care
Living in your own self-contained, fully accessible and modern home enables you to maintain your independence whilst benefiting from optional care and support packages that are tailored to your needs.
Inspection rating: GOOD
Organisations providing personal care to adults are inspected by the Care Quality Commission (CQC). The latest inspection report for Eller Beck Court rated Catholic Care’s provision ‘Good’ in all areas.
Community Outreach
Older People's Services
Community Outreach
We offer emotional, social and practical support to give older people a sense of security in their own homes and when in the wider community. We believe in helping to build people’s confidence and in encouraging them to be self-sufficient, supporting them to live independently for as long as possible at home.
I can’t say how much I appreciate the service, both in going the extra mile for my mother and advising me on the way forward.
– Relative, Older People’s Outreach Service
Our services include
- Support with personal care (including assistance with ordering and administering medication, bathing, dressing and getting in and out of bed)
- Practical support with meal preparation, light housework and laundry
- Budgeting and benefits advice
- A sitting service
- Grocery shopping, collecting pensions and prescriptions, accompanying and/or transporting people to their chosen activity or an appointment
Older People's Community Groups
Community
Older People's Community Groups
We have a variety of groups/sessions for Older People within the Diocese of Leeds. From friendship Groups, lunch groups, exercise classes and craft groups, there’s something for everyone and our development continues.
Some of our long-established groups were created in 1994, celebrating a silver anniversary just before COVID, others are new on the scene, and still growing. All of our groups support people living with dementia as well as those who care for them.
I can’t say how much I appreciate the service, both in going the extra mile for my mother and advising me on the way forward.
– Relative, Older People’s Outreach Service
Community Groups
We have numerous groups in different locations for older people in the community.
We provide a lovely two-course meal, tea and coffee, bingo, raffles and quizzes.
The groups are a great place for older people to get out of the house and socialise with other people, we have lots of volunteers who help run these groups and like our attendees, they thoroughly enjoy coming.
We know as people get older life can become quite lonely for them so the groups can be quite therapeutic.
As we know there are lots of celebrations throughout the year for example, Christmas, Easter, St Patrick’s Day, and many more, these special days are always celebrated with an extra course, treats and entertainment and maybe the odd drop of sherry! These events are always popular with our members.
As mentioned previously the groups are a fantastic place to socialise and help people to not feel so isolated, have a good laugh and chat with like-minded people and most importantly enjoy a hearty meal being waited on hand and foot!
Here are some of the groups we host for Older People
St John the Baptist, Normanton.
Join the group for morning coffee, light exercise and indoor games.
Held weekly from 10.00 am – 12:00.
The Old School Hall, St Mary’s, Church Lane, Knaresborough.
Join the group for friendship, fun, games and refreshments.
Held each Monday from 10.30 am – 11.45 am.
SS Peter and Paul Parish Centre, New Road, Yeadon LS19 7HW.
Join the group for friendship, fun, games and refreshments.
Held each Tuesday from 10.15 am – 11.30 am.
Held at St John the Evangelist, Cooper Lane, Bradford temporarily
Held each Tuesday from 12.30 pm – 2.30 pm.
St Joseph’s Parish Hall Harrogate.
Join the group for friendship, fun, games and refreshments.
Held each Tuesday from 1.45 pm – 3.00 pm.
St Winefride’s Parish Hall, St Paul’s Avenue, Bradford, BD6 1ST.
Held each Wednesday from 1.00 pm – 2.30 pm.
St Austin’s Parish Rooms, Wentworth Terrace, Wakefield WF1 3QN.
Join the group for gentle exercise, indoor games and refreshments.
Held weekly from 1.00 pm – 2.30 pm.
St Aelred’s Parish Hall, 71 Woodlands Drive, Harrogate HG2 7BE.
Join the group for friendship, knitting and refreshments.
Held on the 2nd and 4th Thursdays of the month from 10.30 am – 11.45 am.
St Joseph’s Parish Hall, 20 Westgate, Wetherby LS22 6LL.
Join the group for friendship, exercise and refreshments.
Held on a Thursday from 1.00 pm – 2.150 pm (not on the 3rd Thursday of the month).
Wheeler Hall, Cathedral Church of St Anne, St. Anne’s Street, Leeds LS2 8BE.
Join the group for friendship, fun, games and refreshments.
Held each Friday from 10.30 am – 12.00 pm.
Held each Wednesday from 10.30 am – 12.00 pm.
Community Sponsorship
Community
Community Sponsorship
Sponsorship is a unique opportunity for communities to welcome and resettle refugee families, putting local parish communities at the heart of a family’s journey to a new life, and helping them to rebuild their lives.
Being supported by the volunteer group is wonderful.
At first when we arrived we knew nothing about the situation here but from the beginning the group were more than wonderful, they were friends in every sense of the word. We didn’t find any difficulty, they support us in every aspect of our life here. We are all so grateful to them.
- Father of one of the sponsored families
Catholic Care has been involved with Community Sponsorship for over four years as a lead sponsor.
In 2022, in recognition of their experience and success, the Home Office, who run the scheme, granted Catholic Care Principal Sponsor status.
Community Sponsorship is a successful scheme allowing refugees to enter the UK. A group of volunteers, whether based in a parish or wider community, gather together to develop a plan to support a refugee family. The plan covers all elements of life – finding accommodation, registering with the local health services and schools, exploring the benefits systems and local employment opportunities and some fundraising.
Throughout all this, the group is supported by the Catholic Care Community Sponsorship Coordinator. Once the plan is complete, Home Office approval and agreement is sought, and a family, usually identified by UNHCR, is matched with the sponsorship group.
For more information contact Sue Parsons, the Community Sponsorship Coordinator – sue.parsons@catholic-care.org.uk
Gianna: Baby Bank
Community
Gianna: Baby Bank
Gianna offers confidential one-to-one support and advice to women and girls during and beyond pregnancy. The service is open to all and is run by friendly, experienced and non-judgmental staff.
Stay and Play Community Groups
Our stay and play group is aimed at children from birth to preschool age along with their parents or carers.
We have helped over 1600 expectant and new mums and their families.
Who can use Gianna?
Anyone within the Diocese of Leeds who may need support throughout the duration of their pregnancy and beyond can access Gianna. It doesn’t matter how old (or young) you are, what religious beliefs you have (even if you have none), what race you are, or your marital status.
Please note that the provision is for babies up to the age of 12 months.
What does Gianna offer?
Our friendly, experienced team offers:
- A listening ear
- Practical support
- Parenting advice through our Family Support Worker
- Access to a large stock of new and nearly-new baby items (clothes & equipment), all of excellent quality and usually free of charge
How to access Gianna
Please contact us directly. We also welcome referrals from agencies and organisations across the Diocese of Leeds.
Referral Online Form
Catholic Care takes your privacy and our obligations under the Data Protection Legislation very seriously and, as such, we will under no circumstances give access to your information to any third party for any purpose, either commercial or otherwise.
We will retain your details so we are able to provide a safe and appropriate support service to the child/young person or adult receiving our services. We are collecting the data for this reason only and the information will be destroyed in accordance with our Record Retention Policy for the Schools, Children and Family Wellbeing Service. If you have any questions please contact dataprotection@catholic-care.org.uk where we will be pleased to help.
Community
Stay and Play Community Groups
Our stay and play group is aimed at children from birth to preschool age along with their parents or carers.
We have lots of toys, arts and crafts and activities for the children to enjoy. This is a great place for them to explore and learn through play, make friends, develop their social skills and learn to share and take turns. This all helps them in preparation for nursery and hopefully makes the transition that little bit easier for both children and parents.
Parents can sometimes become lonely and overwhelmed being at home with young children so stay and play is a great place for them to come and socialise with like minded people. Some great friendships have been formed through our group.
We have a healthy snack and refreshments for the children and tea coffee and biscuits for parents and carers so they can have a cuppa and a chat while the children are eating.
For further information please contact Michelle Vink on 07739 975000
Family Support Worker
Our Family Support Worker’s role is to support families within their home, the community or school. They can support with a variety of tasks such as; behaviour plans, routines, money worries, housing, school issues, form filling.
Our Family Support Worker will also offer emotional support and be able to guide and advise when needed. For more complex situations such as drug and alcohol abuse and domestic abuse they can signpost to more specialised help but would continue to support.
Family Support Workers’ also work alongside Early Help, Social Workers, Midwives, Health Visitors and the wider community where support is needed.
For further information please contact Keelie Morton on 07599 653211.
Social Work Service
Schools
Social Work Service
Our service is centred on the needs of vulnerable children and young people who may be experiencing extreme distress to fulfil their potential, access full life and learning opportunities offered by the school and support families, parents and teachers in their vital roles.
Since your meeting with our son last week there has been a huge improvement. He speaks so highly of you, and we’re very grateful for all your support.
– Parents of a young person
The service will:
- Remove barriers to learning and participation.
- Develop the full potential of individuals.
- Nurture the emotional development and improve the resilience of individual children and young people within the school and home and the local community.
- Address critical personal and social issues.
- Develop new skills, knowledge, attitudes and values that assist children and young people in reaching their full potential.
- Work with partners to ensure that children and young people are safe and that safeguarding is robust and accessible.
When children and young people have problems at school or at home, those problems can’t just be addressed at one end: they require an integrated approach which involves all affected parties. Wherever extra support and intervention are needed, we offer a team of dedicated school & family social-work professionals.
The facts & figures: The financial year 2018-19
In 2018-19, we took 1,421 referrals to our service, delivering 16,003 one-one sessions with children & young people and individually supported 180 school staff. We also gave support to 261 parents and made 182 home visits. This year 81 groups have been established offering support to students.
Person-centred but in partnership
We want to make a positive difference in the life of every child or young person we support, which requires seeing them as individuals and really hearing them. We also work closely in partnership with the people around them, including their family members, teachers and other professional services.
This enables us to ensure the best possible standard of support and care for the young people’s physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual needs.
Specific Services
We offer a Holistic In-school and community Social Work Service that encompass Individual Counselling Support for children and young people, Group Work, Family Social Work Support, School Staff Support and Safeguarding.
The cost of the service includes the following:
Long term work with young people facing a range of difficulties which impact on behaviour and performance at school. This may involve work with families and liaison with other agencies.
(+/- 6 sessions) focusing on a specific problem with the aim of identifying skills and strategies to cope more effectively. E.g. anxiety management.
On issues such as peer relationships, anger management, raising self-esteem and confidence.
Solid scientific evidence suggests that mindfulness interventions improve attention, self-control, and emotional resilience, recovery from addiction, memory and immune response.
We offer this approach as a whole school intervention, particularly when a school has experienced trauma, we also offer class and small group work and individual sessions with referred children and young people.
Supporting children and families within their own homes in their community.
Aiding stress management by looking at both personal and professional concerns.
We offer support to vulnerable parents on an individual and group basis, supporting parents to develop new strategies and skills and improve family relationships.
Providing a service to the whole school community or on an individual l basis. We cover a range of loss issues including, family breakdowns and children living in foster care situations.
With staff, we will look at loss issues in a broader sense, enhancing coping and classroom management following bereavement.
For students who have been previously referred to the service and require some follow on support.
Empowering children and young people through supporting others through periods of emotional distress.
A confidential and professional in-school social work service is available for head teachers along with support around managing complexes cases, liaising with outside agencies, chairing and managing Early Help Assessments.
Working on the transition to secondary school or college – in particular, we are keen to develop ways to engage and sustain contact with parents plus create links between primary and secondary school communities. Vulnerable children and young people will receive consistent support through the transition period.
Support, supervision and guidance on managing safeguarding in school, maintaining records and ensuring safe and positive outcomes for the most vulnerable children and young people.
Counselling Service
Schools
Counselling Service
School-based counselling to support children, young people, and the staff working in the school with mental health issues.
Mental health issues obstruct many key goals for children and young people. They can disrupt learning, underpin truancy, increase rates of school exclusion, and lead to the abuse of alcohol and drugs.
Many young people are increasingly turning to self-harm as a coping mechanism. Counselling can be an effective early intervention strategy for young people who have a wide and disparate range of problems.
Since your meeting with our son last week there has been a huge improvement. He speaks so highly of you, and we’re very grateful for all your support.
– Parents of a young person
Evidence shows that school-based counselling is associated with improvements in relationships when there are family problems.
The ability to cope after bereavement; eating disorders; bullying; and other emotional, behavioural and social difficulties, including management of anger.
The school-based counselling services through Catholic Care are offered as a one-to-one supportive therapy, typically referred through their pastoral head teachers or other school-based staff. Children and young people may attend between 3–6 sessions on average.
Does it work?
Recent research has provided evidence of the effectiveness of school-based counselling in reducing psychological distress in young people (McArthur et al., 2012; Pybis et al., in press)
It is often perceived by young people and school staff as non-stigmatising, accessible and helpful (Cooper, 2009).
How does it impact on education?
In Secondary schools, students have reported that attending school-based counselling services positively impacted their studying and learning along with improvements in attainment, attendance and behaviour of young people who have accessed school-based counselling services (Pybis et al., 2012).
CSAN is offering a new online course on Catholic Social Teaching. The course is entitled, Catholic Social Teaching: an introduction and will be spread over five one-hour Zoom sessions on each Tuesday in Spring 2025, from 12 noon to 1pm on 04, 11, 18, 25 March, and 01 April.
The course is aimed at parishioners and anyone not so familiar with Catholic Social Teaching, or who would welcome a refresh. The course will be grounded in the reality of CSAN members and their work on the front line of poverty and exclusion, with inputs from member organisations.
The course fee is £95, which includes a copy of Raymond Friel’s book, Catholic Social Teaching: an introduction for schools, parishes and charities. Please let CSAN have a postal address to send the book to before the course starts. To ensure you receive the book before the course starts, please register by 12 noon on Friday 14 February 2025.
Before each session, participants will be invited to read two chapters of Raymond’s book. Each session will have a teaching input from Raymond, followed by interactive discussion in break-out rooms to check learning and help with any question. In each session, there will be a ‘spotlight’ presentation from a CSAN member charity, making links between their work and Catholic Social Teaching.
On completion of the course each participant will receive a certificate of completion.
To register, please visit CSAN’s Eventbrite page.
For more information, please contact Bernadette Durcan.