St Andrews Psalter Lane Annual Church Meeting
Justice and Peace Report for 2022
With the long term consequences of the Covid Pandemic still affecting individuals and organisations in Sheffield, 2022 saw the start of the first major war in Europe since 1945, following the invasion of Ukraine by Russia. While this had (and still has) devastating consequences for Ukraine and its many citizens who became refugees, it also led to huge increases in the price of oil and gas, with serious consequences for individuals and organisations. Alongside that came a level of inflation that had not been experienced for 40 years. The consequences for people living in, or close to, poverty have been enormous. The number of food banks increased massively and to support people who could not afford heating, warm places opened up as the summer turned into autumn and winter. This grim context was even worse for people beyond Europe whose reliance on grain and cooking oil from Ukraine was substantially reduced. This took place on the context of a serious famine in east Africa.
The situation in sub–Saharan Africa and the increasing limitations on life in Afghanistan under the Taliban led to more refugees making their way to Europe through dangerous crossings of the Mediterranean, largely to Italy but also to Span and Greece. Churches in Italy, particularly the Waldensian church, part of the Methodist family, have worked tirelessly to support refugees landing in Lampedusa and Sicily but there have been many tragedies. In time, many refugees found their way to Calais where the number of perilous crossings to the south coast of the UK increased dramatically. While many in the UK welcomed refugees from Ukraine, there was increasing hostility to the refugees coming from small boats. The costs to the government of supporting both these groups of refugees has been drawn for the already reduced Overseas Aid budget meaning, in turn, that the money available to meet the needs of the global south was further reduced.
In this context SAPL maintained a strong awareness and commitment to support actions of local agencies working with refugees. We were delighted that one family offered hospitality to a woman from Mykolaiv in Ukraine, and she was warmly welcomed when she attended services.
Support for several Food Banks continued, either through the collection of food at church or through individual contacts. We also continued to support baby Basics through regular donations.
Our loose change collections supported All We Can, and we had emergency collections for Christian Aid’s work.
Our usual Christmas Card collection supported the work of HARC in Sheffield.
Individuals within the church were involved in a number of city-wide organisations, including City of Sanctuary, Assist, and many more.
Some initial discussions took place around cooperating with Highfield Trinity Church to develop possible responses to poverty in the area. It is hoped to continue this with a view to sharing further activities.
Anne Hollows