The Lent Course will run from Wednesday 12th March throughout the Lent season. The sessions will run at 1 pm and 7.30 pm both in St Andrews, please attend which ever one suits you best.

All Welcome

RSPCA East London and Havering Branch We are the RSPCA East London and Havering Branch CIO, with registered charity number 1207065 (previously known as the RSPCA East London and Havering Branch with registered charity number 285472). Our website is: https://www.rspcaeastlondonandhavering.org.uk/

We support animals in need across East London, Havering and Harold Hill. We take in cats that are sick, injured, abandoned or in circumstances where there are welfare concerns. These cats usually come in to us via RSPCA inspectors, who have picked up the cats from situations where the cat is in immediate need, but we also take in cats from members of the public where there is an urgent welfare issue. We care for these cats, provide a safe boarding environment, all vet care needed, behavioural and physical rehabilitation, lots and lots of TLC, and find them appropriate homes when they’re ready.

We also provide advice to the public in many areas on a daily basis, such as animal cruelty or welfare concerns, wildlife care, giving up animals, and general pet care. We support our local inspectorate team, providing equipment such as carriers and leads when needed.

We fundraise in person and online, run social media comms to provide advice on animal care and rehoming appeals, carry out all required governance activities and manage a small number of volunteers. We regularly fundraise in store at our partner Pets at Home store to raise awareness and engage with people.

Last year we rehomed 102 cats, all vaccinated, microchipped and neutered. We currently have 17 cats in our care, and you can find out a bit more about them below.

This is Lionel and he’s around 14 years old. The RSPCA was called after someone saw him fall off a fence and, being blind, he obviously urgently needed help. He’s in very poor condition and needs dental surgery. He must have been owned at one time, but he’s not microchipped and we haven’t been able to find an owner sadly. He’s understandably worried and taking time to settle in, but he does absolutely love chicken and really enjoys that!

This is Tui. He’s had to have two operations on his back knees, as they were slipping in and out of place. The poor boy has been on crate rest for many weeks but is finally nearly ready to be rehomed! He’s really affectionate and, at only 2 years old, very ready to start again and finally have his own forever home.

Katinelis is in a permanent foster home. As a very old lady with a thyroid condition needing expensive medication and regular blood tests, we continue to pay for her vet care but she gets to live out her days in a lovely home with a wonderful fosterer. We believe she’s now around 18 years old, but still enjoys pottering around and watching squirrels!

Unfortunately we take in a lot of cats dumped in various places like our local vet practice and our Pets at Home partner store. As you can see, these four kittens were dumped at a vet practice at night in a plastic basket. Kittens are always popular but their adoption fee nowhere near covers the cost of their food, boarding, neutering, chipping and vaccinations. Not to mention all the treats and toys they deserve! Happily these four all now have lovely new homes lined up.

Molly came to us as her owner had died. This older lady is 12 years old and very affectionate, although still grieving her owner. Sadly Molly’s breed comes with inherent problems and she is going to need surgery on her eyes to correct this and make her comfortable.

Basil came to us from a multi-cat household. He’d clearly had to fight for food and would gobble down all the food we gave him straightaway, to the point of making himself sick. He was extremely shut down and would just sit hunched in his bed with his eyes closed, trying to block out the world. We moved Basil to a foster home for some one-on-one TLC and care. With a consistent feeding routine and lots of love, Basil is gradually relaxing, asking for fuss, and even starting to play a little!

As you can see from the above, a lot of cats that come into our care need not only expensive vet treatment, but often extensive rehabilitation. This all comes at a cost. Each RSPCA branch is a separate charity so we are fully responsible for running it ourselves, and our branch has no paid staff – we are all volunteers with full time day jobs.

Times are hard but we will always do the very best we can for all the cats that come into our care. Anything you can do to help would be appreciated so much – whether that’s a donation , buying something from our Amazon wishlist , or making blankets for our cats to take to their new homes with them!

Natalie RSPCA East London and Havering Branch

Further to Natalie’s information, if you wish to donate via St Andrew’s you can as usual by giving Cheques payable to ‘Hornchurch PCC’ with COM RSPCA written on the back. We will collate the donations and send on to them. If you are interested in knitting the small blankets for the cats they have to be approximately 25 x 25 cm and you will need to contact the branch to arrange to send or drop them off (they are in Noak Hill).

Arlene Trump

This is a new Parish sewing group based on the Bible Acts of the Apostles Chapter 9 v36 Dorcas (also known as Tabitha). They initiated the Easter Eco bunting and will be helping with this project. Further details can be found at Parish Dorcas Society

The current project can be found on our creative Dorcas page

The Course in Christian Studies is a two year course exploring the Christian Faith, delivered weekly in local centres around the diocese and online

Since 1987, more than 3,000 people have taken the Chelmsford Diocese Course in Christian Studies (CCS) and a refreshed course will be starting in January 2024.

The course takes place in a variety of locations across our diocese and consists of two years of study. The first is a foundational year in theology and the second a foundational year in ministry.

This approach gives students the opportunity to explore a variety of vocations and ministries within the church. Completion of the course leads to the Bishop’s Certificate.

There are two ways you can take part in the CCS: in local face to face groups and via the Zoom platform with weekly online meetings.

The groups are led by ordained and lay tutors and include people from all church traditions. The group learns from the tutors, the Bible, the reading material provided, and from each other.

To find out more about CCS, including locations of your nearest group and how to enrol for 2024 scan the QR code or visit our webpage www.chelmsford.anglican.org/ccs.

St Andrew’s Church was awarded the Silver Eco Church Award Certificate on 31st January 2023. We continue to strive to protect God’s creation in all that we do.

An Accessible All-Age Church Service

Fun, Worship and Singing, Fellowship and Cake

It will run every 3rd Sunday of the Month 3pm at St Matthew’s Church, Chelmsford Drive, Upminster RM14 2PH

All welcome