VISIT TO GROCKA

As part of our continuing work with the families living in the Grocka Refugee Camp (a little way outside Belgrade), church members and friends will be going out there on Saturday 12th June for a barbecue with the residents.

This has become an annual event, and is an important part of our assistance to the displaced families. Our on-going fund-raising efforts and the support they give (see below) are a huge help to the people there, while the personal contact that the barbecue allows and the sense of solidarity and connection between people that it fosters is a real Christian witness to the purpose of our charity work.

Grocka Appeal

We operate a rolling fund-raising programme for our work with the Grocka families and, during the last year, thanks to the generosity of friends both in Belgrade and around the world, and with the help of two very generous donations from the British-Serbian Benevolent Trust, we have achieved quite a lot. The grants from B-SBT allowed us to provide educational supplies, text books and school equipment for the children, as well as University course books and transport costs for one member of the group, and also to make sure the families had sufficient firewood to get them through the winter. We also collected money to buy chickens for the families to raise, ensuring them a supply of meat through much of the year. If you would like to contribute to our charitable outreach, please contact us (email addresses are available on the contact page).

FUTURE EVENTS

Book Sale

In the autumn we will be holding a sale of books in English – please watch out for further details. Also, if your bookshelves are groaning under the weight of books you will never read again, we will happily give them a home, either as part of our library stock, or to be included in the sale. Please let us know if you have anything to donate.

Choir Concert

Following the success of the concert by Belgrade’s Cantantes Choir last year, we are hoping to organize another concert later in the autumn.

Carol Service & Christmas

As we approach Christmas, we will have our traditional Carol Service at St Mary’s (followed by mulled wine and mince pies, for a little taste of England!), and hope that, as in the past, we will be able to celebrate our Midnight Mass for Christmas in St Simeon’s Chapel, in the Patriarchate of the Serbian Orthodox Church – a great sign of the friendship and co-operation between the Serbian Orthodox and Anglican Churches.