500 school groups across England and Wales are now supporting their local community thanks to a charity initiative

The St Vincent de Paul Society (England and Wales) now have a presence in more than 500 schools through their ‘Mini Vinnie’ programme – with Sacred Heart Catholic Primary in Southend being the school that made them hit the mark.

A Mini Vinnie group is a group of children, aged between 7 and 11-years-old, who meet on a regular basis, alongside their Vincentian Co-Ordinator, to use the model of see, think, do to identify the needs of the local community.

From there, a plan is created and action is taken to help alleviate poverty locally. Previous action taken has involved helping to stock a local charity shop with socks which were then handed out to refugees, baby food and clothing being donated to families in need and visiting local care homes to spend time with residents.

Joining Mini Vinnies offers children a great opportunity to learn about leadership, how to help those in need, and learn about their local community from a young age, all whilst giving them a sense of friendship. 

Sacred Heart Catholic Primary in Southend-on-Sea were thrilled to find out they were the 500th school to form a Mini Vinnie group.

“We are delighted to be joining such a great movement that is aimed at enabling children to live out Gospel values in their communities – and it’s amazing to be the 500th,” explain Head Teacher and Vincentian Coordinator Chris Beazeley.

“The children at Sacred Heart are really looking forward to becoming Mini Vinnies and helping those in need.

“This is at the heart of our Catholic ethos and it’s wonderful to be part of an organisation that has love as its heart.

“It can sometimes be difficult to find practical ways of enabling Primary –aged children to work with and support their local community, so we’ll be looking at examples from the existing 499 groups to see how they’ve done it.”

The first Mini Vinnies group was commissioned back in May 2010 at St Edward’s Catholic Primary in Runcorn, making these children the youngest members of the St Vincent de Paul Society (England and Wales).

Marjorie Lightfoot, a Young Vincentians Development Officer in the Shrewsbury Diocese, who helped to set up the programme in England and Wales, said:

“In 2008/09 when Mike Brady and I were in the initial stages of the bringing of the Mini Vinnie programme, which our friends in Australia had shared with us, into the schools in England and Wales, we could never have imagined that somewhere down the line we would have 500 Mini Vinnies groups.

“From the beginning we recognised that the Holy Spirit was watching over and guiding this programme, as is the case today. God must surely be smiling when he sees these wonderful children and the work they are doing and all those who guide and encourage their Mini Vinnies.”