Social action centre for the young opens

A NEW CENTRE was launched last week in Hertfordshire to tackle problems such as social isolation, youth exclusion and intellectual disability, writes Paul Wilkinson.

Established by Caritas Westminster, it aims to support and encourage the 27 parishes within the archdiocese’s deanaries of Watford and St Alban’s to tackle social issues at grass-roots level. It complements another diocesan centre in east London and is to be joined soon by a third serving north London.

The new centre was launched at an event at Our Lady and St Michael’s Catholic Church in Garston, which highlighted the work already going on locally.

John C­oleby, director of Caritas Westminster, said: “There are several groups in the community who are working hard to address various aspects of social deprivation. We know how daunting it can seem when one small group of people attempts to tackle a sizeable task. Our goal is to help connect these groups with each other.”