We had a dreaded Zoom meeting on Wednesday the 27th of January which, surprisingly, seemed to go ahead without many technical issues.

Given the uncertainty of how and when the national lockdown will be stepped down, we all accepted that we would have to be flexible in our approach to preparation and the celebration itself.

As a parish, we have been trying to keep everything as ‘normal’ as possible throughout all we do. We would prefer to have the children and parents complete their preparation while they are in Year 4 and we would also like to have a ‘big’ celebration with all children receiving the sacrament of the Eucharist at the same celebration.

We also understand the restrictions that we are currently under including the children generally being schooled at home, limits on the numbers and relationships of those who can gather together and the fact that these rules can change at relatively short notice. Our main priority is to ensure that everyone is safe when they attend any church-related events. We also need to think about the children who completed their preparation last year but have still to receive the sacrament.

We are grateful that the school are willing and able to provide catechesis for the children and this would take place either in school as part of their curriculum or even as an after school event. This would depend on when children are able to go back to school. When this happens we will be in contact with parents to explain how we will complete the parental preparation.

As for dates for the celebration of the Sacrament, potential dates include Saturday July the 10th, September the 25th and October the 2nd. These would all depend on what restrictions are in place at the time.

We continue to pray for all of the children at this time and will keep you updated once further information is available.