The Knights of St Columba is an Order of Catholic laymen, open to all practicing Catholic men over the age of 16. The organisation, which is non-political, exists to support the mission of the Catholic Church by undertaking Catholic Action and Charitable and Benevolent work under the general direction of the Hierarchy.

The Knights’ motto is “Serving God by Serving Others” and members of the Order strive to achieve their aims through the fundamental virtues of charity, unity and fraternity.

The Order was founded in the UK in 1919 by Catholic Gentlemen in Glasgow and today has about eight thousand members organised into Provinces and Councils.

Details of the history of the Order and its current national and international activities can be seen on the Knights of Saint Columba official web site at www.ksc.org.uk.

Meetings of Council 468 Penwortham of the Knights of St Columba are held on the second Wednesday of each month at 7.45pm in St Teresa's Church Meeting Room.

A Service of the Word and Holy Communion, which all are welcome to attend, is usually held at 7.30pm before each Council meeting.

Click here to see a map of the location.

Penwortham Council was founded in 1952.

Our Council covers the parishes of :

• Our Lady’s  Tarleton, 

• St Oswald’s Longton, 

• St Teresa’s Penwortham and

• St Mary Magdalen's, Penwortham

We provide support for our parish priests, parish events, youth in the parishes and charitable organisations in our area.

The work of the Knights is carried out at both local and national level.

NATIONAL PROJECTS

The Samaritans

In the National Action Project which ended in 2008, the Knights of St Columba launched a life-saving partnership with the Samaritans through a three-year fundraising scheme.

The 'Unsung Heroes' campaign ran from 2005 to 2008 with the Knights raising a total of £66,635.

The Samaritans have 183 branches nationwide and receive over 5.3 million calls for help each year.

Almost one in five callers is suicidal - see www.samaritans.org.uk.

Council 468 Penwortham supported this appeal at a local level by donating profits from events such as the St Patrick's night Social event.

Vision Aid Overseas

Our current National Project aims to raise funds for Vision Aid Overseas, a British Charity dedicated to people in the developing world whose lives are blighted by poor eyesight.

The organisation sends volunteer opticians to a number of developing countries to carry out eye tests and provide spectacles free of charge to the many thousands who need them.

Since it was founded in 1985, Vision Aid Overseas has carried out 600,000 eye tests and given 300,000 people the ability to see with a pair of spectacles.

At a local level, our Council is involved in numerous activities which provide help and support to our Parish Priest, young people and the community at large.

For example, we support the young people of the parish who act as helpers on the Diocesan Pilgrimage to Lourdes, we campaign on Right to Life issues, we represent our parishes on the Penwortham Churches Together Forum, and we raise awareness

of the Christian Faith through distribution of Christmas and Easter posters and erecting Christmas cribs in prominent places in Penwortham.

For Christmas 2009 the crib was once again displayed in the window of Cutting Crew Ladies Hairdressers at 79, Liverpool Road, where it received many favourable comments.

Social Events

On the social side we run a weekly Bingo session in St. Teresa’ Social Centre (every Tuesday at 8pm – Jackpot £100 - all welcome!) and we organize our own social events for the parish on a regular basis which as well as contributing to the social life of the community help to raise funds for the charities we support.

Many thanks to all who supported our social event in September and special thanks to vocalist Sarah Dennis, who donated the sales of her CDs to our charities.

Our Christmas Prize Bingo in December was enjoyed by all who took part and good homes were found for all the Teddy Bears on our stall at St Teresa’s Christmas Fayre in November.

Charities which benefited in 2009 from funds raised at these social events included :

• Derian House Children's Hospice

• St Catherine's Hospice

• Baby Beat (Royal Preston Hospital)

• Miles of Smiles (Leyland charity organizes special treats for children)

• Motor Neurone Disease Association

• North West Childrens' Support Group ( Holidays for disadvantaged children)

Membership in the Knights of St Columba is open to practicing Catholic men who are at least 16 years old.

We would encourage anyone who might be interested in joining the Knights to contact :

• Allan Hill on 01772 749579 or

• Tony Fitzpatrick on 01772 747777.

Potential members are welcome to attend our Council Meetings to get to know us better.

Further Information on the Knights is on the Notice Boards at the rear of the Churches.

If you have any queries about the detail shown on the Knights of St Columba pages, please contact :

Andrew Walker whose telephone number is 01772 743085.

You can also email Andrew at walker.ac@talktalk.net.

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