Parish Baby Bank

We are so thrilled to announce that on the 6th of November, the Parish of the Durham Martyrs will begin it's 3 month trial of a brand new baby bank.

We will be supporting families in the local community via professional referrals only. As a very small voluntary group running within the parish, our area of reach at the moment will be small, but if we can help any families in our local area, then that is a great start. Caring for children in this current climate is so expensive!

During the trial run, we'll make a full evaluation of the initiative and make decisions on how it moves forward.

We're currently taking referrals from our 3 parish primary schools and Laurel Avenue Community Primary School.

If you have any questions, please contact Leanne Taylor, Cynthia Dunn or Belinda Thomas, or reach out to us via email at babybankdurhammartyrs@gmail.com

25th September 2026 News from our Parish Schools

Parish School pages on our website

St Joseph's Catholic Primary School

https://stjosephsgilesgate.bwcet.com/

This week, we celebrated European Day of Languages in School, which was a brilliant opportunity to learn about the languages, cultures and multilingualism already present in our school. There was lots of music, storytelling, and many more activities to make languages visible, meaningful, and fun.

·        Wednesday 30^th September, Year 3 and 4 will be attending Mass in church at 10am. All families and friends are welcome to attend.

·       Sunday 4^th October there will be a Welcome Mass for Holy Communion Families at 10.30am in St. Joseph's Church.

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St Godric's Catholic Primary School

https://stgodricsdurham.bwcet.com/

Thank you to everyone who came along to our Macmillan Coffee Morning on Friday. It was lovely to support such a worthwhile cause and, after a very busy start to the week with our Ofsted inspection, a cup of tea and a piece of cake were very much appreciated!

We now look forward to receiving the report in the coming weeks and sharing it with you. As we would expect, the children were amazing throughout the inspection, truly living out our mission to Be the Light and showing the inspectors what a wonderful school we have.

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St Thomas More Catholic Primary School

https://stthomasmorebelmont.bwcet.com/

A very warm welcome back to all our St. Thomas More children and families. We are delighted to begin a new academic year together and look forward to the many opportunities, achievements and special moments that lie ahead.

Staff changes - Mrs Smith joins us as the teacher for our youngest Nursery and Reception children and will be supported by Miss Simpson.

Mrs Hartley, who many families will know as Miss Spence. She married during the summer break, and we offer our warmest congratulations and best wishes.  She will be teaching our Year 1 and Year 2 class.

Mr Pickup will be teaching Year 3 and Year 4 during Mrs Belton’s absence.

Finally, we extend a warm welcome to Miss Hogan, who joins our staff team as our new lunchtime supervisor.

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St Leonard's Catholic Secondary School

https://stleonardsdurham.bwcet.com/

A special thank you from St Leonard's

This coming Friday, 2^nd October, Bishop Stephen will bless our new school building. This is a special moment for the school community, and a time for reflection and gratitude. It is most appropriate at this time to extend a special thank you to Fr Colm and all parishioners from the parish of the Durham Martyrs. You were our first, and remained our most steadfast supporter, when the school was thrown into the RAAC crisis three years ago; and for your prayers, support and practical help we remain most appreciative. 

Please keep us in your prayers as the new school is blessed and St. Leonard's embarks on the next chapter of its life. With thanks from all the staff at St. Leonard's

29th September 6:30pm Meditation Talk by Prof. Stanley Bethapudi

29^th September - on Tuesday evening, Prof Stanley Bethapudi who is visiting from India, will give a talk on meditation at 6.30pm. The title of the talk is :

A BREATHING MODEL OF MEDITATION. TO VISUALISE THE CHRIST IMAGE: AN  EASTERN PERSPECTIVE .

All are welcome.