Carols, community and cashless fundraising at Westminster Cathedral with HCPT
On Tuesday 9th December, Give A Little's Senior Charity Community Manager Emma, was invited to attend the HCPT Carol Service at the prestigious Westminster Cathedral. It was a fantastic opportunity to see the charity’s community work in action, meet members of their team in person and see how they are using Give A Little to collect contactless donations.
11 de diciembre de 2025HCPT (Hosanna House and Children’s Pilgrimage Trust) is a UK charity that provides supported pilgrimage holidays to Lourdes for children and adults with disabilities, complex needs, or life-limiting conditions. They work with volunteers and regional groups across the country to make these trips accessible and enjoyable for everyone involved.
The carol service featured performances and readings from four local HCPT associated schools: St John’s Roman Catholic School (Woodford), St Richard’s Catholic College (Bexhill-on-Sea), St Bernadette’s Catholic Primary School (Kenton), and Salesian College (Farnborough). With many of the children's families in attendance, the atmosphere was wonderfully community focussed and very festive.
HCPT’s President, Archbishop Leo Cushley, presided at the service, alongside HCPT Chaplain Fr Damian Cassidy.
During the evening Emma met with the HCPT team - Tricia Macfarlane, CEO, George Overton, Head of Fundraising and Communications, Ohla Shestakovska, Fundraising Assistant, and Bernie, their newly appointed COO.
HCPT recently partnered with Give A Little to introduce contactless fundraising, and at the event they used both the Give A Little Champion App to collect donations via smartphones without the need for an additional card reader, and QR codes on the order of service to collect donations.
Olha Shestakovska, HCPT, Fundraising Assistant explains: “All is going well so far with the Give A Little Champion App. At the moment, we’ve got a few pilot groups using it, and we recently introduced it to all of our groups, so we’re just beginning to see how interest builds from here. It’s early days, but we’re feeling positive and excited to see how things develop.”
As a nationwide organisation, they plan to roll out the Give A Little Champion App across their regional groups in the coming months. Watch this space!