• Service in the Community.

• Charitable Work.

• Help our Youth.

• Co-operate with other Organisations

• Support the Church in its Social Teaching.

• Plus Much More !

The Knights of St Columba constantly participate in activities for the betterment of the community at large. Although the KSC has declined in numbers; its commitment to charitable causes remains undiminished. As the Order has matured in years, its benevolence has grown. Large sums of money and volunteer hours have been donated to numerous charitable causes each year.

Knights, their families and friends regularly help out at hospitals, hospices for the terminally ill, respite homes for the elderly and infirmed, refuges for the homeless and disadvantaged in society. The KSC have been at the forefront in the fight against Substance Abuse, by producing and distributing awareness literature to parents; for Justice and Peace, many early groups were drawn from KSC Councils; and for the various Right to Life groups.

The KSC have a wide variety of activities aimed at young people; including local and national competitions in football, netball, public speaking and a general knowledge quiz. There are Seminars for young people held each year and a Nativity Scene Christmas Card painting competition, open to all primary school children.

Knights are responsible for the erection of many of the Christmas Cribs; seen and admired throughout the country; as part of the KSC's Keep Christ in Christmas campaign. They also produce and distribute the Christmas, Easter and Pentecost posters, with which many Christians will be familiar.

The Knights also have their own chapel within the Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King, Liverpool. St Columba's Chapel dedicated to our Patron Saint has been sponsored by the Knights of Saint Columba since its opening in 1969. In addition to its everyday use, St Columba's Chapel houses the Knights of St Columba Memorial Book, recording the deaths of all former members of the Order    (view)

The vast majority of volunteer and charitable works carried out by the KSC is in response to the needs of the local community. However, each year the Knights of St Columba as an Order, undertake to support financially, a charitable cause, as a National Action Project. Supreme Council may provide guidance on National Action Projects, but it is at the grassroots in the Councils and their members to whom the success of any ventures must be attributed. 

In recent years, National Action projects have resulted in the purchase of incubators for baby care units; a workshop for the production of artificial limbs for children in Ghana; a home for destitute children in Southern India and substantial grants to two homeless centers in London and Glasgow. In addition, an emergency relief fund is maintained to respond to National and International appeals for aid.

The most ambitious KSC National Action Project undertaken by the Order was; to provide the equivalent of at least 2000 bore-wells, supplying fresh clean water where none exists at present, in Africa and India. This was seen as a tangible way of marking the 2000 years since the birth of Christ and as a consequence the project was called The Jubilee Experience. Thanks to the generosity of local Council members, their families, friends, schools and members of the community in general, the project realised a total of £277.000; with all the proceeds raised being used to provide safe clean water, essential for human survival.

Another National Action Project, was designed to raise funds for the national charity 'Help the Hospices' . The charity, which exists to support more than 200 local hospices throughout the United Kingdom; provides support in various ways, including training bursaries for hospices and hospice staff, supporting major projects to develop hospice services, including research into palliative care, an awards scheme for hospice volunteers and an advice line for hospices, on charity law and taxation. The appeal raised funds in excess of £110,000.

In the National Action Project just finished, entitled 'Partners in Health', the Knights of St Columba, in conjunction with the Christian Aid charities CAFOD and SCIAF; raised funds for health projects in Third World Countries. The project with the emphasis placed on the provision of primary health care, using simple low-cost methods. These projects  included providing clean water, child health care, education, drugs and projects to combat communicable diseases. The appeal raised funds totalling £140,000.

The current National Action Project has seen the Knights of St. Columba launch a life-saving partnership with the Samaritans through a three-year fundraising scheme. The ‘Unsung Heroes’ campaign will run from October 2005 to October 2008 with the Knights of St. Columba raising funds for Samaritans - which has 183 branches nationwide.

The Order has signed up to an initiative begun by the Hierarchy of England and Wales called 'LiveSimply'. This takes its inspiration from the Encyclycal written by Pope Paul VI entitled Populorum Progressio  or 'On the Development of Peoples'.

The Director for Action and Youth hopes that Brothers, Councils and Provinces in England and Wales will follow the link to the LiveSimply web site and perhaps consider signing up to it. In an increasingly complex and wasteful world this is an appeal to try and create a less stressful, demanding and complicated way of life, while at the same time puting less strain upon the resources which we as individuals and the world at large require to develop. Simplicity or complexity? Which is the easier state  to live with?        read more

“Whoever opens his heart to Christ will not only

understand the mystery of his own existence,

but also that of his own vocation.”

(Pope John Paul 11)

As Knights of St. Columba we have a duty to promote and support vocations to the priesthood and the religious life and we should encourage, especially our young people, to be open to God’s call.  One of the things we need to do is to establish links with Vocation Directors.

Visitors to this site can also can also make a real difference to people's lives; anyone wishing to make a donation to the current National Action Project campaign is requested to forward their charitable contribution to KSC Head Office, who will be pleased to acknowledge any donation, if requested.