In 1960 a small group of women came together, determined to make a difference. On Friday 11 March 1960 Jacquie Stuyt, Evelyn White, Nora Warmington and Elspeth Orchard, along with others from the National Board of Catholic Women, the Catholic Women's League and the Union of Catholic Mothers asked everyone in the family to make an act of self-denial. They asked children to give up their sweets and for their parents to make just one main meal for the family the cheapest possible and give the money they saved to feed people who were hungry. Family Fast Day had been born. The organisers expected to raise just a few hundred pounds, but the Catholic community responded to the appeal with amazing generosity, donating more than £6,000 - the equivalent of £96,000 today. Two years later CAFOD was officially founded.

In 2022 CAFOD will celebrate its 60th anniversary. To celebrate and give thanks for those founding mothers and the continued importance of womens organisations we have launched a year of collaboration from June 2021-22. As part of this collaboration we have selected a project to fundraise for. Like the very first project supported by the first Family Fast Day, it focusses on women.

Our project is located in Lebanon, a country less than half the size of Wales which is currently hosting over 1 million Syrian refugees on top of more than 400,000 Palestinian refugees already living in the country and despite high levels of poverty and unemployment among its own population.

This project, targets women, Lebanese and Syrian, living in two marginalised areas (South and Mount Lebanon). Poverty and poor living conditions are compounded by elevated levels of gender based violence and womens reliance on informal, insecure employment.

You can help our partner, Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) to ensure that vulnerable Lebanese and refugee women are empowered to access informal skills trainings opportunities (language and vocational courses) as well as information and awareness sessions.