The Mini Vinnies are quite literally mini St. Vincent de Paul’s.

At St Bernadette's, our Mini Vinnie group is made up of pupils across KS2. They come together weekly to form a part of the St. Vincent de Paul Society England and Wales, a voluntary organisation dedicated to tackling poverty in all its forms. When Mini Vinnies meet, we pray and discuss ways in which can to help make a difference in our communities. 

Our Mini Vinnies truly turn concern into action as they use the simple formula of ‘see, think, do’ to find people in need and help them. Ways in which we help our school and our community include: 

• Running food collections for our local foodbank
• Providing calming boxes in each classroom in or school 
• Growing £1. We use our best entrepreneurial skills and try and turn £1 into something more. We do this through cake sales, setting up a beauty parlour sort staff and many more ways. The money we raise is donated between two of our chosen, local charities - Daft as a Brush (cancer care for local people) and Walking With (a food bank in our local area focused on supporting for refugees). 
• Litter picking at the Rising Sun country park  
• Working closely with our Eco Club to contribute to their quest to gain Eco school status 
• Working with our local Police so that we can find out what is happening in our community and decide how we might be able to help. 
• Supporting our Staff leaders, Mrs Collins and Mrs Calboutin-Walker in trying to achieve 'Sanctuary Status' for our school.