Each week a number of Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion are sent out from Sunday Mass with Holy Communion for the sick and housebound, and Fr Matthew and others regularly visit residents in care homes within the parish. Fr Matthew is also part of a team of priests in the deanery who provide chaplaincy support to patients at Queen’s Hospital in Romford.

The Church has a special sacrament to bring comfort and healing (spiritual, primarily) to those who are sick: the Sacrament of Anointing, also known as Unction or the Sacrament of the Sick. Though not intended for minor conditions, it is not only for those who are close to death. Anyone who is preparing for surgery, or who is sick in hospital, as well as those who are nearing the end of life, can benefit from this sacrament.

Please contact Fr Matthew to arrange this, either as a home visit, or in church if you are about to go in to hospital. If you are in hospital please ask the ward staff will be able to contact the on-call Catholic chaplain, though Fr Matthew will always be happy to visit parishioners in hospital when its not an emergency even if he is not on-call.