HCPT has launched an urgent “Big Give” appeal in a bid to ensure its life-changing pilgrimages can continue for years to come – and the charity says donations made this week will be doubled.
Each year, HCPT provides a pilgrimage to Lourdes for disabled and disadvantaged children and adults.
But like many other organisations, some of the charity’s reserves have had to be used to help continue its mission over the last few years, and it now faces an unprecedented need for funds.
“The timing of this urgent appeal offers a unique chance to make a double impact, which will secure the 2025 pilgrimage programme and beyond,” said HCPT head of communications and fundraising George Overton. 
“As part of the Big Give campaign, all donations made during this week will be matched, meaning each donation will be doubled and have twice the impact.
“This is a vital time for HCPT. The pilgrimages change the lives not only for those supported but also for the volunteers who travel alongside them.
“With this appeal, HCPT hope to safeguard its future and keep providing these life-changing journeys and experiences.”
HCPT is a volunteer-based UK charity founded in 1956 by Brother Michael Strode, who had travelled to Lourdes with a group of disabled children two years earlier in response to Our Lady’s invitation to go to the French shrine on pilgrimage.
The group had stayed in a hospital on that first visit and Brother Michael wanted the children to stay in hotels with other pilgrims.
Since then, the HCPT has worked to share the gift of God’s love with joy by enabling those who may need help, especially the young, to experience pilgrimage in small, caring groups.
Every Easter HCPT travels to Lourdes on pilgrimage with disabled and disadvantaged children and young people. All the helpers, clergy and nurses who accompany them pay their own fares.
They also fundraise throughout the year to allow the children to travel with no expectation of financial contribution from their parents or carers.
Each summer more than 1,500 adults, many of them with disabilities or life-limiting illnesses, stay at HCPT’s Hosanna House in the hills above Lourdes.
Funds raised during the week-long Big Give appeal, which ends on December 10, will directly support HCPT’s future pilgrimages, which give so much to disabled and disadvantaged children and adults.
Every donation counts and for this week only, donations up to £20,000 will be matched by generous donors. For more information or to donate, visit bit.ly/hcpturgent.