Jennifer Wordley is from Tenby in Pembrokeshire and is 21 years old. Amber Farquhar is from Llangadog in Carmarthenshire and is 19.
The breadth and depth of SPUC's internship scheme is reflected in Amber's and Jenny's report, not least in their conclusion below.
Young people interested in attending the SPUC youth conference (3 - 5 March 2017) or, perhaps, joining the Society's internship scheme next year should contact Rhoslyn Thomas, the Society's youth organizer, at rhoslynthomas@spuc.org.uk or on Facebook.
13-22 July 2016
Report of the six week internship for the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children, detailing the different opportunities and work we were involved with, including pavement counselling, campaigning in Ireland with Youth Defence and against a Polish Medical Centre, debating prolife issues, and general administration work:
Pavement Counselling and Meetings
The first few days of the internship involved looking at the methods of pavement counselling by Msgr. Reilly, to help distressed women seeking an abortion clinic to terminate their pregnancy. The first Wednesday, and the following Wednesdays whilst in London, we put these methods into practice at the Marie Stopes abortion clinic in Whitfield street, where we witnessed and attempted to help a number of women entering and leaving the clinic before and after having an abortion.
We attended a meeting organised by Anglican Mainstream, where speakers described their work and ideas to combat issues within the Protestant Church and to preserve their traditional family morals.
We attended an excellent explanation and discussion of Humanae Vitae given by Fr. Romanus in Saint Anselm’s Church, Tooting.
Youth Defence
We spent two weeks travelling Ireland and assisting prolife campaigners from Youth Defence on their annual national roadshow. We helped with door-to-door canvassing in certain areas, distributed leaflets and discussed and spread the prolife message on the streets.
We assisted with the organisation and stewardship of the rally for life in Belfast. On our return we wrote a short anecdotal piece describing our experiences and encouraging others to join the movement for publication on Youth Defence’s website
Campaign against Tooting Medical Centre
One of the main projects we focused on was campaigning against a Polish Medical Centre in Tooting which is performing abortions. Two weeks of the internship involved visiting some of the Polish centres in London, acting as a witness by praying outside the centre, and door to door canvassing, with the purpose of making the Polish community aware of the scandal and the ways in which they can help us to stop abortion from occurring in this Centre.
General Admin, Reading, Discussions
We assisted with the updating of the database, sorting of mail, packaging mailings for postage, and other duties associated with the general running of the office.
We were provided with a generous amount of academic articles, and analyses of surveys and information which focused on the various issues which SPUC address. This was supported by informative discussions with Rhoslyn Thomas, Dr Anthony McCarthy and other staff members, and practice sessions for effectively answering questions in favour of abortion.
We had the opportunity to observe a talk given at St. John Payne’s school, and give a short presentation on why we ourselves are prolife to the students there. Afterwards we were able to take part in a short question and answer session.
Conclusion
This internship has given us the opportunity to experience the environment in which pro-life activists work. The reading provided gave us a deeper insight into all arguments used for abortion and other issues that SPUC deal with, and how to efficiently debate and defend our views.
We have been able to see the different methods in which one should communicate the pro-life argument to many people, especially women, under different circumstances. This has also given us an insight into what is needed in the pro-life movement, whether it be office work, or outside campaigning, to ensure that our message gets across to as many people as possible.
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