P.O. Box 46679, London NW9 8ZT
Tel. 020-7723-1740
Internship
The Intern Programme has been a great blessing for us. The Volunteers on the programme take part in a great deal of front-line pro-life work in a peaceful and prayerful Catholic atmosphere. It can be very hard work but it also has been both extremely fruitful in terms of the numbers of babies saved and extremely fruitful in the lives of those involved in the programme. Some Interns have gone on to work with the Good Counsel Network. Others want to take the skills they have learnt back to their own countries or towns.
The Programme
Interns volunteer full-time with us and have the opportunity to learn:
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How to start and run a successful Crisis Pregnancy Centre
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How to start and run a Vigil at an abortion centre
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How to run a 40 Days for Life Campaign
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How to advise and support pregnant women in crisis
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How to remain faithful to the Catholic Church's teachings in all aspects of your pro-life work.
Interns receive free accommodation, living costs and free travel around London. They volunteer as part of a community, praying and working together. Men and women and housed separately. Intern placements last for 3 months and are available throughout the year.
Apply
Interested in becoming an intern? Email fredathome2@yahoo.co.uk
If possible please forward us
your CV.
I have been amazed to find that nearly every day a woman outside an abortion clinic turns and chooses to take up our offer of help instead of going in for an abortion. Moving from the countryside to busy London was a shock to the system, especially the daily commute. The work with the Good Counsel itself is fascinating and very different to the work I am used to doing as a junior doctor in a hospital. In hospital, I had seen first- hand how little information is given to women seeking abortion – how little consideration is given to the reasons that a woman seeks abortion, the development of the baby and what other possible solutions there are in her situation. In no way was a woman making an informed choice. The Good Counsel take a loving but truthful approach to pregnant women. Explaining the development of the baby, what abortion is and what the risks are. The reality is far from the easy way out that many people think. Plenty of time is given to understanding the woman’s situation and women receive dedicated practical support that offers a real option to continue with the pregnancy in her situation. Standing outside an abortion clinic praying and offering this help, you can see the hope in the eyes of the women. It is only when hope is lost that in desperation and fear women end up at private abortion clinics. I have been amazed to find that nearly every day a woman outside an abortion clinic turns and chooses to take up our offer of help instead of going in for an abortion. Seeing the mothers and babies that have been helped, when they visit the centre for on-going support or even to help others themselves, is a wonderful confirmation of the value and success of this work.
Jessica
Martyn
I now know that doing nothing will never be an option again. The most daunting thing, as a new intern, is obviously the front-line work at the clinics themselves. This is especially true if, like me, you hadn't done anything of the sort before. Many hours are spent outside the clinics, sometimes in very unfavourable weather, and, on top of that, you have to stay alert and be ready to offer help to any women who might come along. Actually speaking to complete strangers about such serious matters is the most daunting part of it all. It's amazing, though, how quickly it becomes easier and you are given training and advice by experienced pavement counsellors before you start. There are quiet times, too, when you can pray and prepare yourself. I found that, provided you keep focussed on why you're there, it isn't too difficult just to do your part as well as you can and allow God to do the rest. On training days at the office you get to learn all about the work that Good Counsel does, the history and current situation of the pro-life movement and much more besides. You have the opportunity to be involved in many aspects of what the Good Counsel Network does. While I was there the Lenten "40 Days for Life" Campaign took place and it was a great privilege to be involved in and help organise it. One thing which I certainly got from the experience was a much greater awareness of how various aspects of Church teaching fit together. During my internship I saw first-hand exactly how the breakdown of the traditional family, the culture of contraception, secular materialism and abortion are all connected. I believe it has done me a lot of good to see this and I now know that doing nothing about the issue will never be an option again. There are many more things I could write about, such as the people I met and made friends with or the advantages of working in an office that has it's own chapel with daily Mass and Adoration but, if I did, this would become too long. I will finish by saying: The Good Counsel Internship is the best thing I have done and I'd strongly recommend applying for it.
Interning with the Good Counsel Network has shown me how crucial it is to work to defend life from conception to natural death. Coming from little New Zealand, I was eager to see what pro-life work would look like in highly populated London. I knew that I would be working on the frontline, however, I did not anticipate how vulnerable the encounters would be. In New Zealand abortions are generally administered in large hospitals and so the Vigil I frequented in New Zealand was nowhere near abortion-vulnerable women. My first day at the Twickenham Vigil shocked me as I was suddenly exposed to the fragility of human life. These were real women with real and difficult situations and we had the important role of providing alternative support that was not given inside the doors of the clinic. I was amazed at how much support we were able to offer the women; this gave me so much confidence in what I was doing especially going into a conversation with abortion-vulnerable women. The work that the Good Counsel network does is essential. They are building up a culture of life in a world that needs true compassion and are for women and the vulnerable life inside the womb.
Breigé
Michael
You cannot go back to your former ways of just chipping in with pro-life events here and there. You realise quickly that the only answer to the genocide is supernatural. Having had a little bit of experience doing 40 Days for Life in Glasgow, I thought I knew what a prayer vigil outside an abortion centre consisted of. I found, however, that nothing can quite prepare you for the first mother to walk past you into the clinic when you are counselling. I remember it distinctly. At the Brixton abortion centre, a mother was on her own with nobody to accompany her, looking lost and unsure, and with her little English, I tried to explain what support we can offer and I gave her a leaflet, but I couldn’t stop her and I got slightly emotional as she proceeded towards the clinic. It’s all well and good being convinced about the pro-life position intellectually, however, when you see a young girl with her whole life ahead of her come out with a little pharmacy bag containing the second abortion pill which will expel her unborn child, when you see a mother on the street corner crying over what she has done, when you see a mother brazenly claiming “I killed my foetus”, you realise that it is simply impossible to go back. You cannot un-see the hurt abortion brings women and their unborn children. You cannot go back to your former ways of just chipping in with pro-life events here and there. You realise quickly that the only answer to the genocide is supernatural. When I stood praying opposite an abortion centre, it became very real, very quickly. We implored God to put an end to the horror and implored our Blessed Lady to pray for our work. As with anything in the spiritual life, the prayer can become routine and the counselling can become repetitive. It is much easier to vaguely offer a leaflet to a woman going in than to really engage with them and challenge them. But Our Lord did not show us the easy road. One of the prayers in the pro-life prayer booklet we use goes thus: “We pray that all children will be allowed to be born, baptised and dedicated to the Lord.” Our Lord will ask us how we acted when his little ones were being killed, and I felt the need to be able to say: “I wasn’t passive. I really tried my best, Lord.” I think asking questions of the more experienced counsellors helped, but also meeting older colleagues and other volunteers who had been active in the pro-life movement long before me was a real highlight of my internship. Hearing the stories about the lengths they went to, how long they’ve been involved in the work, and their faith in God can’t help but give you a little push. If they can do it, why can’t I?
While working here, I have experienced first hand the power God works through the prayers of the faithful. “Remember, O Lord, and shew thyself to us in the time of our tribulation, and give me boldness, O Lord, king of gods, and of all power: Give me a well-ordered speech in my mouth in the presence of the lion, and turn his heart to the hatred of our enemy”(Esther 14:12-13). These are the words I had pinned to my wall when I began working at Good Counsel. After 8 weeks of pavement counselling, my anxieties in anticipating pro-abortion conflicts have faded into anxieties about not doing enough. For reasons beyond our control, the abortion industry is changing. Women are rushing into cars with little green paper bags containing abortion pills. Abortion pills are being posted to women and girls. Buffer-zones prevent us from offering help to women hesitating before clinic doors. And with each passer-by it’s easy to echo their words. Are we the losers? Are we losing? People are quick to disparage prolife victories, such as the closing of the first Marie Stopes clinic in London this year, and start to despair at the new abortion methods. When we view the obstacles and battles the pro-life movement face, we need to see it as it is, a spiritual battle. Make no mistake, we are fighting against evil, not against women. We need to entrust the lives of the unborn to God and work to convert the hearts and souls of women, abortionists and pro-abortion people. We need to do what we can with what we have. What do we have? Abortion pills being distributed to unprepared women; buffer-zones pushing us and the help we have to offer away from mothers; the minds of the young corrupted by indoctrination; unnatural hate being hurled at us from street corners. We also have Emmanuel. We have God with us. We have a living faith that the God who is immensely interested in each one of our lives, works for each human’s good. We have a reckless love towards those who hate us and for those who are in need, as well as a desire to support, guide and help them. We also have a hope that “being confident of this very thing, that He, who hath begun a good work in [us], will perfect it unto the day of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 1:6). We have a hope in God’s Providence, because He knows what He is about. Allow the prolife movement its victories, trusting that they are the result of having a God who listens. While working here, I have experienced first-hand the power God works through the prayers of the faithful. What you can do for the pro-life movement is to do what you can with what you have been given. By the merits of Jesus Christ, your prayers and sacrifices are invaluable to the pro-life movement. But when it looks bleak for us remember we have a God who listens to our imperfect prayers and looks generously on our imperfect, good acts. “For I know the thoughts that I think towards you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of affliction, to give you an end and patience. And you shall call upon me, and you shall go: and you shall pray to me, and I will hear you. You shall seek me, and shall find me: when you shall seek me with all your heart” (Jeremias 29:11-13).