Our Province

The fma province in Britain is made up of sixty professed Salesian Sisters and two pre-novices. We live in eight communities in England and Scotland, mostly in inner cities of London, Liverpool and Glasgow, deliberately choosing the less affluent areas where young people, including the disadvantaged, can benefit by our mission. You will find us in Battersea, Rotherhithe and Streatham in London, in Croxteth, Liverpool and Easterhouse in Glasgow. We also have a community in Cowley with a noticeable immigrant population, with a good deal of unemployment since the closure of the Morris Motor Works. We have a small community in Newmains in the diocesan pastoral centre that caters especially for school children in North Lanarkshire, an area with a once thriving coal and steel industry.

Community is one of the key values for us. We consider it important to live together as ‘family’ forming a home for each of us. We encourage others to work with us for the good of the young, and most communities benefit by the presence of committed Salesian Cooperators and co-workers. Where it is practical, young people are welcomed into our homes. The Salesian Youth Club in Streatham has its base in the community house. Vides Office is in the Liverpool convent and young volunteers often meet there to work, welcomed by the Sisters. In Kendal, a Youth Pastoral Centre, the group of young volunteers live with the community, being welcomed to share meals and prayer as well as the work for the young.

Many of the Sisters have already reached the official retirement age and have lived through significant changes in ministry, especially from school based work to more varied forms of mission always focussed on the good of young people and their education in Christian values. New ways of responding to the needs of the young are important in our rapidly changing world, and often young people themselves are able to tell us how we can help and support them.

We have told you something about what we do and where we live, leaving till this point to say who we are and why we have made this life choice. We are women who believe in God and his love for his people. We feel strongly called to follow Jesus, dedicating our lives to God through service for others. The Salesian charism our special gift and responsibility, is to reach out to the young offering friendship, support and help for their journey through life, and especially looking out for those most in need. We mentioned that we have two pre-novices and you might have wondered what that meant. These two women are in training for religious life. During this time of preparation, they are encouraged to listen carefully to discern whether God is really calling them to this way of life, while at the same time they live a full community life and work as part of a team in mission.

To view our mission statement click here.