Who is my neighbour

 

 

 

 

Video made by Andy Pratt for Blackburn diocese
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Boae2MBdCuo

How Christians should be tackling poverty in the UK.

My latest rant  in my personal blog

How Christians should be tackling poverty in the UK.

http://theprimitiveranter.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/how-christians-should-be-tackling.html

Fw: "Serious About Transformation" eNews: April 2014

 

----- Original Message -----

From: Stuart Ashmore

To: Greg

Sent: Friday, March 28, 2014 10:01 AM

Subject: "Serious About Transformation" eNews: April 2014

This month: Welcome! / Catalyst Programme opens / A Story of transformation Is this email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser. "Serious about Transformation" April 2014 Welcome! A big "HELLO" to the new "Serious about Transformation" eNewsletter from Tearfund's IMPACT UK Team. "Serious about Transformation" picks up from the former "SERVE eNews" and aims to bring you a wide range of resources, inspiring stories & tips to help you in your missional journey of seeing the lives of individuals and communities transformed through the Good News of Jesus Christ. To find out more about us, what we do & how we do it, just click HERE & visit us online. With many blessings, The IMPACT UK Team (e-mail us at: team.impactuk@tearfund.org)   'Catalyst Programme': Now open for applications Thriving individuals and flourishing communities are at the heart of Tearfund's UK work. The IMPACT UK Team has a vision to see Christians, across the UK, fully engaged and equipped to bring wholeness and flourishing in place of poverty, disadvantage, inequality & brokenness. You might be a church, in England, that is starting out on the journey of connecting with its local community and that wants to do something practical; you might already be on that journey; you might want to evaluate your current community engagement and want to start something new - whatever the circumstances, the Catalyst Programme can help you. The Catalyst Programme helps the local church, in England, to: - realise its mission and vision for the local community; - develop, produce and implement a relevant and sustainable social action programme (that could be something like a Trussell Trust foodbank or a Christians Against Poverty Debt Centre, for example. Or, it could be something that is unique to your own locality). To find out more & make an application click HERE "Catalysts make something happen". A Life Transformed One of the Tearfund Partners, with whom we're currently journeying, helps young people come to terms with issues of loss e.g. bereavement, divorce etc. The story below has been told to us by Ben's Support Worker: "This afternoon I met with Ben (name changed). He is a lovely, gentle 15 year-old whose mum was violently killed a few years ago. Ben is now in care and has been deeply unhappy. I have been working with him for 6 weeks or so and in that time he became very depressed - I was the first person he had spoken to about his mum's death; once the flood-gates opened and he talked, he began to grieve. When I saw Ben before half-term, he was still very raw - going between immense anger and deep sadness. I had been praying for him a lot over the holidays as I was considering referring him for medication. He often talked about his feeling of hopelessness without, now, having any family. Today as I went over, I prayed. I physically felt God's presence with me and knew I could bring God's peace to him. As I walked into the room I was met by Ben - smiling! He looked so different to the gaunt boy from 2 weeks ago! We talked about what had changed; he talked about knowing that he had a greater purpose in life and that he was there to help others. He had been finding out about mentoring and youth work as he wanted to share his experience with other young, black men who had lost family through violence and drugs. He was laughing, telling me his hopes for the future, about having people around him that aren't his family but who could help him. I cannot think of any word other than "transformed" for Ben today. Today, a young person was given hope instead of despair - thank God!" If you would like to find out more about the work of This Way Up then please click HERE   Can the Church End Hunger Fast? Reverend Keith Hebden thinks it can!   He helps run a Trussell Trust foodbank for his local community in Mansfield and is fasting from food completely for 40 days during Lent part of the End Hunger Fast campaign.     End Hunger Fast is also calling for a national day of fasting on 4 April. Rev. Hebden said: "We must stop and recognise the growing hunger in our midst. I hope others will join and fast for a day in solidarity with the half a million hungry Britons." Join the members of the IMPACT UK Team in supporting the campaign and the opportunity that it brings for us to reflect on the needs of those in our local communities across the UK To find out more and join in go to www.endhungerfast.co.uk Bits & Pieces... From time to time we come across lots of interesting bits & pieces that may, or may not, be of interest/use to you in your own local contexts. Below are links to some of what we've come across this month: Employment Vacancy: Current IMPACT UK Partner Innovista is looking to recruit a Thrive Director to multiply transformational mission in disadvantaged communities. For further information please click HERE External Services: Heartlight HR is an exciting new venture offering churches and faith-based organisations distinctly Christian resources to help recruit, manage and develop people in a professionally excellent way, enabling them to focus on their God-given vision. To find out more, click to visit their website: Heartlight HR   External links are selected and reviewed when newsletter is published. However, the IMPACT UK Team is not responsible for the content of external websites. This is because: we do not produce them or maintain/update them we cannot change them they can be changed without our knowledge or agreement. Some of our external links may be to websites which also offer commercial services, such as online purchases. The inclusion of a link to an external website from this newsletter should not be understood to be an endorsement of that website or the site's owners (or their products/services). In This Issue Welcome! Catalyst Programme "A Life Transformed" Can the Church End Hunger Fast? Bits & Pieces Bits & Pieces... Click each heading to find out more... Employment Vacancies; External Services.   Coming Soon... To help you further explore and unpack some of the deeper issues around transformation we are planning a series of UK-wide events as part of our "Pursuing Transformation Tour". We're planning to run the first event in early July, in the Merseyside/Wirral area - we'll have more information for you in the May newsletter - including how to register your interest.    Keep Up With Us Twitter - IMPACT UK Team

Copyright © 2014 IMPACT UK, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you opted in to receive news from the SERVE website. Our mailing address is: IMPACT UK 100 Church Road Teddington, Middlesex TW11 8QE United Kingdom Add us to your address book

UCLAN conference - Paulo Freire and Transformative Education: Changing Lives and Transforming Communities - 28 April - 1 May 2014

 

This is an International four-day Conference at Preston organised by University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) School of Education and Social Science and The Freire Institute. Keynotes: Professor Ana Maria (Nita) Freire, with Professor Mohammad Nizamuddin, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Gujrat, Pakistan and Professor Tim Ireland of The Federal University of Paraíba (UFPb), João Pessoa, Brazil.
http://www.uclan.ac.uk/conference_events/paulo_freire_transformative_education.php

Micro Grants for Church Community Projects - no deadline

The Cinnamon Network which supports church community projects across the UK has announced that it has micro grants for churches to start a community project. To date, the Network has supported 21 initiatives such as food banks, community lunches, debt counselling and education projects.  Churches in England can apply for £1,500 while churches in both Scotland and Wales can apply for £2,000. The grant amount has to be matched (by £3,000 in England and £2,000 in Scotland and Wales) and this can come from cash, gifts in kind, premises, professional pro-bono services, asset items and salaries. Individual churches or a group of churches working in partnership (which are registered as a charity and have up-to-date accounts) can apply for the grants.  There is no deadline and the application process is ongoing.
http://www.cinnamonnetwork.co.uk/access-funding/

MSE Charity: Funding for Financial Literacy Projects - opens 1 May - deadline 31 May 2014 or 40 applications received

 

The MSE Charity has announced that its grants programme will re-open for applications on the 1st May 2014. The MSE Charity provides grants to constituted community based groups (including schools) to help fight financial and consumer illiteracy and to educate and inform adults and children about consumer and debt issues. Under the programme, grants of up to £5,000 are available for group projects such as self-help groups, schools, workshops and other innovative schemes that seek to educate people about money, debt and consumer issues. The grant can be used to pay for financial education course fees and other associated expenses. Priority will be given to groups with an annual income of less than £300,000. 
https://www.msecharity.com/Default.aspx?pageid=15

New Fund to Help Young Homeless People - deadline 22 April 2014

 

In a joint initiative, the Cabinet Office and the Department for Communities and Local Governments have launched the new £15 million Fair Chance Fund to support young homeless people. Providers of services that can help move young homeless people into sustainable accommodation, education, training or employment can submit expressions of interest. Successful bidders will receive payments-by-results of up to £15,000 per individual and can bid to work with between 50 and 600 young people in projects worth £500,000 to £3 million. One of the objectives of the programme is to develop the social investment market and the level of social investment is one of the criteria that bids will be assessed on. Bidders will also be expected to work with philanthropists and/or social investors to raise the up-front capital needed to deliver the projects. It is hoped that this fund will enable 2,500 young homeless people to move into sustainable accommodation, and 1,000 of them into education, employment or training between January 2015 and December 2017. 
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fair-chance-fund-expressions-of-interest

Evangelical Alliance supports End Hunger Fast

 

 

 

 

Ending Hunger Part of End Hunger Fast, a campaign highlighting the high levels of food poverty in the UK, our general director Steve Clifford is encouraging Alliance members to join him in calling on the government to do more for those facing desperate levels of hunger. Last year, half a million people used food banks and 5,500 people were admitted to hospital for malnutrition.

With the National Day of Fasting launching next Friday, 4 April, some of the Alliance's leadership team and staff will be taking part in the fast as part of the campaign. To pledge to join the fast find out more here or email office@endhungerfast.co.uk

RELOCATION OF THE HOUSING ADVISORY SERVICE

 

 

NOTICE

RELOCATION OF THE
HOUSING ADVISORY SERVICE & WELFARE BENEFITS

PLEASE NOTE THAT WITH

EFFECT FROM

MONDAY 7TH April 2014

THE HOUSING ADVISORY

&

WELFARE BENEFITS

SERVICE WILL BE RELOCATING

TO THE TOWN HALL

ON LANCASTER ROAD

Mental Health Crisis Care Review - URGENT - please disseminate information on behalf of CQC

 Please make this known widely

 

From: Margaret McLeod [mailto:Margaret.McLeod@vsnw.org.uk]
Sent: 24 March 2014 13:26
To: undisclosed-recipients:
Subject: Mental Health Crisis Care Review - URGENT - please disseminate information on behalf of CQC

 

The Care Quality Commission has asked us to circulate the following information on their behalf.  Please circulate onwards to anyone you think would be interested.

 

"MENTAL HEALTH CRISIS CARE REVIEW – CALL FOR EVIDENCE FROM CARE QUALITY COMMISSION

 

We are asking people who experienced a mental health crisis within the last two years and tried to get help from their local services to tell us about the help, care and support they received. We are also encouraging carers to share their experiences, and local groups or organisations that work with people who have experienced a crisis and / or that have an interest in the quality of crisis care in their local area to share their knowledge with us.

 

Hearing from those with direct experience and knowledge of services at a local level is central to a themed piece of work we are carrying out into mental health crisis care and we want to make sure as many people find out about this opportunity as we can. We hope that you are able to use your own channels and networks to let people know about this opportunity to share their experiences.

The questionnaires can be accessed on our website: www.cqc.org.uk/mentalhealthcrisis and people can tell us about their experiences until the end of April 2014. For those that might want to help promote this work via Twitter, @Carequalitycomm has tweeted using the hashtags #mentalhealth and #cqc.

The information that is shared with us will be used to:

•             build a better picture of where mental health crisis care works well and where it doesn't;

•             help select the local areas that CQC inspectors will visit as part of this review;

•             identify specific examples of good or poor practice.

Whilst we cannot receive responses after the end of April 2014 people will still be able to tell us about their experiences with a specific provider by using our online forms or by calling 03000 61 61 61.

If you have any questions please email mentalhealthcrisisreview@cqc.org.uk. Further information can be found on our website.

You may also be interested in other recent publications around mental health. Towards the end of last year we published  A fresh start for the regulation and inspection of mental health services, which set out our priorities for improving how CQC monitors, inspects and regulates specialist mental health services.

In January 2014, we also published our 2012/13 annual monitoring reports into the use of the Mental Health Act and the Mental Capacity Act Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards. "

 

Kind regards

 

Margaret

 

 

Margaret McLeod | Policy & Network Coordinator (Health & Social Care) | Voluntary Sector North West (VSNW)

 

My normal working days are Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. 

 

Tel: 0161 276 9300 | Mob: 07908 683927 | Fax 0161 276 9301

Email:  margaret.mcleod@vsnw.org.uk | Web:  www.vsnw.org.uk

St. Thomas Centre, Ardwick Green North, Manchester M12 6FZ

 

 

 

VSNW Bulletin | For the Voluntary and Community Sector in the North West:  http://www.vsnw.org.uk/publications/bulletin

 

 

 

Registered Charity No 1081654 | Company Limited by Guarantee | Registered in England No. 39889031| Registered Office as above

 

 

Focus on incredible cost of funerals

Anybody want to get involved in this?

Mar 14 Focus on incredible cost of funerals

The incredible cost of funerals in the UK was highlighted recently in a news report on Russia Today, noting that funeral poverty has doubled in the past three years. Quaker Social Action has been tackling funeral poverty in east London for over 3 years with the Down to Earth service, helping people to arrange meaningful and affordable funerals, and has seen the impact that not being able to afford a funeral has had on people.

"One family who had lost their mother, did not have enough money to even buy teabags and milk, as our worker discovered when he visited them at home," explains QSA's director, Judith Moran. "Imagine not being able to just have a cup of tea, to soothe you, when your mum had died. And of course not being able to offer even basic hospitality."

The Russia Today report points that while the average funeral cost in the UK is around £7,500 (including the funeral itself, discretionary costs such as flowers and administration), it is three times the £2,500 cost in France and almost double the £4,200 cost in the US.

"We know that we make such a big difference for those who are desperately struggling to afford a funeral," adds Judith Moran.

QSA campaigns against funeral poverty to convince the government and the funeral industry that the issue requires urgent attention. That's why we've employed the UK's first national funeral poverty campaigner who is asking for your support and involvement to help find practical and political solutions to this growing problem.

To help QSA in the fight against funeral poverty visit our resources page where you can sign up for updates when we release new materials: http://www.quakersocialaction.com/downtoearth/resources.

The Russia Today report can be seen on YouTube.

 

 

 

Safety Net or Poverty Trap

Report from North Lancashire Cab on the impact of welfare reform and the failure of the local Care and Urgen needs scheme.

 

Download here https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/89023969/CAUN%20Safety%20Net%20or%20Poverty%20Trap%20Report%20March%202014.pdf

 

 

 

A major refresh of the Together Lancashire website

 

It's now live.... check it out...

 

http://www.cuf.org.uk/together-lancashire

 

 

RIV Childhood Sexual Abuse Adult Support Service

 

 

 

RELEASE into Victory CIC

From....          Gina Gonzales- Director

T: 07597998169

E: ginahelp-info@rivlancs.org.uk

 

Childhood Sexual Abuse

Adult Support Service

We will offer a non-counselling service in Preston, delivered by survivors, qualified practitioners and trained volunteers that will assist to move on with their lives. We will network with local service providers to ensure a seamless service for our clients to access other services available for their support.

RELEASE into Victory was established in February 2013 as a social enterprise Community Interest Company, No. 08405265 by Gina Gonzales & Ann Gill Founding Directors.

Aims & Objectives

• 1: 1 non-counselling, peer support groups & recovery programmes for adult survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse

• Promote public awareness and transparency of CSA

• Training for frontline staff to raise awareness of the possible impact and consequences CSA can have on adult survivors, workshops available to services and organisations who may have contact with adult survivors including support agencies, LA, Schools, NHS staff etc.

The Need

The directors have set up this new service from identifying the growing need and the lack of local provision for adult survivors of CSA.

The reason why we feel that this type of service is needed at this time is because there is no other group support available locally, there are voluntary organisations that offer 1:1 counselling but spaces are limited, waiting list very long and the counsellors do not often specialize in sexual abuse.

As an organisation RELEASE into Victory seeks to create a safe, confidential, informal setting, in the form of a drop-in centre. Where adult survivors and those affected by CSA can speak out freely with others who are able to relate to and empathies with the trauma they have experienced.

An environment where Self Support Groups can meet and gain support from one another, and where the discussion of difficult topics around issues associated with CSA is encouraged and accepted as the norm.

Adult Survivors

We acknowledge that living with CSA can have a life long psychological impact and does not end in childhood. CSA affects adult relationships, marriage, partners as well as the survivors' children. Possible negative issues and problems into adulthood result in poor lifestyle choices and can lead to; alcohol/drug misuse, mental health issues, or social/relationship problems.

We have a real and deep understanding of the devastating emotional impact CSA has on all concerned, including the child's immediate family as well as the marriage, partners and children of the survivor.

CSA ruins lives and left unchecked can continue on through generations.

Who we are

Gina is Survivor of CSA who has lived with the consequences all of her life and knows how frustrating and stressful it can be to get to the point where as a survivor, feel that we are able to reach out and ask for support, only to find that there is none available.

Ann and Gina have professional experience spanning over a thirty plus years of working within the children & families, education and social care settings. Our extensive knowledge, skills and expertise comes from contact with vulnerable children and adult groups in a wide variety of settings such as nurseries, main stream, public and special needs schools, LA residential care settings, Home-Start family support service, as well as supported living services for adults with additional needs and learning difficulties.

Many of the children & young people Ann and Gina have worked with over the years, were often vulnerable and susceptible to abuse and neglect as they may have come from disadvantaged or chaotic backgrounds. The adults may also have had emotional or mental health concerns, or issues with substance/ alcohol misuse. A large percentage of these also have, directly or indirectly, experienced CSA on varying degrees of severity. The vast majority of who have had little or no encouragement to speak out about or receive support to help them to deal with or come to terms with their experiences. 

Gina is currently employed as a Senior Support worker with United Response, which is a supported living service for adults with learning difficulties and complex needs and is a volunteer Victim Support officer, having received specialized training is able to provide emotional and practical support to male and female victims of rape and sexual assault as well as domestic violence. Gina also a volunteer with NSPCC/ChildLine delivering their schools service, herself and her husband are respite foster carers with Barnardo's

Gina is accessing ISVA training through the Home Office e-learning and National Occupational Standards, core competency framework programme.

Ann currently manages an out of schools nursery provision.

Professional Profile

Between us we hold childcare and counselling qualifications. As professionals we have a sound working knowledge on current legal safeguarding children & vulnerable adult's legislations and procedures, as an organisation RELEASE into Victory has all relevant policies and guidelines in place as well as police clearance certifications.

Support provided to survivors of CSA needs to be managed carefully 1:1 or peer group work can be extremely helpful and cathartic or, if not managed with awareness and appropriate emotional and psychological checks in place, it can be destructive.

We are currently making steps to develop a framework where professional support is accessible to us, partnership working within the NHS service as well as on-going and thorough specialized training and professional development are crucial elements of our service.

The company will:

• Adhere to all aspects of child protection and vulnerable adult issues

• Act as a referral, support and advice service and to work in collaboration with LA and Voluntary sector services.

Healing Empowering Liberating Partnership

Childhood Sexual Abuse Awareness Workshop

Supporting Adult Survivors

Central Lancashire services, organisations and interested parties invited to attend.

The workshops will run one day per week, and will be available for the cost of £25.00 inclusive of lunch and refreshments (dates/times to be confirmed)

Aims and objectives

The aim of this Childhood Sexual Abuse Awareness Workshop is to equip services, organisations or individuals with basic information of issues around CSA, which they may find beneficial to have when coming into contact with adult survivors who may be seeking support.

At the end of session you will be able to;

• Have a basic definition of Childhood Sexual Abuse & Child Sexual Exploitation

• Be knowledgeable of the long term impact & possible consequences on individual's lives

• Have an understanding of the reasons why survivors choose to disclose or decide against doing so

• Have up-to date information of national, regional and local statistical evidence of the prominence of CSA & CSE in our society.

Services and organisations will also be familiar with and aware of the importance of their own personal perceptions, attitudes and professional boundaries and how these can impact on the disclosure process.

They will also recognise the importance of having effective sign-posting procedures and guidelines within their services.

Workshop content:

• Definitions of CSA & CSE

• Facts & Statistics

• Myths & Perceptions

• Adult survivors-Impact & Consequences

• Barriers to disclosure

• Safe disclosure

• Local support

In the first instance please register an interest by contacting annvolunteer-training @rivlancs.org.uk

Fw: Warm Homes campaign... Help for owner occupiers age 70+ Act quickly

 

----- Original Message -----

From: Deborah Stuart

To: 'Greg Smith - Together Lancashire - PCAN' ; 'Peter Nunn' ; 'normwilcock@gmail.com'

Sent: Thursday, March 20, 2014 1:18 PM

Subject: Warm Homes campaign

Please see below some information that may be of interest, please circulate as appropriate.

 

Anyone who may be eligible must contact Help Direct in the first instance on 0303 333 1111.

 

 

Over the last two winters the Council has received funding to undertake servicing and repairs to boilers in the homes of elderly and vulnerable residents. In both years demand has been high and the budget has been quickly committed.

 

This year, possibly as a result of the milder winter so far, we have received fewer requests for assistance and as we approach the end of the financial year there is a surplus still left to spend. This surplus will be carried forward to next year so I am keen to continue taking referrals.

 

If you know anyone who you think may qualify, please encourage them to ring Help Direct at the earliest opportunity on 0303 333 1111, and they will ensure the person is directed to the correct agency.

 

·   To qualify for the servicing boiler and fires programme, residents must meet the following criteria:

o    Be a Preston City Council resident

o    Aged 70 years or over

o    Own the property they are living in

o    Not a previous recipient of this funding ( this is the third year we have run this scheme so we only want new clients)

 

Deborah Stuart Community Involvement Worker Telephone: +441772903404 Community Engagement Town Hall, Lancaster Road, Preston, PR1 2RL

 

---

Preston City Council is a Living Wage Employer.


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