The Hatching of – Bars, Veg and Things Unknown

Okay, here is how I did.

RESEARCH
a) Results from targets set
- Successfully planned the research questions and used them as a guideline for my discussions.
- Had a useful chat with two Social Workers (see blog entry of 21/08). Also contacted a couple of other people, am now waiting for them to get back to me.
b) Incidental stuff
- Have been looking into the possibility of renting an allotment, initial enquiries made.
- A chance meeting with the director of a local Christian organisation that houses and supports ex-offenders may prove useful.
Overall, this has been fairly successful so far.

SUPPORT
- Initial e-mail for potential prayer supporters has been drafted. This cannot be sent until we have a name for the project and thus an e-mail address. Matter currently awaiting results (see earlier entries, and comments!)
- Wiblog related support very helpful so far. Comments useful and supportive, some people have expressed an interest in being on the e-mailing list.
Thanks WibFolk, you rock!

FUNDRAISING
- Have had a 50 percent success rate with the cycle to work target (twice, not four times, in the past month). Did walk today, though, does that count? At this rate I will be lucky to raise anything worthwhile in the sponsered cycle ride of July 08!
Must try harder.

See you tomorrow for September’s targets. Betcha can’t wait, eh?

The end of the month, that is. Thus, I will need to inform you, VERY SOON, how well I have done in meeting my targets. Time to make some last minute phone calls, methinks.

Do I need to tell you to watch this space?

Nah, didn’t think so!

Dith

Thanks to our 2 contributers so far. I must say that we have 2 options that we like for different reasons at present.

Chas,

We like the idea of Plotting to Improve but we would like to use that as the name for the allotment project alone, not the actual charity.

Your idea of Sustain also hit a chord. We’ve thought of amalgamating that with part of Rain’s suggestion to form:

Sustain For Life

We wonder what others think…..

My idea of the Chas and Rain Memorial Foundation was rejected by Dith because they weren’t dead yet. I pointed out that this could be seen as forward planning. The other alternative that I had was to kill them and therefore the name would fit completely but Dith said that this was unChristian, or something equally daft. I switched off when she said, NO!

Could we please not have suggestions that:

1. Are rude;
2. Contain the word plot, or derivatives there of;
3. Are written in anything other than English or Wenglish;
4. Conatins people’s names or those of animals;
5. Are geographically limited; eg/ Caring For Pontypool
6. Use possibly offensive terms; eg/ caring for the odd or assiting ex cons

They can contain a Christian element.

Tricky isn’t it?

There will be prizes. They will be surprise prizes. They will not contain earth or slugs.

Closing date is 10th September 2007. Winners will be notified via this blog.

Hope that this helps, or hinders.

I have phoned the Allotment Man and have been given details of some local sites. I am to visit one on a convenient Sunday morning in order to meet with Another Allotment Man relevant to that site. Last Sunday was sadly not convenient due to a my feeling Not Too Well. Intend to phone Allotment Man mk1 tomorrow for an update and to see if AAM mk2 will be available this Sunday (he is not on the phone!)

Okay, now for the request. Any ideas as to what we could call our project/charity/ministry? A name would help with the setting up of an e-mail address and website for a start! All suggestions gratefully received, even if only to make us laugh. Thanks.

Dith

As Jeff said, I met last week with a helpful Social Worker from a local team. The meeting produced the following results:

1) There is a need in the area of relapse prevention when it comes to the field of Mental Health. Thus, in any funding application this would be a good feature to focus upon.

2) The transition of people from the area of Young People’s Mental Health Services to Adult Services is "far from seamless". This especially applies in the case of youngsters who have not entered officially into the Care System, but who are just as much in need.

3) Due to the reduction in the provision of Day Services via the Local Authority, a need has emerged for social activites and groups for various clients of the Community Intervention Team (where my friendly SW and her equally friendly colleague are based). There is a local woman who independently accesses funds in order to provide support for the southern part of the borough, but there is a need for it in the north – where we are planning to locate. I have asked if SW no. 2 would put me in touch with this lady so that we can work effectively alongside one another. I have heard nothing yet (prayers please!)

4) I floated the allotment plan, which was well received, and suggested that I could possibly go on to facilitate other social and theraperutic groups in the area. Both Social Workers appeared keen to make use of these services were I successful. SW no 2 also suggested that I speak to somebody in Planning when I have a more firm idea of what I wish to offer. It appears that, pitched correctly, I may well be in line for funding.

5) SW no 1 also provided me with the aims and objectives of their team, which means that I can see how well anything that we plan fits the template of needs etc. So far, the allotment plan fits a number of criteria, which means it may be well received when it becomes time to ‘go public’.

All in all, it was all very encouraging. Which is as well, really, given that when I informed my boss of my plans, (out of courtesy, so that she would not think I was going behind her back or anything) she provided a very sobering counterpoint. I am thankful she pointed out possible hurdles and pitfalls, as a balanced view is very necessary. However, I am glad that I had been buoyed up by the previous meeting, or else I may have felt grounded before I even began!

Dith

Dith had a meeting with a contact in social services last week that seemed to go very well and provide us with encouragement with our aims. She also contacted the allotment secretary and there are plots available in our area. I’ll let her tell you about that though.

As I wrote below there is a problem with funding charity work undertaken by exclusively Christian organisations. Thanks to Eee for pointing out the misunderstanding that I’d encountered with this. This led to Dith and I having a conversation regarding how we hope to move forward.

One of the things that Caring For Life kept saying was that they wanted their "users" to have the best of everything; whether it be foodstuffs, accomodation or assistance. However from our observations we saw that they were extremely overstretched with manpower. They acknowleged that this was because they insisted that only Christians could work there who had a calling for the work. I got the impression that the term Christian was not necessarily used in its widest sense. This is all well and good and, to a certain extent, I can agree with this.

However what if there is a highly qualified non-Christian who wants to work for you? Having a calling for social care is not an exclusive right of Christians alone. Dith knows many non-Christian who have such a calling, as well as Christian who shouldn’t be working in that field but are.

So we have to decide:

1. Do we want to be an exclusively Christian staffed organisation and work with the limited resources and manpower that is available in that area?; or,
2. Do we want to be an organisation that has a strong Christian foundation but accepts workers who don’t share our faith but are sympathetic to our aims?

If we are aiming to help people by living out Christ’s commandment to offer assitance and witness wherever it is needed then should that include non-Christian helpers/staff who are willing to assist you in this area. Only by meeting non-Christian people can you hope to show them the love that Christ has for them, whatever their personal situation.

However we wouldn’t want to dilute the Christian aims that we have in our work. I think that a strong Christian base with others helping could be the best way forward. However that decision will hopefully be a little way down the line from here.

One of the things that we constantly hear from our beloved leaders is that they want more involvement from charities in the provision of social care. They realise that government is not always best suited for finding solutions in assisting those in need, whatever the person’s problems.

Over the best 2 decades we have seen government, of whatever persausion, move from care provider to financial assitance. They understand that there are many charities out there that can provide professional and specialist care to various needy groups. It is therefore recognised that government needs to assit them in financing this care provision.

For those who don’t know, South Wales is not a wealthy area. There are pockets of wealth but, compared to other areas, Wales is way behind on wealth, health and way in front one alcohol problems and a rising drug problem. We are one of the unfittest areas of the country and high incidents of heart disease. Many of these are problems associated with the poorer strata of society.

I have been looking at ways in which charities are funded. One of the things that I keep hearing is that the government are somewhat duplicitous in their dealings with charities. Not all charities mind you. They seem to be very targetted in their disapproval.

It appears that their idea of providing care through charity work is heavily weighed against charities with a Christian basis. In fact the government actively discriminates against such charities. Not only do they do this but so do other funding bodies. If you have a Christian commitment in your governing document, the submission that outlines your aims and foundations.

We heard about this at the Caring For Life seminar and now the local Victory Outreach have been told the same thing by the Welsh office.

Why is it that the government feels threatened by the work of Christians? Have Christians not been at the forefront of campaigns to improve public health, end slavery and the formulation of our present labour laws? Do Christian organisations refuse to assist people based on the grounds of race, creed or colour? Are all Christian organisations just there to act as evangelising organisations first and caring organisations second?

Caring For Life’s solution is to ask Christians to support their basic day to day needs – salaries, maintenance etc – and that other, secular, providers fund capital projects that would not conflict with their own limitations on funding.

In view of this we’d ask for your prayers in requesting that God’s provides help to all Christian organisations to overcome these obstacles.

After my stated aim to do much research, an idea has come out of the blue. (Life is, after all, what happens to you when you are busy making other plans!) Let me explain.

As one of the prime intentions of our ministry is to offer a form of therapy via contact with natural, earthy stuff, I had been idly considering acquiring an allotment. Subsequently, I was generally talking about the project with a good friend and she suggested the same thing, without my even alluding to it. So, I have obtained a contact list for local allotment associations and the task of ‘Phone allotment bloke’ is now on my August target list.

I have not been neglecting the other aims, however, a full update to follow in due course.

*Heading taken from the title of an allotment gardening info sheet from the council.

Dith

… I did not cycle to work. In truth, I walked the steepest bit of the downhill (still too scarey) and freewheeled the rest of the route there, practically.
… I did not cycle home from work. In truth, I walked much of the uphill (still too steep) and cycled the little that remained of the journey.
I am sure I cut a dashing figure with my short, fat, hairless legs, my Fairtrade cyclist t-shirt and my doubtlessly flawless style of moving. Actually, having tailgated an amusing looking cyclist whilst waiting for a chance to pass in the car today, I guess I am more likely to have caused substantial mirth and hilarity. My face when I got home resembled a beetroot and my breathing at various points was wheezey to the point of breathlessness. However, in some senses, I DID IT!!!

… I also made a date and time to catch up with a local, friendly social worker for a research related chat. It is all good, people, all good!

Dith