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November News

Mon, 21/11/2011 - 18:56 — manager

November Update

 

Many thanks to all those of you who have written in or posted news of upcoming activities.   InterFaith Week is of course next week and may will be involved in events during that period some of which are listed below.

 

There are a couple of urgent items which I’ll mention first. 

 

Many friends will be concerned to hear that Jim Ward – previously chair of East Midlands Faith Forum was badly burned in a green house explosion at his home at the beginning of the month.  He has recovered well in the Burns Unit in Birmingham and yesterday returned to the county hospital in Lincoln, nearer his family.  He and his wife Margaret are shortly due to move to a smaller home.

 

Returning to imminent events:

  • Guru Nanak Annual Lecture, takes place at County Hall Leicester on Friday 25th November, 6.30pm to 9.00pm. Organised as the Chairman's Reception for Leicestershire County Council's Equality & Diversity Month and National Inter Faith Week, the guest speaker is Sir Mota Singh, QC Britain’s first Judge from the sub-continent who was knighted in 2009 for services to justice, community relations and the voluntary sector.  Book now.
  • Close the Gap!' is the theme of the Annual Assembly of the Justice and Peace Commission of Nottingham Diocese on Saturday 26th November at 1.30pm in the Parish Centre of Church of Our Lady of Lincoln, Laughton Way, Lincoln LN2 2HE  Niall Cooper - National Coordinator of Church Action on Poverty and CAP Trustee Kath Carter will address the Assembly and there will be a choice of workshops from 2.15pm - 3pm on 'Closing the Gap on UK Poverty' run by Niall and Kath, 'Closing the Gap on Climate Justice' with Annette Brindle CAFOD/WDM, and 'Closing the Gap between Church and Community' with Jo Butler from Holy Trinity, Newark. The day finishes at 3.30 after a plenary.
    (The formal morning session begins with refreshments  from 10.00. the AGM at 10.30 followed at 11.30 with Mass in the Church celebrated by Bishop Malcolm McMahon OP before a shared lunch at 12.30pm. Everyone is welcome to attend any part or all of the day.)
  • InterFaith Week What’s on in Nottingham? Sun 20th Nov : The Mitzvah Day Project;  Wed 23rd Nov : Nottingham Inter Faith's Got Talent;   Thu 24 Nov : Faith and the Economy. A Topical Debate;  Sat 26 Nov : Seasons of Lights;  Sun 27 Nov : A Faith Walk in Carlton; Full programme
  • Interfaith Forum For Leicestershire Tuesday 22nd November 2011 at 6.30pm at County Hall, Glenfield, Leicester, LE3 8RA"Exploring the role of faith communities in promoting positive social action" Dr Chris Allen (University of Birmingham Institute of Applied Social Studies); Revd Canon David Jennings (Diocese of Leicester) Project Officer for Church and Society; Anne-Marie Ainger (3 Worlds Consulting in Community Development)

 

Other Buzz includes:

  • Statistics!:  An update from the National Wellbeing Programme at the Office for National Statistics includes a consultation on a proposed set of ‘domains’ for measuring different aspects of wellbeing (none of which explicitly mention faith/religion). The deadline is 23 January 2012.
  • Law:  The Localism Act became law this week. The link has details of what it contains and there is an updated Plain English Guide.
  • Near Neighbours: Coverage of the Launch of the DCLG-funded, Church Urban Fund-lead Near Neighbours initiative is now on-line.
  • Arthur Rank Centre’s Rural Life and Faith Project has published a comprehensive review Resourcing & Training For Rural Churches
  • Lead (and other metals) Theft Petition puts pressure on Govt to end Scrap Metal Merchants ability to pay for lead from church roofs, copper from telephone and rail signal cables, or bronze from war memorials by cash. Payments via a registered bank account would deter thieves. Sign it here
  • The Economic Recession Survey of local support providers seeks insight into how the challenging economic environment is affecting your organisation and the many others who deliver vital support services to frontline voluntary and community groups. Enter survey here
  • Sustaining and Transforming the future of funding advice EM Funding Advice Network (EMFAN) next event 10am to 3.30pm on 7 December at Déda in Derby. To book.
  • Community Organiser Training is managed nationally by Locality (The recently merged Development Trust Association and BASSAC).  To find out more about this core scheme of the Big Society programme, to train or to host community organisers see here or here
  • Business in the Community  aims to assist people who share a passion for connecting and engaging the resources of businesses for the benefit of the local community and are about to start secondments through their new Business Connectors programme.
  • The Next Steps: Supporting Social Investment in England initiative form the Big Lottery will award between £40,000 and £1million to social investment proposals already in development but in need of extra funding to realise their plans. Funding is available to organisations acting in the role of commissioner or intermediary, as well as frontline organisations who will deliver the interventions to tackle social need. It can be used to facilitate a wide range of activities to develop social investment proposals, from creating systems to collect data, covering the legal and technical costs of finalising social investment proposals, or funding the delivery of interventions to show how in practice they can produce cashable savings for other services.  The deadline for expressions of interest is Wednesday 14 December. Further information.
  • Exercising Senior Christian Leadership in a Multi Faith Society Wednesday 15th February 2012 or Tuesday 18th September 2012 A one-day course for senior leaders of all denominations at St Philip’s Centre Leicester. Contact.  The centre also runs the very popular “Unfamiliar Journey” over six evenings and includes visits to various places of worship.

Don’t forget

  • Health Commissioning FaithAction and National Children’s Bureau have planned training on the Health Commissioning process for our sector with some free spaces awarded on a first come, first served basis. ‘Commissioning for Equality’: understanding of what commissioning is | Context and concepts | Practical advice tendering with examples | What health commissioners are looking for | How to become commission ready      When & Where: 15th November 2011 – Birmingham      25th January 2012 – Manchester         28th February 2012 – London

 

If there is anything I can do to assist I will make every effort to do so and do know that there is real support available from many of you to do what we can in these more difficult circumstances.  Our success will depend on our faithfulness and deep concern for all amongst whom we live.  Do let me know if any links are missing or lead you astray.  News of the New National FaithtoEngage Web-Site will follow next month

 

Finally if you know of or anyone in your own organisation or elsewhere who might value these updates please do let me have name, address, organisation and relevant info and an e-mail and I will happily extend our circulation.  We would particularly value links into the voluntary and public sectors where further integration would assist all our endeavours.



Theme by Dr. Radut.