Thursday 16 June 2011

WCVYS Members' forums

The Diocese is a member of WCVYS so if you would be interested in attending one of the two forums let me know.

MEMBERS’ FORUMS – Make sure you book your place now!

WCVYS are organising two members’ forums. The forums will be used to:

· Launch the new WCVYS Members’ Pack

· Explore the Role of the Voluntary Youth Sector in the Common Assessment Framework (CAF)

· Hear about plans for the future of the Youth Service; and

· Hear from you

Details of the Forums:

Wednesday 22nd June at 7 – 9pm

at The Trunk, Humphrey Avenue, Bromsgrove, B60 3JB

Wednesday 29th June at 7 – 9pm

at Wallace House, Oat Street, Evesham, WR11 4PJ

All member organisations are invited. To book your place please contact Jo Banfield or Phil Street on 01905 795098 alternatively send an email to office@wcvys.co.uk

The forums provide an opportunity for WCVYS members to network with one another; discuss and hear about developments affecting the voluntary youth sector in Worcestershire and provide a venue for feeding back ideas and issues to WCVYS.

WCC Consultation

Consultation on services in Worcestershire to support children and young people's emotional and mental health

Mental health is everybody's business. Support for children and young people to develop good emotional and mental health is provided by families, early years settings, schools and colleges as well as a range of early intervention, targeted and specialist services. We want to know what you think about how good the support is for children, young people and families. What is working well, or not so well, and where are the gaps?

We hope you will feel able to respond to this consultation, launched this week and running for 12 weeks. Please also forward this information to any partners you feel it is relevant to.

The survey responses will contribute to a needs assessment which will help us plan improvements to the way children and young people in Worcestershire are supported to have good emotional wellbeing and mental health.

There are two separate questionnaires for adults. You may be a parent/carer and/or a stakeholder working with children/young people so please answer one or both as appropriate:



Wider stakeholders working with children/young people:


Parents and carers' questionnaire:


There is also a questionnaire for children and young people, so feel free to encourage any children/young people you work with to answer this one:


Children and Young People's questionnaire:


If you have any general questions about the consultation please contact me by emailing: akirton@worcestershire.gov.uk



More information about the consultation can be found by accessing the Worcestershire consultation portal:



http://haveyoursay.whub.org.uk/whub/KMS/news.aspxstrTab=PortalHome&noIP=1&SessionId=P949DW6PW5

Bright Space 'Kindles' Bursary

Bright Space 'Kindles' Bursary scheme now open for applications!

Bright Space is launching a new creative and cultural bursary scheme for 16-19 year olds – ‘Kindles’. It’s open to young people in Birmingham, Herefordshire and Worcestershire.

Key information of the Kindle’s bursary scheme:

· The bursary is open to 16-19 year olds living in Birmingham, Herefordshire and Worcestershire

· 10 bursaries in total will be awarded, up to the value of £1,000 each to complete a creative/cultural short course or paid internship

· Successful applicants will also be offered opportunities to attend networking activities

· In return, successful applicants will need to complete a weekly diary.

· Recruitment is by application followed by an interview. The deadline date for applications is Wednesday 6 July – 5pm. Interviews will take place on the 18 and 19 July 2011 in Birmingham.

The application form and Frequently Asked Questions document for further information, plus a copy of the flyer can be downloaded at www.wcvys.co.uk/news

For further information you can contact me directly or visit our website

Key Contact; Marcia Springer MCIPR Communications Officer Bright Space

Funding opportunities

BT Community Connections Awards

Application Deadline: 15 September 2011

Awards scheme that provides IT equipment and Internet access to voluntary and community groups in the UK.

The award will be 12 months’ free connection to BT Business Total Broadband Advance, which includes features described in the standard products and services terms. Award winners will be required to accept the standard terms and conditions for the service.

Where the award winner has a current connection with a different broadband supplier BT will not cover any costs which may be incurred for transferring to BT Business Total Broadband

Extended Description

The BT Community Connections Awards are provided and administered by British Telecom.

The awards scheme is intended to provide voluntary groups and charitable organisations working to benefit the community in the UK with IT equipment and Internet access. Successful applicants to the programme will receive a laptop and a year's free broadband Internet connection. In particular, the scheme is keen to target areas of deprivation which normally receive little or no funding and would otherwise have no IT provision.
Latest Information

The deadline is 15 September 2011.

Key Criteria

Applications are welcomed from any community group or charitable organisation working to benefit the community. Eligible areas of interest include:

  • Animals.
  • Older people.
  • Environment.
  • Family issues.
  • Multi-cultural awareness.
  • Wildlife.
  • Youth groups.

Applications are welcomed from religious groups that want to carry out work in the community but groups that promote religion will not be considered.

Priority will be given to applications from community groups that operate in areas of deprivation and that have not previously won an award. However, previous award winners are eligible to apply and will be considered, providing they meet the application criteria.

Applicants must have a BT business landline.

Groups that promote political parties are not eligible to apply.

Restrictions

Funding is not available for:

  • For-profit companies.
  • Political organisations or activities.
  • Organisations that do not operate in the UK.
  • Previous BT Community Connections award winners.
  • Employees of British Telecommunications.

Award Categories

There are no separate categories of award.
Application Procedure

Applications must be submitted online.

Submitted applications are shortlisted and reviewed by a panel of judges chaired by senior BT regional personnel.

Winners will be notified via email by 12 November 2011.

Contact BT Community Connections for further information.


For further information on how to obtain this funding opportunity locally, please contact the following:

Contact details:
Enquiries
BT Community Connections
PO Box 6919
London
W1A 8UX

Monday 6 June 2011

Too much PAPERWORK??

Looking for some interesting papercrafts for your youth group which http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifarehttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif out of the ordinary. Have a browse of this wonderful blog called Paper Forest which gives links to all kind of free downloads for papercraft designs which are far from childish! For example I found this site called Flickr Monkey through it!

"Rights" of Passage


Well this would have been a useful book a few years back!

The Journey of Christian Initiation

by Paul Avis, Martin Davie, Harriet Harris, Christopher Hill & Stephen Platten

It's described as:
This helpful volume sets out to clarify the Church of England’s thinking about baptism, confirmation and admission to communion, and addresses some very practical questions in relation to ministry in this area.

Discussion of the topic is grounded in the New Testament and the early Church, and is traced through the development of the Church’s theology and practice of initiation from the mediaeval and Reformation periods up to the present. Drawing on the Book of Common Prayer (1662), the Thirty-nine Articles and Common Worship, as well as on Scripture and the Church’s tradition, it sheds light on contemporary practice and understanding, which can – and do - vary locally.

Anglican approaches to Christian initiation are also explored in relation to those of other churches.


Hopefully a useful read now for churches thinking about admission to holy communion before confirmation and considering that age old question of "what age confirmation?"

Not read it yet as it's just out but hope to get hold of a copy soon.

Wednesday 1 June 2011

Art in Heaven

Art in Heaven is an annual competition run since 2004 for students in RE and related areas. It gives a chance to be creative and imaginative about big spiritual or religious questions: It is all about spiritual ideas and students’ imaginative expression. There is a wonderful web art gallery. Last year about 30,000 entered, and some of the best are on show. Teachers and students are warmly invited to join in with their own ‘Art in Heaven’. The closing date is 31st July.

Art in Heaven has five themes for 2011.
The themes are:
Spiritual Words
Stories of Truth?
Journeys
Festive visions
God: Who? Where? How? If?
The entry form can be downloaded from www.natre.org.uk
More details about the themes
God: Who? Where? How? If?

This competition has often asked: where is God? Who is God? Does God speak? This year, all these questions can be part of the theme, and the new focus is on your questions for God: Where are you, God? What do you want me to do? Do you love us all? What are you like? Why are you invisible? How can we find you? Why can’t I find you? Where were you when evil happened? Where are the signs of your love? Are you real, or made up?
What questions would you like to ask God, and how might a person who knows everything and loves everyone reply? This theme is just as much for atheists and agnostics as for believers in different faiths: the atheist may say: ‘Where is God? Nowhere at all.’

Festive visions: Divali and Hannukah, Eid and Easter, Red Nose Day and New Year, the festivals of life erupt in colour, splendour and community in every faith and any life. Students might choose the festival they celebrate, or the one they are learning about and express its key moment, or its big idea with colour and a viewpoint all their own. Festivals are all about vision: the past is visualised and remembered while the future is seen in a visionary way. What is your festive vision? Fireworks or peace? Light, love or All Hallows Eve?

Spiritual journeys: Religious texts are full of journeys: from Eden or Nazareth, to Makkah, Bethlehem, Tarsus, Heaven or Nirvana. Life is seen as a journey in many religions. If life is a journey, then what are the milestones, signposts, guidebooks and service stations on the way? What speeds you up or slows you down? What are the destinations? In this theme, winning work will develop great creative ideas about journeys of faith and life, expressing their own ideas as maps, pathways, roads to freedom or random wanderings.

Stories of truth? Every religion tells stories, but are they true? Do they tell us the truth? For younger pupils, this theme involves taking stories they love from religious traditions and expressing the key moments or ideas artistically. Start with any story: Jacob or Moses, the Guru or the Buddha, the Prophet or http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifthe Christ, stories told of creation, parable, paradox or meaning. Add a question mark and use the stories of faith as starting points for your own ideas about truth. Or explore or question atheist or scientific stories as well as those that come from faith.

Students are invited to plan to make an entry to send in before the end of the summer term – closing date is 31st July. There will be 3 £100 prizes funded by dare2engage for entrants in this age group. A note of up to 400 words in discussing and evaluating the work is an important part of the student’s entry.
For more details

Don’t forget - you can see hundreds of interesting entries and other winners on the web gallery.
Please click on the link for ways to introduce the competition to pupils/students: 1_Enter_Art_in_Heaven_2011.ppt
For further details of the competition, please contact Lat Blaylock: lat(at)retoday.org.uk

Pentecost resources


If you're looking to explore Pentecost with young people, why not try the session in Youth Emmaus or some of the following:

Dave Walker's Cartoon Church Pentecost worksheet

from Insight

from Scripture Union

from Going for Growth

from Barnabas (many seasons available scroll down to Pentecost)

from Textweek

from Cafod

or how about searching for a video on youtube such as this one.

Franciscan Youth Event


Hilfield Youth Camp is a true alternative to large mainstream Christian youth events, offering young people aged 13 to 17 a chance to explore their Christian faith at Hilfield Friary in Dorset.

Organised together with the Anglican Society of Saint Francis, the radical Franciscan spirituality of following Jesus is explored through a theme and our life together in community. Because the camp is between 30 and 50 people, everyone has a chance to join in, and no one is lost in the crowd.


Guided by more experienced campers and a pastoral team, the campers themselves present aspects of the theme each day to the whole camp. In this way EVERYONE gets to participate and all are encouraged to live out these experiences in their everyday lives.

"HYC is truly an unforgettable experience, a space in a young persons pressured life where they can be themselves, discover who they really are and experience Gods love. We hope you will be able to join us and see this at work for yourself!"
Contact the Diocesan Youth Officer for booking forms and more details.