Tuesday 2 December 2014
December - Children's Homes in Kerala State
CHIKS was started in 1999 by Sister Mary Matthew, a former nun with Mother Teresa and the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta, and then principal of a Madras home for disabled people. She returned to her native Kerala, bought a two-room stonecutters house near Chalakudy, called it Karunanilayam (Home of Mercy in the local language, Malayalam) and took in six needy children.
Looking to her English friend, Robin Radley, for support, Chiks was founded as a charitable trust.
Over the years, extension of the tiny house, new buildings and purchase of adjacent land mean that now over fifty children can be accommodated, fed, clothed and educated in local schools.
Likewise, two other Homes, these in the mountain regions of Kerala, are dependent on Chiks. Little Flower Mercy Home was originally a shelter for destitute and mentally-handicapped adults but, subsequently, children were also welcomed. This has necessitated extension and new building projects to comply with local regulations for such homes.
Carmel Matha Santhi Bhavan is a refuge for boys of all ages and support from Chiks has allowed similar extension and developments.
Available local farmland has been purchased near both homes with the object of promoting self-sufficiency. While growing crops like rice paddy, bananas and coconuts is straightforward, cows need cowsheds in that climate and wells may be needed. More expense!
Recent urgent needs are to complete these projects, repair damage to the electrical system at Carmel Matha due to a freak storm and to continue to meet the daily expenses. Prices of even the most basic needs of life are continuing to rise and Robin and his team work tirelessly to raise funds to answer the needs.
The children will have had a poor start in life due to poverty, loss of one or both parents, abandonment, alcoholism or neglect.
The joy on the children's faces as they appreciate all these homes provide to improve their lives is hard to describe. They may be from unknown backgrounds - Christian, Moslem, Hindu, Buddhist - but all join in daily praise and prayers to Jesus, giving thanks for their blessings and all the support from Chiks.
Though India may now have a thriving economy, there is a vast gap between the “haves and have-nots” and there are so many who have nothing. Unless an effective welfare state is introduced and managed, this cannot change. Sadly, corruption is also rife throughout the country. Why should children suffer? Chiks is doing what it can to help.
Robin hopes to visit Highbury again, this time for the morning service on Sunday 7th December. He will be happy to answer any questions.
Friday 24 October 2014
November - Langley House Trust
As a Christian Charity, our mission is to work with those who are at risk of offending, or have offended, establishing positive foundations so that they can lead crime-free lives and become contributors to society. At Langley House Trust we believe all people are:
made in God’s image
loved by Him regardless
called into community
offered redemption by His grace
promised His glory
Our Vision:
The Trust will work towards the fulfillment of its vision of a crime-free society where no-one is unfairly disadvantaged or excluded because of their past.
The Knole in Cheltenham is a Registered Care Home, which provides accommodation for fourteen men aged 30 years and over.
The Knole aims to enable and equip former offenders to address their physical, emotional, mental and spiritual needs within a caring Christian environment.
We aim to assist each person to progress towards more personal independence, learning life and social skills in order to live a fulfilling and crime-free life.
It also offers a floating support service which is able to support residents in their own accommodation after their stay at the project.
The Knole is committed to achieving equal opportunities for all. Religion, race, nationality, disability, age and sexual orientation will not be part of the selection criteria. We will challenge any discriminatory attitude within the house.
Staff provide each resident with a confidentiality policy through which they seek to safeguard and keep secure all confidential information received regarding an individual.
With your support we can continue our work to help overcome the challenges faced by our residents such as gaining meaningful employment/voluntary work, furthering education, enhancing social skills in order for them to rebuild their lives and become part of the wider community.
If you wish to find out more about our valuable work please visit our web-site www.langleyhousetrust.org or contact The Knole on 01242 526978.
made in God’s image
loved by Him regardless
called into community
offered redemption by His grace
promised His glory
Our Vision:
The Trust will work towards the fulfillment of its vision of a crime-free society where no-one is unfairly disadvantaged or excluded because of their past.
The Knole in Cheltenham is a Registered Care Home, which provides accommodation for fourteen men aged 30 years and over.
The Knole aims to enable and equip former offenders to address their physical, emotional, mental and spiritual needs within a caring Christian environment.
We aim to assist each person to progress towards more personal independence, learning life and social skills in order to live a fulfilling and crime-free life.
It also offers a floating support service which is able to support residents in their own accommodation after their stay at the project.
The Knole is committed to achieving equal opportunities for all. Religion, race, nationality, disability, age and sexual orientation will not be part of the selection criteria. We will challenge any discriminatory attitude within the house.
Staff provide each resident with a confidentiality policy through which they seek to safeguard and keep secure all confidential information received regarding an individual.
With your support we can continue our work to help overcome the challenges faced by our residents such as gaining meaningful employment/voluntary work, furthering education, enhancing social skills in order for them to rebuild their lives and become part of the wider community.
If you wish to find out more about our valuable work please visit our web-site www.langleyhousetrust.org or contact The Knole on 01242 526978.
Thursday 2 October 2014
October - Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation
Juvenile Diabetes is now known more accurately as Type 1 diabetes.
Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune condition. For reasons we don’t yet fully understand, your immune system, which is meant to protect you from foreign bodies, such as viruses and bacteria, mistakenly attacks and destroys the beta cells in your pancreas that produce insulin. You cannot prevent it by adopting a healthy diet, exercising regularly, or living a healthy lifestyle. There is currently no known cure. But JDRF is committed to funding research that will find a cure. JDRF is the type 1 diabetes charity, improving lives until we find a cure. We’re totally focused on type 1 diabetes, and are run by people with type 1, for people with type 1.
We fund research to cure, treat and prevent type 1 diabetes. We provide information for children, adults and parents living with the condition, at all stages from diagnosis and beyond. We give a voice to people with type 1 diabetes and campaign for increased focus on, and funding for, research to find the cure.
JDRF is a global organisation working towards the cure. Internationally, we are the world’s leading charitable funder of type 1 diabetes research. We work with academia, industry and governments to make sure that the research we fund has the greatest possible impact on the lives of people with type 1 now and in the future. JDRF has invested £1 billion in funding critical research to cure, treat and prevent type 1 diabetes and its complications.
For more than four decades we have been at the forefront of developments, finding new ways to treat type 1, and progressing towards being able to halt, reverse and prevent it. By seeking out, assessing and monitoring the best research in the world, no matter where it is, we drive the breakthroughs that improve treatment and that will ultimately cure type 1 diabetes.
Because we have people with type 1 diabetes at the heart of our organisation, we know that living with type 1 makes life just that bit tougher, and we think that people with type 1 don’t get a fair deal. That’s why, as well as funding research, we also give a voice to people with type 1. We campaign for greater research funding and for access to the treatments and technologies to make their life easier today. We also work to differentiate type 1 from type 2 diabetes and provide information for all stages of living with type 1 – from diagnosis and beyond.
Obviously, because of the nature of its work, this is not a local charity. However, we are supporting it this month because of its Highbury connection in the impact this condition has had on the Lacey family.
See the website for JDRF
Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune condition. For reasons we don’t yet fully understand, your immune system, which is meant to protect you from foreign bodies, such as viruses and bacteria, mistakenly attacks and destroys the beta cells in your pancreas that produce insulin. You cannot prevent it by adopting a healthy diet, exercising regularly, or living a healthy lifestyle. There is currently no known cure. But JDRF is committed to funding research that will find a cure. JDRF is the type 1 diabetes charity, improving lives until we find a cure. We’re totally focused on type 1 diabetes, and are run by people with type 1, for people with type 1.
We fund research to cure, treat and prevent type 1 diabetes. We provide information for children, adults and parents living with the condition, at all stages from diagnosis and beyond. We give a voice to people with type 1 diabetes and campaign for increased focus on, and funding for, research to find the cure.
JDRF is a global organisation working towards the cure. Internationally, we are the world’s leading charitable funder of type 1 diabetes research. We work with academia, industry and governments to make sure that the research we fund has the greatest possible impact on the lives of people with type 1 now and in the future. JDRF has invested £1 billion in funding critical research to cure, treat and prevent type 1 diabetes and its complications.
For more than four decades we have been at the forefront of developments, finding new ways to treat type 1, and progressing towards being able to halt, reverse and prevent it. By seeking out, assessing and monitoring the best research in the world, no matter where it is, we drive the breakthroughs that improve treatment and that will ultimately cure type 1 diabetes.
Because we have people with type 1 diabetes at the heart of our organisation, we know that living with type 1 makes life just that bit tougher, and we think that people with type 1 don’t get a fair deal. That’s why, as well as funding research, we also give a voice to people with type 1. We campaign for greater research funding and for access to the treatments and technologies to make their life easier today. We also work to differentiate type 1 from type 2 diabetes and provide information for all stages of living with type 1 – from diagnosis and beyond.
Obviously, because of the nature of its work, this is not a local charity. However, we are supporting it this month because of its Highbury connection in the impact this condition has had on the Lacey family.
See the website for JDRF
Saturday 30 August 2014
September - Embrace the Middle East
In 2012 the charity BibleLands changed its name to Embrace the Middle East.
We chose Embrace the Middle East because it described where we worked and we felt it reflected our Christian calling to welcome the stranger, feed the hungry and help the homeless (Matthew 25).
“We also felt that 'embrace' was a very Biblical concept, one that invoked the inclusiveness that goes to the very heart of the Gospel. One paraphrase translation of Jesus’ comments in Mark 9:37 reads: "Whoever embraces one of these children as I do embraces me, and far more than me - God who sent me." The cross at the centre of our new logo emphasises our confidence as a Christian charity.
Research showed that our previous name, BibleLands, conjured up an old-fashioned image and led people to believe that we distributed Bibles or were an overtly evangelistic charity. Indeed, we were often confused with the Bible Society. While all of us at Embrace believe in the importance of the word of God and its dissemination, distribution of Bibles is not part of our charitable purpose, and therefore not something we do.
Supporters, staff and trustees understood the need for a name change, the need for our charity to move with the times and to reach out to new generations of donors, so that our ministry in the Middle East could be even more effective. Although many supporters were very attached to BibleLands, they saw a name change did not reflect a change in our work, and that our ministry of Christian care and compassion in the lands of the Bible would continue - stronger than ever.”
See more at: http://www.embraceme.org
We chose Embrace the Middle East because it described where we worked and we felt it reflected our Christian calling to welcome the stranger, feed the hungry and help the homeless (Matthew 25).
“We also felt that 'embrace' was a very Biblical concept, one that invoked the inclusiveness that goes to the very heart of the Gospel. One paraphrase translation of Jesus’ comments in Mark 9:37 reads: "Whoever embraces one of these children as I do embraces me, and far more than me - God who sent me." The cross at the centre of our new logo emphasises our confidence as a Christian charity.
Research showed that our previous name, BibleLands, conjured up an old-fashioned image and led people to believe that we distributed Bibles or were an overtly evangelistic charity. Indeed, we were often confused with the Bible Society. While all of us at Embrace believe in the importance of the word of God and its dissemination, distribution of Bibles is not part of our charitable purpose, and therefore not something we do.
Supporters, staff and trustees understood the need for a name change, the need for our charity to move with the times and to reach out to new generations of donors, so that our ministry in the Middle East could be even more effective. Although many supporters were very attached to BibleLands, they saw a name change did not reflect a change in our work, and that our ministry of Christian care and compassion in the lands of the Bible would continue - stronger than ever.”
See more at: http://www.embraceme.org
Sunday 3 August 2014
August - Listening Post
It is now more than 20 years since a group of Christian professionals saw the need for an affordable counselling service in the Gloucester area. This has developed over the years and now Listening Post has branches in Gloucester, Cheltenham and Stroud, where almost 70 trained counsellors offer their services without pay. Our reception staff are also volunteers, most of them from local churches.
We have a small group of paid staff, all of whom work part–time; a Chief Executive Officer, a Personal Assistant, three centre co-ordinators, three office managers and a finance officer.
Demand for our service remains high, with 54% referred by GPs, and other NHS professionals. Many of our referrals are people suffering with depression and anxiety and many complex family issues. There are many reasons for this: relationship problems leading to divorce and separation, childhood abuse of all kinds, bullying at school and at work, and redundancy. Among teenagers, there is also the growing threat of cyber bullying and addiction to the internet, and this is causing emotional damage to young people.
Clients find great benefit in being able to talk about and work through these difficulties with a counsellor, and discover a new confidence and energy to live more effectively. They often speak positively about how they have changed and made a new start, and it is tremendously rewarding to see this happen over a period of time. Some clients work for several weeks or months, and sometimes spend over a year in counselling. Others can be helped in just a few sessions.
Our needs at the moment are as follows. For many years our paid staff have existed on very low salaries. Recently the Council of Management decided that we should give all paid staff an increase of 3%. The next step is to set up a pension scheme for them, which we have been unable to do before. And the step after that will be to raise their salaries to an acceptable level.
We would be most grateful for any help you can give towards this target.
We also need more volunteer receptionists, and for people to join our training courses to become counsellors. (See the Listening Post website.)
Yours in Christian fellowship - Sue Ingleby
(Chair of the Council of Management)
We have a small group of paid staff, all of whom work part–time; a Chief Executive Officer, a Personal Assistant, three centre co-ordinators, three office managers and a finance officer.
Demand for our service remains high, with 54% referred by GPs, and other NHS professionals. Many of our referrals are people suffering with depression and anxiety and many complex family issues. There are many reasons for this: relationship problems leading to divorce and separation, childhood abuse of all kinds, bullying at school and at work, and redundancy. Among teenagers, there is also the growing threat of cyber bullying and addiction to the internet, and this is causing emotional damage to young people.
Clients find great benefit in being able to talk about and work through these difficulties with a counsellor, and discover a new confidence and energy to live more effectively. They often speak positively about how they have changed and made a new start, and it is tremendously rewarding to see this happen over a period of time. Some clients work for several weeks or months, and sometimes spend over a year in counselling. Others can be helped in just a few sessions.
Our needs at the moment are as follows. For many years our paid staff have existed on very low salaries. Recently the Council of Management decided that we should give all paid staff an increase of 3%. The next step is to set up a pension scheme for them, which we have been unable to do before. And the step after that will be to raise their salaries to an acceptable level.
We would be most grateful for any help you can give towards this target.
We also need more volunteer receptionists, and for people to join our training courses to become counsellors. (See the Listening Post website.)
Yours in Christian fellowship - Sue Ingleby
(Chair of the Council of Management)
Sunday 22 June 2014
July - Gloucestershire Carers
Carers in Gloucestershire is an independent charity helping unpaid Carers in Gloucestershire. Being a Carer can be isolating and exhausting. We offer support for Carers to help not only their physical and emotional well-being, but to help them to make informed decisions that have a positive, lasting influence on their lives.
A Carer is anyone who gives unpaid support to look after someone who is unable to look after themselves. They can be any age, gender or culture. They may be looking after a relative, partner or friend who is ill or frail, or maybe injured after an accident; they may be caring for someone disabled or who has mental health issues; or they could be looking after a child with substance misuse problems – there is no template.
Carers don’t choose to become Carers. It is something that they do because, if they don’t, there may not be anyone else who can. In Gloucestershire alone there are around 63,000 Carers – and this number is growing.
We have a network of 50 Carer support groups in Gloucestershire offering friendship, advice and help. Caring for someone means you can’t always get out of the house so we have ‘Carers Line’ offering advice for Carers. Our team can give you advice on money and benefits, arrange counselling, help you plan for the future, and even pop you down for training courses and well-being treatments that help you feel, even if it’s for just an hour, that you are looked after.
We also have a Carers’ Emergency Scheme. This means that if you are ill we can make sure that the person you look after will be supported.
We can support you with funding for a much-needed short break. And now we even have our own static caravan by the sea to give you the chance of a holiday – and some desperately needed, uninterrupted sleep.
Post-caring, Carers may need support to rebuild a life of their own and reconnect with education, work or a social life.
Carers are the largest source of unpaid care and support in each area of the UK, in Gloucestershire alone last year they saved the County £540 million.
You can call the Carers’ Line now on
( 0300 111 9000
or visit Carers in Gloucestershire website by clicking here
Mary Michael
Sunday 8 June 2014
June - Cheltenham Open Door
Cheltenham Open Door is a local charity working to relieve poverty, hardship and social or emotional distress. Originally founded in 1992 as Open Door at Christmas we continued by providing Sunday breakfasts from January 1993.
We gradually expanded and developed our work taking the new name of Cheltenham Open Door and becoming both a registered charity and limited company. We have been operating from our Grosvenor Street base since 1998.
Cheltenham Open Door supports vulnerable, disadvantaged and lonely people. Our guests are men and women who have been deprived of the comforts and security most of us take for granted, and we offer them hospitality, warmth, food and somewhere to relax. Many have health issues and a difficult or complicated background.
We do not judge and we make no charge for any of our services.
Our Christmas shelter still runs every year, (open 24th to 27th December), during which time we try to provide a warm and welcoming environment for those in need. We provide a full Christmas dinner, and a present for every guest. In addition there is fun, music and games for all.
Throughout the year we still open on Sunday mornings for breakfast. We are also open Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday when, in addition to lunch, a range of other services such as clothes store, showers and access to advice and help are available. A recent innovation has been to organise an annual outing to a local place of interest (this year: Cotswold Wildlife Park) and to run short courses such as cookery and art.
Our latest project, currently in the very early stages, is to provide supervised access to the internet for our guests. As more and more services become available on-line (sometimes ONLY on-line) we became aware that this was another area where our guests could otherwise be missing out.
Our core business however remains providing hot meals four times a week – totalling approximately 10,000 meals a year. We rely almost entirely on donations: money (of course!), food (particularly basic tinned goods) and clothes (especially men's warm clothing/shoes) are among the most important.
More information and contact details can be found at: www.cheltenhamopendoor.org.ukwww.cheltenhamopendoor.org.uk
Mary Michael
We gradually expanded and developed our work taking the new name of Cheltenham Open Door and becoming both a registered charity and limited company. We have been operating from our Grosvenor Street base since 1998.
Cheltenham Open Door supports vulnerable, disadvantaged and lonely people. Our guests are men and women who have been deprived of the comforts and security most of us take for granted, and we offer them hospitality, warmth, food and somewhere to relax. Many have health issues and a difficult or complicated background.
We do not judge and we make no charge for any of our services.
Our Christmas shelter still runs every year, (open 24th to 27th December), during which time we try to provide a warm and welcoming environment for those in need. We provide a full Christmas dinner, and a present for every guest. In addition there is fun, music and games for all.
Throughout the year we still open on Sunday mornings for breakfast. We are also open Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday when, in addition to lunch, a range of other services such as clothes store, showers and access to advice and help are available. A recent innovation has been to organise an annual outing to a local place of interest (this year: Cotswold Wildlife Park) and to run short courses such as cookery and art.
Our latest project, currently in the very early stages, is to provide supervised access to the internet for our guests. As more and more services become available on-line (sometimes ONLY on-line) we became aware that this was another area where our guests could otherwise be missing out.
Our core business however remains providing hot meals four times a week – totalling approximately 10,000 meals a year. We rely almost entirely on donations: money (of course!), food (particularly basic tinned goods) and clothes (especially men's warm clothing/shoes) are among the most important.
More information and contact details can be found at: www.cheltenhamopendoor.org.ukwww.cheltenhamopendoor.org.uk
Mary Michael
Wednesday 5 March 2014
March 2014 - Maggie's Centre
In May 1993, Maggie Keswick Jencks was told that her breast cancer had returned and was given two to three months to live. She joined an advanced chemotherapy trial and lived for another 18 months. During that time, she and her husband Charles Jencks worked closely with her medical team, which included oncology nurse, Laura Lee, now Maggie’s Chief Executive, to develop a new approach to cancer care.
In order to live more positively with cancer, Maggie and Charles (an architect) believed you needed information that would allow you to be an informed participant in your medical treatment, stress-reducing strategies, psychological support and the opportunity to meet other people in similar circumstances in a relaxed domestic atmosphere. Maggie was determined that people should not “lose the joy of living in the fear of dying” and the day before she died in June 1995, she sat in her garden, face to the sun and said:
“Aren’t we lucky?”
In November 1996, the first Maggie’s Centre opened in Edinburgh and what Maggie had planned became real.
Every year, over 300,000 people are diagnosed with cancer in the UK, facing tough questions, exhausting treatment and difficult emotions.
These challenges affect not only those with cancer, but their family and friends, too. Maggie’s is there for anyone and everyone affected by cancer, offering a programme of support that has been shown to strengthen physical and emotional wellbeing. Built alongside hospitals, Maggie’s Centres are uplifting places with professional staff on hand to offer the support people need: practical advice about benefits and eating well; emotional support from qualified experts; a friendly place to meet other people; a calming space simply to sit quietly with a cup of tea. It is part of the organisation’s ethos that their buildings and gardens are themselves of a style and standard to make a real contribution to the healing environment.
Maggie’s offers free practical, emotional and social support to people with cancer and their families and friends.
Simply drop-in at any time - you are always welcome, at:
Maggie's Centre Cheltenham
The Lodge
College Baths Road
Cheltenham. GL53 7QB
01242 250611
cheltenham@maggiescentres.org
Opening times:
Monday to Friday 9am - 5pm
In order to live more positively with cancer, Maggie and Charles (an architect) believed you needed information that would allow you to be an informed participant in your medical treatment, stress-reducing strategies, psychological support and the opportunity to meet other people in similar circumstances in a relaxed domestic atmosphere. Maggie was determined that people should not “lose the joy of living in the fear of dying” and the day before she died in June 1995, she sat in her garden, face to the sun and said:
“Aren’t we lucky?”
In November 1996, the first Maggie’s Centre opened in Edinburgh and what Maggie had planned became real.
Every year, over 300,000 people are diagnosed with cancer in the UK, facing tough questions, exhausting treatment and difficult emotions.
These challenges affect not only those with cancer, but their family and friends, too. Maggie’s is there for anyone and everyone affected by cancer, offering a programme of support that has been shown to strengthen physical and emotional wellbeing. Built alongside hospitals, Maggie’s Centres are uplifting places with professional staff on hand to offer the support people need: practical advice about benefits and eating well; emotional support from qualified experts; a friendly place to meet other people; a calming space simply to sit quietly with a cup of tea. It is part of the organisation’s ethos that their buildings and gardens are themselves of a style and standard to make a real contribution to the healing environment.
Maggie’s offers free practical, emotional and social support to people with cancer and their families and friends.
Simply drop-in at any time - you are always welcome, at:
Maggie's Centre Cheltenham
The Lodge
College Baths Road
Cheltenham. GL53 7QB
01242 250611
cheltenham@maggiescentres.org
Opening times:
Monday to Friday 9am - 5pm
Sunday 2 February 2014
February 2014 - Open the Book
Not to be confused with our Thursday Bible Study, ‘Open The Book’ is a national charity that offers a programme of themed and dramatised Bible stories at no charge to the schools. Have you ever thought that children in schools might be missing out on what the Bible has to show them? They could go through their entire school life without ever learning about Adam and Eve, Noah, David, Jonah ... or even the life of Jesus and the stories of the New Testament. ‘Open The Book’ sessions are around 10 minutes long and fit comfortably into assembly times. Volunteer story-tellers use drama, mime, props, costume - and the children themselves - to present Bible stories in ways that are lively, engaging, informative ... and great fun for everyone involved!
‘Open The Book’ started in Bedford in 1999 where a group of Christians first started presenting Bible stories in school assemblies, partly inspired by Bible Society’s “Open The Book” Millennium initiative. Word reached other schools and areas and so grew from a local initiative into a national enterprise. In September 2013 ‘Open The Book’ merged with Bible Society which seems logical since the vision and mission of both organisations are so closely aligned. About 254,500 primary children are now regularly enjoying the great story of Scripture in school assemblies as there are now 1,497 ‘Open The Book’ teams across the UK (an increase of 137 in the past 6 months) and 8,651 volunteers (an additional 1,131).
Phil Arnold, Jean Gregory and I became involved as part of Hope ’09, and we are part of an ecumenical team going into Oakwood School on a Thursday morning. We would love some more people to join us, so don’t be shy, and come along if you would like to see what happens before you join us. Money raised helps to buy the books we use, and to help with props and costumes. If you would like to help us by making these we would be very grateful, so please have a chat with Jean or myself.
To find out more about Open the Book visit their website here ...
‘Open The Book’ started in Bedford in 1999 where a group of Christians first started presenting Bible stories in school assemblies, partly inspired by Bible Society’s “Open The Book” Millennium initiative. Word reached other schools and areas and so grew from a local initiative into a national enterprise. In September 2013 ‘Open The Book’ merged with Bible Society which seems logical since the vision and mission of both organisations are so closely aligned. About 254,500 primary children are now regularly enjoying the great story of Scripture in school assemblies as there are now 1,497 ‘Open The Book’ teams across the UK (an increase of 137 in the past 6 months) and 8,651 volunteers (an additional 1,131).
Phil Arnold, Jean Gregory and I became involved as part of Hope ’09, and we are part of an ecumenical team going into Oakwood School on a Thursday morning. We would love some more people to join us, so don’t be shy, and come along if you would like to see what happens before you join us. Money raised helps to buy the books we use, and to help with props and costumes. If you would like to help us by making these we would be very grateful, so please have a chat with Jean or myself.
To find out more about Open the Book visit their website here ...
Saturday 4 January 2014
January 2014 Listening Post
Listening Post is a professional voluntary counselling service, Christian in foundation, that was formed twenty one years ago to relieve emotional and psychological distress in Christians and non-Christians alike. We are an organisational member of the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy and work within their Ethical Framework. We provide counselling for anyone over 18, regardless of financial status, gender, religion, sexual orientation, race, colour or ethnic origin.
Listening Post offers counselling to adults in Gloucestershire suffering from emotional distress. There are many reasons why people seek counselling. Sometimes a relationship has broken down or you have been bereaved. Sometimes the stress of hard working lives has become unmanageable. Sometimes wounds from much earlier in your life resurface and haunt you. Sometimes you just feel you have lost your way and no longer know what to do.
We serve any resident of Gloucestershire, including those who might otherwise be financially prevented from accessing professional counselling support. Private counselling can cost up to £50 an hour – a cost that many people desperately in need cannot afford. Unlike private practitioners we do not charge a set fee for our services. All we ask is that, based upon individual means, our clients make a donation per session.
If, as a client, you draw support from Christianity or any faith and want that to play a part in your counselling we work within the context of your faith. If you wish to work without reference to any religious beliefs, you are equally welcome. The professional concern of a Listening Post counsellor will be to gain an understanding of how you see yourself and of what distresses you, and then work with you to determine how you can best be supported.
We have three counselling centres in Gloucestershire, located in Gloucester, Cheltenham and Stroud. You are welcome to contact any centre about counselling; other enquiries are best made to our main office in Gloucester.
Cheltenham 01242 256060; Stroud 02453 750123; Gloucester 01452 383820
Listening Post on the web
As with so many of the charities we support Listening Post is struggling with both the increases in their costs and the volume of clients needing their help. They are very grateful for any help we can give them.
Listening Post offers counselling to adults in Gloucestershire suffering from emotional distress. There are many reasons why people seek counselling. Sometimes a relationship has broken down or you have been bereaved. Sometimes the stress of hard working lives has become unmanageable. Sometimes wounds from much earlier in your life resurface and haunt you. Sometimes you just feel you have lost your way and no longer know what to do.
We serve any resident of Gloucestershire, including those who might otherwise be financially prevented from accessing professional counselling support. Private counselling can cost up to £50 an hour – a cost that many people desperately in need cannot afford. Unlike private practitioners we do not charge a set fee for our services. All we ask is that, based upon individual means, our clients make a donation per session.
If, as a client, you draw support from Christianity or any faith and want that to play a part in your counselling we work within the context of your faith. If you wish to work without reference to any religious beliefs, you are equally welcome. The professional concern of a Listening Post counsellor will be to gain an understanding of how you see yourself and of what distresses you, and then work with you to determine how you can best be supported.
We have three counselling centres in Gloucestershire, located in Gloucester, Cheltenham and Stroud. You are welcome to contact any centre about counselling; other enquiries are best made to our main office in Gloucester.
Cheltenham 01242 256060; Stroud 02453 750123; Gloucester 01452 383820
Listening Post on the web
As with so many of the charities we support Listening Post is struggling with both the increases in their costs and the volume of clients needing their help. They are very grateful for any help we can give them.
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