Month: April 2017

Imagination, dream or vision…

Posted on by JC

In my last few posts I’ve shared about what I can see as an issue in Stockton on Tees (and surrounding area) with people struggling and with homelessness. I want to explain a little on how things so far have set in place and its certainly not been a short journey.

There has been a vision of change for many years and it first really started back in 1999 when I was first a steward transitioning from an attendee to one that helped with friends. I was in an active church with active youth church too and we met regularly and prayed regularly for each other. I miss that, but always used to have difficulty doing the whole prayer out loud thing as I still do.

We were away at a celebration when I saw that I was in multiple spaces of time simultaneously. Where everyone was in worship and I was there but it was not all then. It was as though time did not exist, and we were seeing multiple time periods simultaneously. I could recognise some as past as many as not yet, and this was around 2002. Since then I’ve seen them again but been in the moment – one of those moments was last years spring harvest when we were in the mixed range group in centre stage.

Another time I was standing and praying and found myself in a large building – it seemed like a block of offices that on every few levels had a mixture of shops or services on it and some had green spaces with trees and grassy areas. I was to discover that this was actually a place for those struggling in life from addictions to homelessness to those soon out of work. It was somewhere they could live and get the support they needed all in one place.

And that got me thinking, should I be on a mission? – I explored the various charities and mission groups and every time I looked into it, I got the message that “mission starts at home” and that I was not to go away but to work and help the area I live in. But what can I do? and then everything went on pause. Work was not really happening and the funding of life became difficult and everything was work, try to work etc and pause, the dreams always hung in the back of my mind but I didn’t really do anything more with it.

I attended and helped at various events usually to do with youth work, sometimes Harvest and sometimes IXth hour. I would get the message that I could one day be one of those on stage, sharing Gods message to people but I couldn’t even stand up and chat to 3 to 4 people, never mind 500+ and thought that could never happen and dismissed it but consistently was reminded that I should try. When I attended message 2000, I froze completely in front of strangers and no words came out and others came to rescue me – I got over it the next day but it was not easy.

In 2011, I felt a pull to study law at university – another thing I thought I’d never get through. I went not to get a degree but to learn how to protect peoples rights, and keep people safe. I’d always advised people of the logical sense of arguments but I wanted more, I wanted to know what I was saying would protect and not just advise and as I’ve found, the law is not quite as logical as it would be thought with many exceptions to many incidents. I am better informed now, and that is now finished as of yesterday and awaiting results – I actually got through it!

I still struggled with presenting, and found a group named Toastmasters which helps people get the confidence to speak and how to project yourself. The group didn’t last long in Teesside but I attended for about 9 months and did stand up a few times and gave talks… it was terrifying and still it was difficult at university until one time that scared me a lot. I was sharing my faith with friends in a group setting, a group that takes the mic out of most things and for the first 40 minutes, it was awful but by the end they were talking and working with me and asked what is next week excited. I did 3 to 4 sessions with them, each about 90 minutes… and when it came to a university presentation later that year, talking about a subject I knew about it was a lot easier.

I’m not saying presentations is something I enjoy and I really do get nervous sometimes but it was seeing a youth leader that I’ve known present for 20+ years getting nervous before going on stage and then he was full of confidence then back off full of nerves. When I chatted to him, he told me it happens almost every time – it doesn’t get easier and that gave me confidence too. I also chatted to several other I know talk well publicly and they all said nerves gets to them too.

Several years later and I was at SH helping in the Big Top (the only year I’d done Big Top) and on the stage was someone from my home town talking about the poverty of my home town and how Spring Harvest could help. Money was raised and sent there to help with projects but the passion hit me hard. I got through the stewarding but afterwards I was useless to everyone, broken inside and people could see. Friends helped me back to the stewards lounge to rest and I just was broken with joy.

I tried to get involved with the charity, but it was a charity for women and young people only so I didn’t really “fit” there but it kept on my mind. Last year I got the message that the time to wait is over and to get started, and this year I saw how I could use much of what I’ve learned this year to start something – the only issue now is to figure what that something is.

I think its to create a place where people can get the help they need like the building suggested above though I am not sure where it will go, or how it will be funded or anything like that but all ideas come from somewhere and if there is a passion behind it, something can usually be found.

No matter if it was my imagination, it is something I’d like to see if can be done.

So what now…?

Well yesterday I submitted my dissertation so now is the time to get started with the thoughts on how to proceed and research on how to actually get something in progress. Over the past few years, I have worked with organisations to help out at things and was always told, if I ever needed help to go back and ask so that is where I will be starting as soon as I work out how to make some sort of business case or plan of the aim of what I want to achieve.

I may even need help with that – If you feel you can help, please get in contact with me. I have a contact page on my johnc.info website and would love to hear of your insights too.

Thanks for reading. Until next time….

What about the projects I’m doing now…

Posted on by JC

This is an overview of the past year of projects I am now involved with and In a post last year I said this:

“Now I see people struggling and would love to find a place or set-up a place where people can come and eat and not worry about the cost but have a healthy full filling meal. Somewhere they can stay if they are homeless or struggling or just trying to get away from others and need somewhere to rest.

I have NO IDEA how this will be possible and in some following messages I will expand on my idea however I will need help, and lots of it. I have some ideas but feel that we need to work together to serve each other and help. I don’t know how this will happen but trust it will and believe it is possible. It is time to stop just existing but to do something and use those connections and see what is real or not.”

I did not know where to start with this idea, and started with the internet searching to find if there was any projects already running in the area that I could maybe help with and learned of hundreds of organisations working for various causes around where I lived that I’d never heard of and a few I’d heard of but never knew what they did.

There is a cafe I often go for lunch called Labyrinth Holistic Cafe – a nice place to go relax at lunch and disconnect from the busyness of work for 45 minutes. They do a great selection of meals, soups and many teas that I enjoy to chill with. They are also one of the only Gluten Free cafe’s locally which is a great benefit to many people.

They also started a project called “One for the Wall” where people could buy more than just their share and put it aside for when someone needed something. This was aimed to help those who were homeless or struggling but over time has morphed into a combination of a food bank and help bank sharing items from sugar and tea to clothing and pots and pans. This has been given the project name Labyrinth Appeals and now works with multiple organisation in Stockton to provide help via referrals in a cafe that means people are not often aware that people are getting help to help people with dignity and embarrassment.

I have been helping with getting some donations, promoting their project and helping with some connections and publicity. Over the last year, we have worked with fareShare (supermarkets giving food to avoid food waste) that is used to make some items in the cafe and the profits going to the food/help bank to provide items for people in need. As it was discovered, its not great giving fresh ingredients if they have no way to cook, store or prepare them.

Another project is Stockton Town Pastors (STP), they are a part of the Christian Nightlife Initiative that goes across the country and STP have been running about 7 years now. We go out on the streets on a Friday, Saturday and some holiday nights out and help people who may be a little worse off providing water & flip flops if needed and sometimes first aid or just sitting with people who may have lost friends. It is a collaboration with the night life teams including door staff, CCTV, Emergency services and volunteers.

 

A group of volunteers outside the Stockton Town Pastors van on Stockton High Street, December 2016

A group of volunteers outside the Stockton Town Pastors van on Stockton High Street, December 2016

I realised that while I’m out on a night myself, I’m often left in a position of helping people out/looking after them without really thinking about it. I want everyone to have a great time out but some people always seem to take it too far and not know their limits. I’d prefer they get home safe than anything happen to them.

First Aid Training - 2017

First Aid Training – 2017

I found that my years of stewarding, looking out for dangers and general safety made me ideal for this kind of role with STP and so went out on a few patrols with them and have since been through various training including Emergency First Aid at Work, and joined with their team to go out at least once a month, and plan to be much more from May time.

The third project I am working with is was a university society named Enactus Teesside. I had heard the name before but just in passing without any idea what they did.

I think it was September 2016, where I helped with a colour run that was being run at Stuarts Park in Middlesbrough. I am part of the Voluntees network where students can volunteer for things, and they requested 4 to 8 people to throw paint over people at the colour run to represent Teesside University. I put my name down, it was a lot easier than running it. I met a group of people who also volunteered, we called ourselves the paint pirates where we got to throw orange paint (my favourite colour) over people as they ran by.

The team from Teesside University supporting the Colour Run by throwing paint over people

The team from Teesside University supporting the Colour Run by throwing paint over people

I got to speak to people in the group where two of them told me of Enactus at the university. I messaged the chair to have a chat and see how I could get involved and what it could also offer me. I found there was many networking opportunities I could go to, training and friendships. I found the group to be an academic group but one that would help people as much as they could. I initially didn’t get involved with a particular project but provided insight, and connected people to contacts they needed. People I had as friends that they were wanting to talk with, felt strange but nice at the same time to re-connect people.

I think that is something I would like to do professionally if that is something that is possible. Over my life, I work to keep in contact with people, find out what they are up to and help connect people if I feel it would benefit them both. Is this something I can be paid for? I am not sure, but can look into it in a few weeks time.

So a little about Enactus Teesside, they’ve recently been in the news about their successes at the Enactus UK Nationals this past week but to tell you in the simplest terms I can: A group of students who want to help people locally and nationally using social enterprise projects. This means to make them self sufficient and can keep on going after we have set them up and passed them on.

There are three main projects, I have been working with the international one called Save the Woman:

  • Save the Woman – a project which works with female offenders in Nigeria to help them set up micro-enterprises and reduce re-offending.
  • Revamp – a project which uses craft and creative arts to help victims of domestic violence.
  • Pathway – a project which assists people in Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEETs) with employability issues.

There is much more details on the website at where you maybe able to support or get involved with.

Some of the Enactus Teesside Team 2016/17

Some of the Enactus Teesside Team 2016/17

I was unable to attend the Enactus nationals competition as it was the same time as Spring Harvest this year and I’d already committed to doing that before I knew the dates but Teesside demonstrated that they are doing their projects well and the things I did in the background really did come in useful.

So what now…

I plan to continue working with the above projects in the foreseeable future but believe that I can use some of the knowledge and experience to further the project in the first paragraph. I think I needed to see what was currently possible, how things were setup already before I could even contemplate how to proceed with the plans I was given. I have been very thankful to the various organisations, for their support and the opportunities they have provided.

And look forward to what is coming next.

Skegness, Time away, Spring Harvest 2017, the next installment?

Posted on by JC

This seems to be my annual update for Spring Harvest as I don’t tend to have much time to update this blog or in reality much time to write that is just for me.

Over the past week I have been away to Skegness at an event named Spring Harvest. I’ve been stewarding there since 2009 and always over the Easter time of the year. This year we had good sized team and it has been a great mix and I’ve got to know many people and make some amazing friendships.

Spring Harvest is a teaching and worship event for everybody. It’s a unique break for all the family: holiday, festival, conference, and an encounter with God. I help/worship by volunteering with stewarding and always get to meet great friends new and old.

I was not sure if I was going to attend this year and it came down to the Saturday before to decide whether I was going or not as university work is quite stressful at the moment. I have my dissertation due in now 10 days time and having my first main copy done this Wednesday. The plan was to be done before I went away and it wasn’t looking good. I decided I needed a break from it to look at it with fresh eyes and rest – there was not much resting this past week but certainly a break.

Spring Harvest Stewarding Team 2017

Spring Harvest Stewarding Team 2017

I’ve re-read a lot of what I did last year and still can relate to a lot of it but I am enjoying things a lot more. Work & University are both difficult but do-able and university is almost over.

This year at Spring Harvest, I was asked to be a team leader of Jaks which I enjoyed a lot. My team worked really well together and was in the 11 to 14’s venue all week. We had a lot of fun with the crazy games they had on and a few discussions about what they could or could not do but overall an amazing week and would love to work with those teams again.

Spring Harvest Stewarding Team 2017 for 11 to 14's venue

Spring Harvest Stewarding Team 2017 for 11 to 14’s venue

At the end of last years post I said this:

“Now I see people struggling and would love to find a place or set-up a place where people can come and eat and not worry about the cost but have a healthy full filling meal. Somewhere they can stay if they are homeless or struggling or just trying to get away from others and need somewhere to rest.

I have NO IDEA how this will be possible and in some following messages I will expand on my idea however I will need help, and lots of it. I have some ideas but feel that we need to work together to serve each other and help. I don’t know how this will happen but trust it will and believe it is possible. It is time to stop just existing but to do something and use those connections and see what is real or not.”

This is still a passion to do and not really started on as a project. Over the past year I’ve been getting involved locally with projects and can now see that I can use what I have learned from these projects (next post) to go forward. I still don’t know how it will happen but do know I’ll need a lot of help with everything from getting funding to providing the services but feel I am now in a position to help make this happen – well in 14 days time (after I finish university).

There has been a lot of reflection to last year in this post, but hope you will continue to read future posts.

Working with various projects to make something new that will last

Working with various projects to make something new that will last

As it happens, while volunteering and helping about; this is when I feel I hear from God. This year it was at the end of one of the events we were running for the 11 to 14’s. The venue was cleared and we were cleaning up the area ready for the next things but the band and venue team were still worshipping and I just stopped and felt a great warmth and opportunity to pray and asked “I’ve done lots this year, and learned many things but what is next – how can what I’ve done help with the vision of last year?” and a calmness covered me and it was like the trinity symbol I love coming together with me in the centre, and the three projects I’ve worked with surrounding me. I could see that they were not the final project but a stepping stone, I can pull them together to make something new.

I am thinking that a project could be setup that would encompass some sort of social enterprise that would provide for homeless/those in need while at the same time making money to pay people to run it and make it self sufficient. I’ve worked with many charity groups and funding is always an issue so to make something that could re-generate funds within itself would mean it could keep on going. I am now aware that it is possible to get grants, and funding to support ideas of change but will need a LOT of help to get anywhere.

So where to go next is the question to ask, and I am sure I will be asking people to help me as I know I cannot do this one alone. I’ve shared a few of these ideas already with some of you and you’ve pledged your support but how… that is the next obstacle to get over.