Tag: friendship

Catalyst Birmingham Launched

Written on . Posted in Catalyst, Faithful Neighbourhoods Centre, Interfaith, Near Neighbours, Training.

One of the programmes funded by Near Neighbours is the Catalyst leadership programme for young leaders. Aimed at people aged 20-30, this programme brings together people of different faiths in that age bracket and provides training on leadership issues.

Catalyst Birmingham has a cohort of 13 which includes Sikhs, Buddhists, Christians and Muslims. On November 24th they met for the first time and spent the day getting to know one another and thinking through what the qualities of leadership drawing on their own experiences of leadership and inspirational leaders from within their faith traditions.

The group will meet once a month for the next 6 months and will cover topics such as conflict resolution, character and personality, practicalities of leadership, recruiting volunteers, risk assessment and faith and leadership in the public sphere.

They will also have to devise and run a Near Neighbours project as part of the course.

Our hope is that this group will go on to form the core of a group of young faith leaders engaged with inter-faith work and social issues in Birmingham.

Faith Guiding Course

Written on . Posted in Dialogue, Interfaith, Training.

The Faithful Neighbourhoods Centre will be hosting the Faith Encounter Programme as they run their accredited Faith Guiding Course

The Faith Encounter Programme seeks to train people of all faiths in Birmingham as Faith Guides, so that places of worship are better equipped to offer high quality educational visits.

The course is designed to provide participants with the knowledge, understanding and skills required for successful guiding around a particular place of worship. If you follow one of the major religious traditions represented in Birmingham, you are welcome to apply: Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim, & Sikh. Minor traditions are not excluded if they have a place of worship.

There will be 20 places available. Applicants must be over the age of 18 and have the ability to communicate well in English. Applications are welcomed from practising members of any faith community. In addition to completing the application form, applicants need to submit a reference from a leader of their local place of worship.

Course details The aims are achieved through the study of three key areas: 1. Knowledge of and ability to communicate the guide’s own faith 2. Awareness of, and competence in, tour guiding skills 3. Understanding of other faith traditions The course will include four visits to places of worship of different faiths.

Application forms Phone or email the Course Director: Ruth Tetlow 0121 449 4892 ruthtetlow@btinternet.com www.faithencounter.org.uk

The course is offered at the discounted rate of £33, which is the registration fee to the Institute of Tourist Guiding. This may be subsidised by the place of worship. Concessions may be available.

You can download a full brochure giving all the details of the course here

Health Ministry in Local Neighbourhoods – Parish Nursing Event in Balsall Heath

Written on . Posted in Christianity, Community Regeneration, poverty, Thrive.

Last year Thrive Together Birmingham hosted a ‘Tackling Poverty’ event, offering resources and tools to churches wanting to address issues of poverty in their local neighbourhoods. One of the exhibitors was Parish Nursing UK, a Christian charity which helps local churches appoint nurses to support people and communities towards what they call “whole person healthcare”, which they describe as care for “body, mind and spirit”.
Their work is essentially about enabling registered nurses to combine their nursing skills with their faith and work with their local church to address some of the health needs of the local community. Thrive were keen to get them to Birmingham to inspire nurses to explore possibilities in their neighbourhoods, and on Saturday 22nd September we held an event at Balsall Heath Church Centre. Those attending who were already parish nurses shared their experience and told stories of churches hosting health drop-in’s, where people had their blood pressure checked over a cup of tea and chat, and where time to share and be listened to was prioritised, as well signposting and supporting people to access other health care services. Community breakfasts and lunches focused around highlighting particular health issues. Cycling projects aimed at developing fitness, encouraging weight loss and encouraging self-esteem. Stories of relationships being built and friendships developing with frail and elderly people who had previously been reluctant to trust others; and of support and reassurance offered to frightened patients and families following difficult diagnoses. The event also offered opportunities for nurses and others attending to ask questions of members of the parish nursing UK team, church leaders and existing parish nurses.

If you are interested in exploring possibilities for using nursing skills in your local neighbourhood and would like more information contact Jennie Fytche at pnmukjenniefytche@btinternet.com

Birmingham Churches Winter Night Shelter 2013

Written on . Posted in Christianity, Community Regeneration, Near Neighbours, poverty, Thrive.

Following the success of last years pilot churches winter night shelter in Birmingham, church leaders, outreach workers and others met at the Faithful Neighbourhood Centre to discuss a churches night shelter for this winter.

Last winter Churches from across Birmingham came together to provide shelter and hospitality to homeless people in Birmingham. Using the ‘roving shelter’ model devised by the Christian charity Housing Justice, the Birmingham Churches Winter Night Shelter was hosted by 5 churches on different nights of the week and provided a hot meal, friendship and hospitality, a bed for the night and breakfast.
Guests were offered a place at the shelter through a referral system which was coordinated by St Martin’s in the Bullring Help Desk with support from Reach Out Network, a Christian outreach team who also provided transport for guests to get to the shelter. This project was a great example of the Body of Christ working together in Birmingham to help those who really need it. The volunteers who staffed the shelter came not only from the host churches but from a wide variety of denominations and church traditions.
Those who used the shelter were so grateful that churches were offering them food and a bed for the night, but were equally grateful that volunteers took time to get to know them and made them feel comfortable and welcome, one guest said “it was nice to be given time to talk, it’s very rare you can sit down for a proper meal when you’re homeless”.
This winter there are plans for a 4 – 6 week shelter to start mid-January, and church hosts, volunteers, resources, and funding are now being sought. For a copy of the Pilot Winter Shelter Report 2012_more information contact Thrive Together Birmingham at info@thrivetogetherbham.org or

Faithful Conversations

Written on . Posted in Dialogue, Faithful Neighbourhoods Centre, Training.

In September we ran our second ‘Faithful Conversations’ training evening here at the Faithful Neighbourhoods Centre. A group of 13 of us to met to think about how we can have conversations about faith in an informal and non-confrontational way with friends and neighbours.

The evening consisted of a number of activities that involved, amongst other things, people reflecting on their own faith journey, sharing how they celebrate festivals or what impact their faith has on their lives day by day. We also spent time thinking about how we speak and, perhaps more importantly, how we listen. Finally we considered how we cope when we find ourselves in disagreement over faith matters.

The different learning styles were appreciated by the participants who went on to make a number of positive comments about the events.

“The emphasis on simply asking ‘what do you believe’ and taking each person as individuals not representatives of their faith was good.”
“It took pressure off me to defend my faith.”
“It is more about building a relationship with love than winning an argument”
“The variety of activities was very good to get us talking with others about our own faith stories”

The Faithful Conversations course is being run again in Walsall on 29th November. Details are on our events page.

We can also run the course in your area. If you would like to find out more please contact us.

Eid Kabaddi

Written on . Posted in Interfaith, Near Neighbours.

Near Neighbours Eid Kabaddi event – Monday 27th August, 2012.

Matt Kendall of Aston Near Neighbours writes: Aston Cricket Club were keen to run a kabaddi event at the wonderful Aston Park Pavilion, and we decided to work with them to try to make the event more inclusive for the community and expand cross cultural understanding. The work also was a chance to open up the pavilion to the community as it has been empty and locked for much of its existence since being opened in 2009.
The event had two parts. One was an invitation only cross cultural discussion and explanation of the rules of Kabaddi and the celebration of Eid, and the second part was to enjoy the Kabaddi event.
As well as the general common issues around faith and celebration as a community, what really came from the cross cultural discussions was that the real drivers for a lot of the leaders who are active within their faith groups are to develop and support their community. We were fortunate to have a number of people attending who were senior figures within their various faith communities and all stated that they were strongly motivated by the community development work they are doing.
We still have still some more work to do to build relationships in the area, and we still have 2 more Near Neighbours events left to run – watch this space.

Asian Awareness

Written on . Posted in Faithful Neighbourhoods Centre, Interfaith, Training.

Over the past five weeks a people have come to the Faithful Neighbourhoods Centre to deepen their understanding of Islam, Sikhism and Hinduism. The course was aimed at Christians who wanted to learn more about these faiths and South Asian culture as well as to think through how they might share their faith with people from a different faith background.

The titles of the 5 weeks were:

Towards understanding Islam
Towards understanding Sikhism
Towards understanding honour and shame culture
Towards understanding Hinduism
Towards understanding South Asian children and young people.

Each week was led by contributors with an in depth knowledge of the different faith and culture, and the course included times for questions, reflection, sharing resources and prayer.

The course was run with Pall Singh from East West Trust, Pall has lived and worked in Birmingham for many years and has run this course successfully in a variety of locations across the city.

It is hoped that we can run this with Pall again in 2013. Details will be on our events page when they are confirmed.

 

 

 

Understanding Pakistanis

Written on . Posted in Faithful Neighbourhoods Centre, Training.

On the 26th April a group of us met at the Faithful Neighbourhoods Centre to hear Karamt Iqbal teach us about the history of the Pakistani community in Birmingham along with the current situation. Karamt spoke about his own experience of being a Pakistani who moved from Mirpur to Birmingham in 1960’s and used this to highlight the experiences of many within the Pakistani community.

Hearing first hand of what it was like to make such a significant move was both interesting and insightful as he unpacked the implications for a community that has had to establish itself within the city.

Karamat’s style was to be both informative and anecdotal, he also challenged the majority white community whilst being reflective and self critical of his own Pakistani community.

Karamat has many years experience of working for the local authority and used this experience to highlight the current situation and to encourage participants to consider the implications for the city of a large (and growing) Pakistani community living, working and contributing to life in Birmingham.

The day was well received and we are hoping to run it again in the autumn along with a shorter version aimed specificaly at church leaders. Details of these events will be on the website when confirmed.

Bringing People Together – making the strapline a reality

Written on . Posted in Dialogue, Interfaith, Near Neighbours.

Near Neighbours Development worker Jessica Foster writes: The small grants part of the Near Neighbours programme has been running for just over seven months now and we have funded well over 40 projects, distributing nearly £170,000 to projects and activities that will create and strengthen friendships between people of different faiths who live close to one another.

For some projects the planning is over and it has been an absolute privilege to have been invited to the launch of a job club in Handsworth and the evening celebration of Hodge Hill’s Unsung Heroes recently.

While both events were very different, responding to the different needs in different parts of the city what delighted me was that at both occasions I saw that very real friendships were being built and nourished between people of different faiths and ethnicities who discovered huge amounts in common – shared values, shared concerns and shared neighbourhoods.

On my table of heroes in Hodge Hill, people from different faiths and ethnicities chatted away, building and deepening friendships. Throughout the evening we saw people appreciating the contribution their neighbour was making and that appreciation was enthusiastic, heartfelt and warm as people saw in one another the shared willingness to work together for the good of Hodge Hill.

In Handsworth the commitment to give the most disadvantaged people a second-chance had brought a steering group together to support Alvin Henry and the Dorcas Club to set up a job club. Here people wanted to see young people skilled and equipped to achieve in a competitive employment market. There was a particular concern for people who had left prison and were struggling to quit the offending cycle without any hope of a job.

Amongst this steering group of people was Ajit from the local gurdwara. Alvin told us that the Near Neighbours grant meant he needed a steering group made up of people from different faiths and he had approached Ajit from the Nishkam centre expecting a formal half-an-hour meeting. Three hours later Alvin and Ajit had become firm friends and Ajit is now an integral part of the group overseeing the job club.

At a lecture I attended as part of the Muslim-Christian forum residential for women we heard that friendship is not only personal and intimate but also civil and political. Friendships have the power to bring about real and lasting change in communities. We sometimes think they are something that happen to us but in reality we choose and nurture our friends. We hope Near Neighbours helps to build hundreds of new friendships across this city – we do hope you can be part of it

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