Phil Hope, Minister for the Third Sector, has reaffirmed the Government’s commitment Great Expectations psp that volunteers will not have to pay for Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) checks that are required for volunteers working with children and in other sensitive roles.Battlestar Galactica: Razor movies
If my son wants help with his homework because he is cutting corners is it okay to give him the wrong answers to teach him a lesson?The Brothers Bloom movie download Star Trek: First Contact movies
This morning I had some time off so we went to Axminster just up the road and called on the River Cottage shop there. It was very nice, stuff in boxes, little plastic around, lots of local river cottage produce, and some local veg. However the longer I was there the more uneasy I became, the place was clearly branded, and seemed to be building on the river cottage brand using this to hike prices on other products. Most of their veg was supplied a well known food box scheme but the prices seemed over the top compared to the door to door supply. I wonder if they pass these prices onto the farmers. Then there was the more subtle things like all the apples were labelled grown in Somerset, reinforcing the brand ethos which is great, but bananas were simply labelled organic. Which is okay and a step in the right direction BUT why not say where these are from? Does acknowledging that they travelled lessen or negatively impact the brand power of river cottage, were they trying to protect the brand identity. The whole enterprise had subtlety moved away from the original self sufficient ethic of the original River Cottage experiment that I watched so enthusiastically. Okay Hugh Fernly -whitingstall needs to make some money but wasn’t he trying to get away form the big business approaches, isn’t this current river cottage enterprise a mask for a consumer identity and development mentality that seems to lurking beneath this supposedly local/ethical brand . I openly acknowledge I use a mix of local shops and supermarkets and I always feel uneasy coming out with a trolley load of stuff, but on leaving the River Cottage shop today I felt far more tainted.
This week FYT
are launching a new ASBO certificate for young people. I will be awarding three ASBO’s to young people involved in the detached work in Chard who spoke at the council meeting and were congratulated by the committee on their work in drawing the community together.Waiting… buy
Community cohesion action plan
In response to the 10-month review by the Commission on Integration and Cohesion, Communities Secretary Hazel Blears has announced a ten-point action which includes a £50 million investment over the next three years to promote community cohesion and support local authorities in preventing and managing community tensions (an increase of £2 million in 07/08). The funds are to be spent by local councils responding to local challenges in various ways including through community based projects, youth projects and volunteering. The action-plan also calls for a new inter-faith strategy.Lolita moviesThe Shaggy Dog trailer
For College I was asked to write a statement on Community and youth work practice.
I would suggest that there can be no effective youth work without community. Young people live in geographical communities, operate in groups or tribes that are mirco-communities, are influenced by the macro community of the global village, and spend time forming virtual communities in cyber space. They are the product of community, shaped by community, and socialized by community. Some might call this an anthropological reason for having community at the center of your practice and to ignore the community dimension of young peoples lives and its influence is a dis-service to the young people you work with. Yet there is a theological reason why community should be core to your practice, as without it community as the center of practice, it is a dis-service to God in whose image we are made. An image, which is one of community. The God we serve is a tri-une God, and the trinity is an image of the perfect community, Father, Son and Spirit all held in balance all One, if are calling young people towards God then we are calling them towards community.
What is our mission? At it’s heart youthwork is about change, change on a personal level, a group level and a societal level, captured well by the words of Christ “I have come that you may have life and life in all its fullness� Therefore as well as the theological and anthropological reasons stated there is a practical reason; namely change comes via community and is needed in communities.
M. Scott Peck Author of The Road Less Traveled argues strongly for community writing: There can be no vulnerability without risk; there can be no community without vulnerability; there can be no peace, and ultimately no life, without community.
Community is central to the process of change for a number of reasons.
Self understanding is an important first part of the process of youth work and the start point for understanding ourselves is community. As others reflect back to us a truer image of ourselves than we may have we journey towards a fullness of life. Therefore engendering a sense of community with the young people we work with engenders life.
As agents of change we cannot achieve changes by ourselves, if we are to work for fullness of life for all there is an inevitable community dimension to our work. I would suggest that if our own fullness of life hinders another from their fullness we are not truly living in the light. Therefore to work for change with, for and in communities, at local, national, global or virtual must be a paramount priority. Not only will the impact of these changed communities help those that are members have a greater fullness of life, but also those who engage in the struggle of changing these communities will also experience at greater fullness of life.
Finally because we are made in God’s image, humanity longs for a sense of communitas. Communitas is an intense community spirit, the feeling of great social equality, solidarity, and togetherness Thunder on the Hill movies
. Even the hermits of old sought this equality and justice for others, and togetherness with their creator as they retreated to desolate places to pray. The desire for Communitas is more prevalent as a characteristic when people experience liminality. ie when they are undergoing a period of change when the resources they have relied on in the past are called into question. If this desire for communitas lies latent at the core of humanity and comes to the fore during liminality, then it speaks of God’s image in whom we are made, and provides the key to forming lasting, real, dynamic relationships of change, and hope.
Had to post a link to this “news article” about house prices, Northern Rock being bailed out and the rapture. Very funny, perhaps because it also generates a bit of fear that there might be some truth in it! 🙂
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Slight problem. We took Indianna to the childminder for the week to try and get her ready for Lori’s return to work next week. However Indi had other ideas, she cried at every session and would not eat or drink. Picking her up yesterday we were informed they could not accomodate her next week. This means Lori had to cancel her return to work. Whilst this is good in that Lori gets to stay with Indi we could have done with the income. So plans for the day van are on hold but hopefully it will give Lori the time to do some more writing and look after asbo baby.
Had a great time at Greenbelt. Didn’t do the usual running around to catch speakers, as the baby took time and we had a nightmare journey. Enjoyed chilling with friends and the kids. Beth (9) went off with two friends for most of the festival, and I hung around with Jo (12).
It is great how kids surprise you. We were in messy space playing pick up sticks when Jo notices the Tote betting, Tote gambling etc branding and signs around the walls and rest of site and made a thought provoking statement.
“Just like Greenbelt, G-Store, G-shop, G-Talks,”
I was really surprised by the observation. He doesn’t worry about wearing brands, never asks for the branded cereal over the supermarket own. His connection was just an observation. Yet the “just like” is a little disconcerting. How does a 12 year old navigate the branded world, decide what brands to trust, or begin differentiate between an ethical brand or another?
Even where they try to facilitate a counter cultural apporach, is branding an inevitable consequence for Greenbelt as they recoup costs, keep prices low etc through merchandising? Is there a third way for Greenbelt?Mute Witness dvdrip
When we go on holiday we have the habit of bumping into famous people. in Wales I saw a guy from a bbc 1 series about something northern, okay I cant remember his name but his face rang a bell. In Morcombe we spotted Edwina Curry. In Cornwall Rick Stein, Amelia Fox at Corfe castle, and we just saw Stephen Fry in Norfolk. Okay we haven’t been anywhere exotic, but that means every holiday Lori and I have had we did see someone vaguely famous. Would it be any better if we spent time traveling miles abroad, we would probably just bump into Brad and Angelina!!!