Pentecost 2018- 05 -20 Youth Service MAPC
Confirmation, Pentecost, MAPC, Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church,
VOTE FOR US - Aviva Community Fund The Waiting Room Resource
Click me :
The Waiting Room - Virtual student support
Common Unity Social Enterprise
Location: Birmingham
Description
When times get tough, people need support. But often when times get tough, people don't know where to get that support from. In the world of Health and Social Care, the same issue applies. Services exist but people who need them don't know about them. The Waiting Room Project being a virtual and easily accessible one-stop information resource provides that vital link between people with needs and services that can meet those needs.
The Waiting Room Resource Key, by engaging citizens with sources of support directly and seamlessly is, in its own right an intervention, taking away the often wearisome process of finding the right place to get help – an online resource library of information and support that can be navigated with ease. In addition, the ongoing management of the process is relatively small but engagement can be realised at high levels and monitored effectively.
In less than 10 months we have witnessed over 17,000 hits with nearly half of all visitors coming back for more information with Birmingham residents spending in excess of 6 minutes sourcing personal wellbeing opportunities. Covering 24 Life Domain areas including welfare advice, mental health, abuse, children and young peoples services, education and employment, suicide prevention and communities, the TWR approach is fast becoming the virtual go-to place in Birmingham to link with both local and national support services when needed being regularly tapped into by both professionals and community members. Testimonials from NHS Strategic leads, the medical sector, emergency services, third sector organisations and community representatives themselves have proved time and time again just how vital TWR has become for our communities across Birmingham.
However, for its greatest impact to be achieved, TWR needs to be distributed much wider and engaged with by those who would most benefit. We recognise that there is one key group within Birmingham that would hugely benefit from The Waiting Room experience - this group being University Students. Studies have shown that 1 in 4 university students experience mental health problems due to a number of associated factors including stress, workload, debt, isolation to name but a few. As the Chief Executive of Universities UK stated: The challenge for universities is to build on the support services and external links that exist already.
What is the Project?
In Birmingham there are over 65000 students in higher education; During 2018, Common Unity will aim to support University student health and well-being by linking 20,000 new intake students from the 5 Birmingham Universities with local support services through The Waiting Room project in a bid to promote the overall health and well-being of this vulnerable group.
How will this project be delivered?
Stage 1: Framework
University engagement across 5 institutions with agreed approach to implementation
Dedicated student welfare support identified and working group development
Stage 2: Development
Marketing, communication and distribution strategy agreed.
Design and production of TWR Virtual Student Support Branding, marketing and publicity materials developed alongside the dedicated working group.
Stage 3: Delivery
In September/October 2018 - Common Unity will run the TWR Road Show across the 5 universities for the new intake of students as part of the overall induction process utilising existent student events/fairs for maximum dissemination.
What would the funding be used for?
If successful the funding would pay for:
• All resource materials and design including posters, fobs and publicity materials
• Distribution/volunteer support costs for development input and dissemination
• TWR website/design/administrative support costs and management costs
Why this project?
University students are a huge risk regarding their mental health and wellbeing - This project links new University students with local support services.
TWR has demonstrated time and again that people can be empowered to take charge of their own health and wellbeing. We believe it helps people to help themselves and from humble beginnings is fast becoming a powerful ally in the quest to support communities to take control of their own life quality.
Martello Tower or Windmill Stump at Holywood Co Down?
I'm a few miles from home over in old Holywood in the recently designated Holywood Conservation Area.
Just past Brook Street off Holywood's Victoria Road and in to the left stands this strange ancient neglected tower. On Google Maps it is labelled, The Martello Tower but is it a genuine Martello Tower? The superb terrace of nearby grand houses is called Martello Terrace. So is it a Martello Tower or not?
Whatever it is tower or stump it is surely sad to see that it has been allowed to fall into this totally sorry state. Is it not part of olde Holywood history?
I found a pictorial and written record about this old windmill stump in 'From cradle to grave, the buildings that share our lives'.
FLU Aware NI
Flu is more serious than you think - so get the flu vaccine now. PHA launches mass multi-media campaign to support the seasonal flu vaccination programme to encourage all those in at risk groups and pregnant women to get their vaccination early.
For more information visit: fluawareni.info
Christmas in Lisburn County Antrim - Things to do in Lisburn
Lisburn is a city in Northern Ireland that is located southwest of Belfast city centre on the River Lagan, so as a city it might be a famous place near Belfast that tourists could head to and check, but what about spending Christmas in Lisburn?
We believe that Christmas and New Year's Eve are usually the most glamorous days of the year; they really turn the streets into a glowing thing with all the lights and decorations that are placed there. Walking through the streets with these decorations turns into some kind of a hobby for some people - us included - and thus we decided to visit some cities in Ireland and Northern Ireland to see what they have to offer for us.
We have been to Lisburn to see what have been done to its streets, shops, and shopping centers for Christmas. At the beginning of the journey in this city, we headed to the Bow Street Mall and we should say that it was a good kind of experience because of the way they decorated the mall from the inside by mixing the Christmas theme with winter - so you will find those dogs that are responsible for strolling down Santa, there are those glowing balls which are decorating the place, and there is even Santa hanged on top in an air balloon - we actually fell in love with the atmosphere of the place as a whole.
This was the thing that highlighted the visit to Lisburn city in Northern Ireland in addition to the streets that we managed to walk through and which were also a little bit decorated with those Christmas lights and decorations. We wanted to make our trip to this city a little bit different, so we decided to head to a bowling center and play bowling for a change, so we chose Lisburn Bowl and headed there.
Walking through the streets of the city will depend on where you are because you might come across Santa waiting for you outside a specific restaurant or cafe asking you to come inside and you might pass by another one which is not decorating the place in the same kind of way.
One will never get the feeling of Christmas without the Christmas tree - will always be better with some gifts left under it as well :-) - so it always feels different when one comes across such kind of tree in the street and even if you have seen it million times the years before with the same way of decoration, you will still decide to take a couple of photos beside it - we all do the same everywhere.
From those other cities which Connolly Cove decided to visit in Northern Ireland and Ireland are the capitals; Belfast and Dublin, and we believe that being the capital city is one thing that plays a good role in making the decoration of the place much more appealing, which we believe was the case with Belfast and Dublin.
In Belfast we have been to the yearly Belfast Christmas market ( and we also got the chance to visit the famous shopping center where one could find everything he/she is searching for with all the shops it has, which is Victoria Square. Christmas in Belfast was interesting for us not only because of the lights and decorations, but also for the kind of food and drinks which we only get the chance to have from one year to the other (
Dublin was kind of the same; we walked through the different streets of the city - the city centre - got something to drink in the middle of the way, enjoyed the lights and the decorations of the street, and also passed by those Christmas carols which are rehearsed and sung in the streets and that's of course apart from the shops and restaurants which are decorated in the same kind of way (
Our series of trip to those different cities to check how glamorous their Christmas turned out to be also stopped at Antrim Castle Gardens where Christmas was being celebrated in the most right way with all the games, the food, the shows, and even the music played there; we had fun there along with the kids and we are just crossing our fingers that it would be repeated next year as well (
There are different cities around the world which are famous for the Christmas and New Year decorations that they tend to do and thus they become the favorite for lots of people, such as London for example which is known for its decorations, its shopping, and its atmosphere in general.
We dream to spend every single Christmas in a different city to be able to see the world and at the same time explore their Christmas spirit, so where do you want to spend your next Christmas and why? Where have you been this Christmas or else where are you from and how does your city celebrate this time of the year? Share with us more of your stories.
Merry Christmas to all Lisburn people and to all those watching this video :-)
The best locations around Ireland / Northern Ireland and further afield. A travel blog/vlog of the hidden treasures that are on our doorstep.
HTI Greener Communities 2011
HTI 'Ground force team' transform Oak Cottage Primary School garden and play areas
30 staff from Coventry-based national charity HTI (Heads, Teachers & Industry) devoted an entire teambuilding day on Friday 3rd June to giving Solihull's Oak Cottage Primary School a complete garden makeover as part of HTI's annual Greener Communities scheme.
Greener Communities is an innovative scheme designed to bring businesses and schools together to work on community enhancing environmental projects.
Anne Evans OBE, chief executive of HTI, said:
It's important for pupils to have access to safe, fun and educational outside spaces to enhance learning. HTI 'Greener Communities' programmes broker relationships between businesses and their local schools and we will use this opportunity to help Oak Cottage pupils benefit from an exciting new outdoor learning environment.
We have worked for 25 years to create and nurture links between schools and businesses. It is vital to build external links not just with other schools but across the wider community and this scheme does just that. These links are all about making education more relevant and meaningful for pupils and more inspiring for the teachers who are preparing them for adult life.
The transformation included creating an environmental area with bird nesting boxes, bird tables and mini beast houses along with raised beds where the children can grow plants and vegetables.
The outdoor learning space will help support the curriculum for the Foundation Key Stage and Key stage 1. Oak Cottage Primary school have started a 'gardening club' which takes place once a week after school where the children are able to grow their own vegetables.
Local companies helped by providing HTI staff team with resources for the day. JBS Waste contributed with a skip, Midland Forestry provided the bark chippings and the Co-op gave seed packs.
BSAC Video Competition Lisburn SAC Scapa Flow Trip June 2017
Vicar of Bagdad.3GP
Cannon Andrew White aka Vicar of Bagdad at Saint Dunstans Anglican Church 2010