Housing Justice UNLEASH email bulletin January 2007

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

Welcome to this New Year email from Housing Justice UNLEASH. Hope it finds you well.

London is still strangely quiet, not seeming quite to have started up again following the Christmas holiday, which is rather wonderful for those of us who are back to work. The streets and underground are more decongested than usual, even if we can’t all say the same about our noses…

About this bulletin + subscribe/unsubscribe info
This bulletin is prepared and emailed about once a month to offer (I hope!) a useful 5 minute read, with links to further information and resources for people concerned about housing and homelessness in London. It is aimed particularly at churches, individuals and smaller projects providing help to homeless people.

If you have an item of news or a need you’d like to advertise I’d be happy to include it - just drop me a line.

Feel free to “cascade” (i.e. forward) to colleagues, friends or someone you know who may be interested.

If you receive a copy in this way and you decide you would like your own copy each month please email me. Also if ever you decide to unsubscribe just me know.

Mail to: a.murray@ housingjustice.org.uk

NB I will never share your email or personal details with other people or organisations without your express permission, and this email is always sent blind copy to prevent spam etc.

Scroll down for

Free volunteers training in January and February
Soup Run Forum 18/01
My Yoke is easy - Green Pastures second London conference 20/01
Homelessness Sunday 28/01
· Aging Gracefully? How churches can work effectively with older people
Voluntary and faith-based organisation management courses at Roehampton University
Churches Together in England
Making a difference
Join Housing Justice UNLEASH

Free volunteers training in January and February
UNLEASH introductory volunteers training covers: Homelessness overview, including Local Authority responsibilities and the role of the voluntary sector, Mental health awareness, Drugs and alcohol awareness and Dealing with conflict. The training is provided free to volunteers who are individual members of Housing Justice UNLEASH or who volunteer in member agencies.

Please see joining info below and application form - attached

All training takes place on Saturdays between 10.00-4.00pm.

13th January Priority to volunteers in the new ROBES (Southwark and Lambeth) and Lewisham winter shelters
South London Mission
Central Hall
256 Bermondsey Street
LONDON SE1 3UJ

27th January
All Saints Church
Carnegie St/Caledonian Rd
LONDON N1 9QW

17th February
Chelsea Methodist Church
155 Kings Rd
London SW3 5TX

Soup Run Forum 18/01
For all involved in voluntary outreach, giving food other help or befriending to people on the margins, or for people who would like to contribute to the forum

Thursday 18th January at 6.00pm
St Vincent's Centre
Carlisle Place
London SW1P 1NL

See flier attached + RSVP to me if you would like to come

mailto:a.murray@ housingjustice.org.uk

My Yoke is easy - Green Pastures second London conference 20/01
Or “How to eradicate homelessness”..
They are not joking! Come and be encouraged by progress being made in housing and supporting formerly homeless people in the North West and other parts of the country.

Sponsored by All Souls Langham Place

DATE: Saturday 20th January 2007. TIME: 10am till 2pm.

VENUE: St Paul’s Church
Robert Adam Street
London W1

GUEST SPEAKERS INCLUDE:
Pastor Peter Cunningham: Founder of Green Pastures and his team
Mr. Roger Howarth, Chaplaincy: Stoke on Trent.
Mrs Joan Timpany: Key Workers Project, Wigan.

RSVP to: greenpastureshousing@ shorelinechurch.co.uk

Tel: 01704 501 690

www.greenpastureshousing.co.uk

Homelessness Sunday 28/01
This year’s theme for Homelessness Sunday later this month is No Homes - No Justice.
More than 2000 churches around the country will be doing things to mark Homelessness Sunday, including prayer and local action to raise awareness about the issues.

For more info or to order a resource pack for your church or school
www.homelessness-sunday.org.uk

Aging Gracefully? How churches can work effectively with older people
Wednesday 14th February
Shaftesbury Christian Centre
Battersea
9:45am-3:30pm (We start promptly at 10am)
Free + Lunch provided (£3/person to cover costs)

Our population is aging... Our church is aging... How do we respond? What are our objectives when working with older people? Is there spirituality and faith in old age?
If you've wondered what to do in response to the older people who live around your church or are already running a project with older people, this day is for you.

Ann Morisy, author of 'Beyond the Good Samaritan' and 'Journeying Out', also works with PSALM (Project for Seniors and Lifelong Ministry) and will facilitate the day with Claire Pinney, project worker for PSALM.

To Book: Contact Jill Clark at Shaftesbury on 0208 239 5546 or email jclark@shaftesburysociety.org
Address: Shaftesbury Christian Centre, 2 Austin Rd (off Battersea Park Road), Battersea, London, SW11 5JP (nearest BR stations: Battersea Park and Queenstown Road)

Voluntary and faith-based organisation management courses at Roehampton University
“A Flexible Approach to Educating the Future leaders of the Voluntary and Community Sector”
Roehampton offers several full and part time courses in Voluntary Sector Management and also Management of Religious and Faith-based Organisations.

Further details -
For MRes/MSc/PGDip/PGCert Management of Religious and Faith-based Organisations
http://www.roehampton.ac.uk/pg/vam/index.html

For MRes/MSc/PGDip/PGCert Voluntary Action Management
http://www.roehampton.ac.uk/pg/mrfo/index.html

Or contact Steven Howlett or Colin Rochester on 020 8392 3862 or J.Grotz@ roehampton.ac.uk

Churches Together in England
Housing Justice is now a body in association with CTE. They produce a very good e-newsletter to which you can subscribe free via their new website - www.cte.org.uk

Making a difference
One morning after a violent storm, an old man is strolling along the beach and sees that thousands and thousands of starfish have been washed ashore. In the distance he sees a solitary figure at the water’s edge.

As he approaches he sees a young man who is gently picking up the starfish, one by one, and throwing them back into the water.

The old man asks the stranger what he is doing. ‘The sun is coming up and the tide is going out. If I don’t return these starfish to the sea they will die,’ answers the young man.

‘But there are miles and miles of beach and tens of thousands of starfish. How can you possibly make a difference?’ asks the old man.

The young man looks at the starfish in his hand and then at the old man.

As he watches the starfish fly through the dawn sky and land in the sea, he smiles and says, ‘I made a difference to that one.’

Adapted from ‘The Star Thrower’ by Loren Eiseley

Join Housing Justice UNLEASH
Individual supporting members
Support the work of Housing Justice – contributing to the prevention of homelessness and bad housing
Receive our Annual Report
Receive invitations to a programme of events such as speaker meetings, workshops and conferences
Have opportunities to feed into Housing Justice UNLEASH priorities and national campaigns
Receive at least 12 email news bulletins and 4 Newsletters per year, including updates on HJ’s other nationwide projects and campaigns: Regenerate, Homelessness Sunday and the CHAS (Housing Advice) network.
If you would like to join as an individual I attach a fill in slip below, which you can email back to me.

best wishes,
Alastair

Alastair Murray
Coordinator
Housing Justice UNLEASH
office 020 7723 7273 x.242
mobile 078 7581 0216

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Supporting Membership
Supporting Members are individuals who:
Support the work of Housing Justice – contributing to the prevention of homelessness and bad housing
Receive our Annual Report
Receive invitations to a programme of events such as speaker meetings, workshops and conferences
Will have opportunities to feed into Housing Justice UNLEASH priorities and national campaigns
Receive at least 12 email news bulletins and 4 Newsletters per year, including updates on HJ’s other nationwide projects and campaigns: Regenerate, Homelessness Sunday and the CHAS (Housing Advice) network.

For further information go to the Support Housing Justice webpage>>