#PrayersOnTheMove is a new initiative from SPCK with adverts appearing on London and Newcastle public transport as well as a social media campaign, Android and App Store apps, merchandising (travel mugs, travel card wallets, etc) and booklet. The website is www.prayersonthemove.com / Facebook / Twitter - feel free to use these images on your social media, etc.
![]() Big Church Day Out is an annual all age event taking place at Wiston House in West Sussex. In 2016 attendance is expected to exceed 25,000 with attendees coming from all churches and backgrounds. The event will run the 28th and 29th May. The organisers are looking for a team of volunteers to work on the Welfare Team at the event. This new team will help to provide support for vulnerable adults who attend the event alone or become separated from their groups. The team will work alongside our Safeguarding Team and provide low level support to those who find themselves in need, encouraging care to be given by friends, family or church whenever possible and referring more serious cases to the Safeguarding and Medical Teams. A full briefing will be given before the event. Volunteers will receive an attractive package including free tickets to the event, meals and camping / accommodation area. Please contact Paul if you are interested / for more information. CNI Network will also have a stand in the Bazaar where we will be showcasing local projects, encouraging volunteering, selling copies of Street Angels book and connecting with the 25,000 people attending the event. Christian Nightlife Initiatives (CNI) Network is encouraging people to pray for the night-time economy of our towns and cities as part of an International Day of Prayer.
The day, which happens annually on 28th February, will encourage people to celebrate all that is achieved within the night-time economy including significant reductions in violent crime, community transformation and the investment made into local areas through volunteer initiatives such as Street Angels, Street Chaplains, Town Pastors, Youth Angels and Club Angels. Prayer needs include situations around human trafficking, binge drinking and depression; young people around alcohol and safety; and for the night-time industry and its workers. Founder of Street Angels - CNI Network, Paul Blakey MBE, comments, "CNI Network's Bible verse is Isaiah 58:12 which says, 'You will be called the one who makes city streets like new again'. Through the amazing work of volunteers across the world we are seeing this become a reality as crime is reduced and 'no-go' areas are made safe. God's Kingdom of city streets becoming like new again is exciting when partner agencies such as the Police share crime statistics that prove when Street Angels patrol an area crime is reduced. This International Day of Prayer aims to mobilise people to pray for our communities at night so that more and more streets, and people, are made like new again!" More information and resources for including prayer for the night-time economy within a church service can be found at: CNI Network is one of the groups behind Love Your Streets #Do1NiceThing Lent challenge.
Lent is a time of preparation around remembering the forty days Jesus spent in the desert praying and preparing for his public ministry. It is the period from Ash Wednesday to the events of Easter weekend - a time traditionally of giving up - but Love Your Streets also encourage you to GIVE OUT? #Do1NiceThing is about loving the person in front of you - serving others and the wider community. It is about being the change, making positive steps to make life better for others (and yourself in the process!). The ideas are generally very simple and require not much thought or pre-planning. If you don't like one of the ideas, do something else! You can download a copy of the #Do1NiceThing Lent challenge - PDF / Word or visit the do1nicething.org.uk website.
The Guardian spent Friday 22nd January on a night out in Britain, including joining the Manchester Street Angels on patrol. The full report is at www.theguardian.com/society/live/2016/jan/22/britain-on-the-booze-live or #ThisIsTheNHS on Twitter. In summary: So that just about wraps up our Friday night live. Key conclusions: 1. drink is a problem 24/7 in hospitals, not just in the evenings, 2. for every teenager with a sprained wrist and hiccups there’s a serious recidivist who is on first-name terms with all the triage nurses, and 3. Britain may have its problem drinkers, but it has many great people trying to help them, from the staff in A&E departments to the street volunteers who try to protect people from themselves. Time with Manchester Street Angels: Manchester’s Street Angels, a group of eight volunteers, have just had a briefing from Inspector Phil Spurgeon in the city tonight. Dubbed Operation Custodian, the volunteers are shown mugshots of two individuals wanted by police - we can say no more - and pictures of cars suspected to be involved in drug dealing. “99.9% of people out tonight are decent people,” Spurgeon tells the volunteers. “Our job is to look after them. 0.1% are not very nice but we still have to look after them and get them home properly.” As uniformed officers file out of the city centre office, next door to the town hall in Albert Square, one says they have already dealt with a group of seven men fighting tonight, one reportedly unconscious. The night is still young, however. Audio Boom - Dan Smith, consultant paramedic in Manchester city centre, on Britain's booze culture
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THEIR wings may be symbolic but their wheels are definitely not. Hull Street Angels Trinity will be zooming to revellers' aid on bikes during their tours of the city centre. The group of about 17 volunteers currently operate on foot around the city centre, making sure late-night party-goers stay safe. But, after bidding for funding from Awards For All England, they have been able to buy two high-spec bikes to help them get about quicker. Luke Cardwell, volunteer co-ordinator, said: "What we are essentially launching is Street Angels on wheels. The idea is so they can respond to incidents quicker." The cycle responders will go out on key nights of the year, including the last Saturday of the month and bank holidays. Four of the 17 volunteers will be trained up ready for launch next Friday. Each bike will be kitted out with first-aid equipment and will also carry a defibrillator, among other items. "Each of the volunteers have had cycle responder training and they have also had training on being able to handle and use a defibrillator in a CPR situation, should it be needed," said Mr Cardwell. The project has secured the funding for a year. It will then need to be reassessed by the group, but the team hopes it will be able to continue. "We feel it is needed to cover a greater area around the city centre," said Mr Cardwell. "We know the cycle responder project has worked well in other cities, so we are using that model and being able to get their sooner. Particularly on busy nights, even the emergency services can be tied up with incidents." Those on foot patrol currently operate on Friday and Saturday evenings and help with everything from rehydration to offering flip-flops to the heel-weary and foil blankets. They also help people to find a safe way home. Mr Cardwell said the cycle project will allow them to have a stronger presence outside of the Old Town, where they are less well-known. "Because we are in high-vis as well, it will make people in the bars in the new town a bit more aware of us because, traditionally, we started off in the Old Town," he said. "Now we cover the Old Town and the new town, but we are not as well known in the new town." Mr Cardwell said the cycle service will work alongside the emergency services as the volunteers on foot currently do. "They are definitely not replacing any paramedic service or anything like that," said Mr Cardwell. "We are working alongside them. "They will be linking in with the door staff and CCTV and the other emergency services." As well as working with the emergency services, the volunteers will stay in contact with volunteers walking the streets to ensure the service runs efficiently. For more information about Hull Street Angels Trinity and volunteering opportunities, visit www.hullstreetangelstrinity.org.uk Letting Go of Guilt and Embracing Personal Forgiveness in Recovery
For most people who have gone through periods of addiction, their recovery process will almost always be tainted by feelings of shame, guilt and remorse. During their addiction the compulsive desire for their next fix may have seen them behave badly, treat loved ones poorly, engage in criminal activity or worse. Coming to terms with their actions can be tough but learning to forgive themselves is an integral part in the recovery process. Dwelling on the past can eat away at their self esteem and this is one of the main causes of relapse in those recovering from drug addiction. Believing that they are truly worthy of grace and forgiveness will free them from the pain of their past and allow them to move towards a better life. With this realization come a wealth of physical, social and emotional health benefits. As stress and anxiety levels decrease blood pressure, heart health and immunity improves. And when the weight of their guilt is lifted, they will find themselves with so much more capacity to work on their relationships and personal growth leaving them happier and well as healthier. It is important to remember that forgiveness isn't about writing off a wrongdoing. Its about letting go of pointless, negative and destructive emotions linked to the things you cannot change. Many therapists recommend practicing compassionate self acceptance which doesn't always have to mean renouncing your past (or present) but accepting it, addressing it and resolving to improve. There are many psychological techniques that you can use in order to release yourself from the shackles of this guilt and embrace forgiveness. One popular tool is using mindfulness strategies to examine the moment by moment thoughts that enter our brain rather than focusing on the past. Look at these thoughts objectively then make a balanced decision on how best to move forward from them. Imagery can also be a good way of gaining closure. In a relaxed, meditative state you should picture yourself explaining to your shadow part – the part of you that needs forgiveness – all of your reasons for your negative emotion. Use this opportunity to purge yourself of all the frustration, anguish and guilt inside of you. Let your shadow part explain its viewpoint then send it your love and set it free from your life. After this exercise you should feel at peace. Source Songwriter David Lee wrote the words of this song after hearing a BBC Look North report about Street Angels and Street Pastors. A few days later when the work of Street Pastors was featured in the newsletter at Durham Cathedral, the challenging role of Christian volunteers in helping those who are distressed or vulnerable was lodged in his mind. “Such work is way, way outside my own area,” says David, “but I have a huge respect for it.” The song blends proclamation with the challenge to respond to culture with integrity and Biblical truth, with the verses following the sequence of words that Jesus used to describe himself, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life” (John 14: 6). David usually recommends the “Kingsfold” tune for these lyrics. Make straight the way
Make straight the way: the city streets for God a highway laid; with dauntless voice proclaim good news, street angels, unafraid. Shall we, who once ‘hosanna’ cried, cry ‘crucify’ today? Christ, give us strength to bear your cross along Cyrene’s way. Make straight the truth, pierce with your light our world that thinks it knows; its odd delusions, unknown gods, our sophistries expose. Shall we, who question ‘what is truth?’, re-hang you on the tree? Christ, teach our minds the wisdom of your truth to set us free. Make straight the life, life spent with grief, spent poor or spent in wealth; life lived with others, lived alone, in sickness or in health. Shall we still seek to live for self as though to you unknown? Christ of our secret thoughts, raise us from death to life, your own. Emmanuel, be God with us as once in Palestine you fed the hungry, healed the sick, turned water into wine. Our feet are yours to walk your way, our minds your truth to name; and in your life, our lives made new your kingdom love proclaim. Reproduced by permission of David Lee Founder of Street Angels and CNI Network has made the Top 100 UK Christians list run by the Archbishop Cranmer website for the second year running. The entry says:
Paul Blakey MBE. Founder of Halifax Street Angels and the Christian Nightlife Initiatives. Throughout 2015 he has helped several new projects set up in the UK and overseas. Nominated for: “a passion to equip and resource the church to work within the night-time economy”; “believes that we should be the ones making the news not just watching the news”. |
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ROC Angels - an initiative of ROC (Redeeming Our Communities)
Charity - 1139817 / Registered Company - 7327258 Postal Address: ROC Angels, c/o The King's Centre, Park Rd, Halifax, HX1 2TS E-Mail: [email protected] (founder / CEO) / Phone: 07725501465 |