Chaplaincy in further education - an opportunity to find out more - online event on 11 or 14 Oct

Getting Involved in FE Chaplaincy… The Centre for Chaplaincy in Education are hosting an online event which is aimed at anyone that wants to know more about FE chaplaincy, whether from a personal perspective, or as part of exploring what churches might be able to get involved in.

There's no commitment to do anything following the event - but if FE chaplaincy captures your interest, it might lead somewhere exciting. There are two opportunities to attend this event (each one will have the same content):

• Monday 11th October, 7.30pm - 8.15pm

• Thursday 14th October, 11.00am - 11.45am.

This event is a collaboration between the Methodist Church and West Midlands Churches' FE Council.

(cover photo courtesy of John Schnobrich at Unsplash)

Join together, spend an hour praying during a wave of prayer for Prisons Week - for justice, compassion and restoration - Friday 15th October 7pm

An opportunity during Prisons Week to spend an hour in prayer with others, praying for justice, compassion and restoration with friends and colleagues from across our Free Churches Group network!

Revd Bob Wilson, Secretary for Prison Chaplaincy and Free Churches Faith Adviser invites you to join in a wave of prayer for our prisons… on Friday 15th October at 7pm - all are welcome, registration is required.

“If prayer truly works, if our weak human rambling to God actually changes things, then we must call believing people to pray, and together we must pray for change where change is needed most.”

(cover photo from Prisons Week website)

'Beginning Chaplaincy' - residential courses in Oct and March 2022 at St Padarn's, Cardiff

Are you a new or recently appointed health / social care chaplain? Then this course may be of interest to you…

Beginning Chaplaincy (residential) Course, St Padarn’s Institute, Cardiff
Saturday 9th October - Wednesday 13th October 2021 (inclusive)
Saturday 5th March - Wednesday 9th March 2022 (inclusive)

Beginning Chaplaincy is a five-day induction course for chaplains engaged in health or social care. It has been designed around the experience and needs of newly and recently appointed chaplains. Beginning Chaplaincy complements in-house induction programmes and local management. The course supports chaplains in being safe and effective practitioners, able to make a distinctive contribution. Beginning Chaplaincy is built upon the UKBHC Competencies Framework. All chaplains and volunteers are welcome to apply, regardless of their religion or belief.

More information, including contact details, can be found here and the application form here.

You can also find out about St Padarn’s postgraduate chaplaincy courses here.

(cover photo courtesy of Matheus Ferrero at Unsplash)

Bonded by Blood - A Mother's Story... Important campaign and webinar 29th September

We are sharing news of this important campaign, on behalf of the NHS Blood and Transplant services, which includes the opportunity to attend a webinar on 29th September.

NHS Blood and Transplant are pleased to announce our latest Black donor recruitment campaign - Bonded by Blood.  A Mother’s Story. This campaign is brought to you by ACLT (African Caribbean Leukaemia Trust), Unsickle My Cells, SickleKan and The Richard Okorogheye Foundation and is supported by NHSBT and is in memory of Richard Okorogheye, the 19-year-old young man who first appeared in the national news in April 2021 after disappearing from his home in London.  Richard had sickle cell and needed regular blood transfusions to stay well.  Sadly his body was found 2 weeks later, 20 miles away from home in Epping Forest.

To remember Richard, Bonded By Blood, a coalition of mothers (including Evidence Joel, Richard Okorogheye’s mother) who have seen the lifesaving power of blood first hand and blood charities are urging our Black communities to step forward and donate blood. The number of Black people donating in recent years has grown but to meet hospital demand and to provide the best blood match to patients, we still need more. This year we need 16000 new donors of Black heritage to help treat the majority of 15,000 sickle cell patients in the UK. We will be running Blood Donation Sessions in Manchester, Birmingham, Bristol and London over the next 3 weeks coinciding with both World Sickle Cell Awareness Month (September) and Black History Month (October).

Zoom Stakeholder Webinar – Bonded by Blood Campaign Briefing

We would also really like to encourage you to join a Zoom Stakeholder Webinar.  This campaign call will give you an insight into Bonded by Blood and outline the ways that you and your organisation can support the campaign: Wednesday 29th September at 5 pm.  You register to join using the following links (also featured in the toolkit). After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

Topic: Stakeholder Campaign Call - Bonded by Blood.  A Mother’s Story

When: Sep 29, 2021 05:00 PM London

Register in advance for this webinar:

Campaign Toolkit

 To access more information about the campaign and get involved by sharing our campaign assets – please access our Bonded by Blood Toolkit here.

(cover photo courtesy of Amir Esrafili at Unsplash)

Connecting Communities, Serving People, The Church & Social Cohesion

Connecting Communities, Serving People, The Church & Social Cohesion will take place on the afternoon of 30th September and be hosted at Liverpool Town Hall.

This event flyer is available to download HERE.