7Corners

So spring is sprung – hoorah!

Our college student has started with us.  She will be working in conjunction with Ange and two NEETs students to organise and run this year’s IYE Festival in July.  The NEETs students are with a programme called Sgiliau, translates as Skills, and they will be with us once a week for 6 months.

As mentioned last month Hotspot is going out to the Youth and Community Education Centre on Old Hereford Road on a regular basis with a view to coming alongside young people that frequent the area. Regular visits to Llanfoist are also continuing.

Well it is half-term this week and, as usual, we will be having an end of half-term barbecue and activities day on Saturday. Our two Holywell students and our college students will be responsible for one activity each and so it should be a very enjoyable day finished off with burgers etc. We now have over 50 young people accessing 7Corners so it is expected that the barbecue will draw a good number as it usually does when food is involved!

Our counselling rooms continue to be well used and we have had the Youth Offenders Team using the chill room for a restorative justice session which we feel is an excellent link to have made.  We have also linked up with Woodstock House to encourage their young people to come along to Sunday Diners.

Next week, of course is Shrove Tuesday which also falls within Fairtrade fortnight so there will be Fairtrade pancakes all round and the relevance of Fairtrade will be incorporated into the enjoyment of the day.

On a final note, this will be my last Newsletter as I am retiring at the end of February to be a full time gardener!!  So may I wish you all and my successor all the very best.  I have enjoyed my time with 7Corners very much and, no doubt, will keep in touch.

Bye for now.

Judith

Well, Christmas came and went and now seems a very long time ago! Now we have snowdrops flowering and even the first daffodils.  Spring can’t be far behind! 

The Christmas party did indeed last for two days and it is unbelievable the amount of food that was consumed.  Food contributions were very gratefully received and ravenously consumed.  Thanks again to all those who helped.  

I hope some of you will have heard Ange on Neville Hall Sound talking about 7Corners and the challenges of her past and how this has given her an understanding of the issues faced in her current work here at 7Corners.

We will have a new college student starting on a university placement with us in February. She is studying for her Level 4 Youth and Community Work degree and Ange will be her supervisor for her time with us.

 The news on Hotspot is that we will be extending the areas visited to include the Youth and Community Education Centre on Old Hereford Road, where the skate park is located.  We feel there will be young people there who will benefit from this contact.  Volunteers for Hotspot are always needed and, in particular, now that the outreach is being extended, so if anyone is interested in joining us on the project please get in touch with Ange.

Finally, Sunday Diners, which took a break in January, will be back in February and we have had two young men, currently at Woodstock, who have expressed an interest in coming to share the meal, one of which is Syrian so chicken, humus, tabouleh and salt lemons will be on the menu!

So the e-on light bulbs are installed and the photos taken so please watch out for the press release in the local papers, probably the Chronicle and South Wales Argus.

Our Coleg Gwent students have started there placements with us.  They are studying catering so will be very helpful in preparing food for the Christmas party which will be held on 17^th December from 2.00pm as advised last month. As usual we are very grateful for the contributions given for the party including the generous supply of sausage rolls and mince pies! It is expected that the jollifications will go on into Saturday evening and possibly resume on Sunday!

On a Christmas shopping note, I should have said this last month, please remember ‘Easyfundraising’ for any internet shopping.  We are also being supported by the Co-op Community Fund so if you are a Co-op member, or use the Co-op and wish to become a member (for £1), and choose us as your cause we will receive 1% of any purchases made. The money we receive from this will go towards putting on the IYE Festival next year.

As mentioned last month the last outing for ‘HotSpot’  to Llanfoist this year will be on Christmas Eve when there will be carol singing, mince pies, hot chocolate and gift bags.  Spreading Christmas cheer

So another year nearly gone and we are looking forward to whatever next year may bring.

Wishing you all a very happy Christmas from all here at 7Corners and all the very best for 2017.

The 24/7 Prayer Week came and went very quickly. Ange transformed the Chill Room into a sea of calm with the theme Salt and Light – Bringing the GOD flavours and colours to the world. The week was very well supported with most slots being filled. Those who took advantage of the quiet time there found it a calming yet uplifting experience. We have now, reluctantly, dismantled the room and you have never seen so many safety pins holding it all toget

We have now received the light bulbs from e-on and they are awaiting installation and a photograph for the press release!

The HotSpot Living in The Light Party took place on the 29^th October and was well attended by Crew and young people. Many doughnuts on strings and hot sausage sandwiches were eaten and general fooling about was done. We intend to go out on Christmas Eve, have extra lighting in the HotSpot gazebo, play some carols and offer hot mince pies and small gift bags with the usual hot chocolate.

The FareShare food is still being very well received and we have been successful in obtaining a grant to buy a freezer in which to store any food which cannot be immediately distributed. On December 11^th Sunday Diners will be very lucky in having a Christmas lunch prepared for them – turkey with all the trimmings – which will make use of some of the FareShare vegetables.

On 23^rd November Ange will be meeting with representatives from Coleg Gwent re Student volunteer placements for the Welsh Baccalaureate, which we hope will benefit both parties.

The next Worship@7 will be held on Friday 25th November at 7pm in the Upper Room at 7Corners. There will be no meeting in December.

And finally the Christmas party will be held on Saturday 17^th December and, no doubt, tables will be groaning with food. Anyone that wants to pop in and say hello will be very welcome.

That’s all for now.  Hopefully there will be another News before Christmas

So our work experience young man has completed his eight weeks work experience with, us which he chose to extend from two weeks, and we are very pleased that he has now chosen to continue coming in twice a week as a volunteer to help out generally within 7Corners. This will be a great boost to Ange as it will lighten the load of the cleaning and mean there is an extra person on hand to man the office when needed.

As mentioned last month ‘24/7 Prayer Week’ is nearly upon us again. Ange will be busy this week turning the chill room into an oasis of calm and tranquillity where people can spend an hour or two away from the rush and bustle of everyday life in prayer, meditation or simply peace and quiet!  As ever there is a theme to the week but to find out what it is you will need to book a slot! Please pop in or give us a ring on 01873 855414.

In an effort to save money on our lighting we have applied for and been successful in being awarded a grant from e-on to replace all our light bulbs with energy saving LED bulbs.  This has proved timely as many of our existing light bulbs have reached the end of their natural life and need replacing.  We are awaiting delivery of the new light bulbs imminently.

Finally ‘Hotspot’ volunteers are continuing to go out every Saturday and we have had some very positive feedback from local residents and the local Police Community Support Officer who reports a decrease in anti- social behaviour incidents in the Llanfoist area.  We are, not claiming responsibility for this but maybe we have helped!  On Saturday 29th October there will be a ‘Hotspot’ party at Llanfoist with the title ‘Living in the Light’ at which there will be hotdogs, donuts on strings and general fun.  This will be the weekend immediately prior to Halloween and it is hoped it will draw youngsters from more harmful activities and influences.

That’s all for now until next month

So middle of September already and that autumn feel is in the air.

Well the week of blacksmithing went very well.  We had lots of young people having a go making pendants and pokers and we will shortly be arranging a trip out to find out a bit more about the craft of the blacksmith.  Of course the end of summer barbecue was also a huge success – burgers enjoyed by all.

Sticking with the food theme we are now linked up with the charity Fare Share which is a registered charity which saves good food destined for waste and sends it to charities and community groups who transform it into nutritious meals for vulnerable people. The food they redistribute is fresh, quality and in date, surplus from the food industry, and they work with charities across the UK.  We are using the food to produce meals for disadvantaged young people who are living alone, or estranged from their parents, through our Sunday diners programme and we are also redistributing food in the form of food parcels to these groups and others who we know are in need.  We are currently trying to secure funding to buy an upright freezer in which to store food which can be frozen for later use and distribution.

We now again have a young person on work experience from the Jobcentre who is proving a big help, especially with the cleaning, which saves Ange a bit of work and means the place is kept clean and tidy. He has also spent some time learning about the ins and outs of the financial side of running 7Corners and the administrative necessities should as child protection policies, insurance and music and film licences.

And finally it’s that time of year again for “24/7 Prayer”.  Thus year it will start at 7Corners on Wednesday 26^th October and end on Wednesday 2^nd November.  Please contact us nearer the time to book your slot.

Although the IYE festival is over the essence of it has been captured in a professional mini documentary which has certainly done the day justice, and the excitement of the festival is now being followed by other events.

A Fellowship Meal was held on 19^th August for all those involved in the Hotspot outreach project. The idea behind the meal was to thank all those involved and to give them an opportunity to get together to celebrate the work being done and to share experiences and thoughts on the project.  The meal was well attended and thoroughly enjoyed by the participants, and front-line workers gave positive reports of the changes they have seen.  We are still welcoming (and needing) new volunteers who want to get involved with the ‘Hotspot’ project, so if anyone is interested please get in touch.

We also had another ‘Sunday Diners’ which was attended by a young man who is currently spending a lot of time with us here at 7Corners and is benefitting from the fellowship he finds here.

The next forthcoming event is a week of blacksmithing workshops run by our friendly mobile blacksmith Gavin. This will be running in the last week of the summer holidays from 30^th August until 3^rd September and, of course, will end with a barbecue on the Saturday to mark the end of the school holidays.  If anyone knows any young people who might be interested in being a ‘smith’ for a day, please give us a call or pop in. If you want to see what is possible, there is a table in the café that was made in a previous session.

That’s all for this month. We’ll let you know how the ‘smithing’ goes next time.

We are hugely proud to announce that Chloe, our Activities Organiser, received a ‘First’ for her Youth and Community Work Degree; she was also honoured by the tutors with a special certificate for being the most diligent student over the three years of learning at Caerleon University.

Sadly for us, Chloe has now completed her contract at 7Corners and has left to have her baby, due in September, which leads us to her Grand Finale … The IYE Festival!

What a great day we had. Overall we estimated that, together with the organisations involved, the young people performers and the general public, there were at least 250 folks in Bailey Park over the course of the day.

All the young people who performed had an absolute blast; some were saying that they wanted to do it all over again! The Graffiti projects were very popular, with both tents busy for most of the day and Nevill Hall Sound kept the atmosphere going in between the set performances with their tunes.

We are looking forward to the completion of a mini documentary that hopefully will show a good all round idea of the reasons behind the Festival and the fun we had on the day.

7Corners would like to extend ‘Many Thanks’ to all those who took part, either by being involved throughout the day or in setting up and packing away … we couldn’t have done it without you!

Oh yeah … there was Ice-Cream … x

So the IYE Festival is almost upon us – 9th July is approaching faster than we would like!! Hopefully you will have all seen the posters and banners around the town. Preparations are in full swing with stencils being made for paint spraying t-shirts and dummies being dressed to welcome and encourage people into the t-shirt spraying and graffiti tents! Please take a look at the IYE Festival website www.iyefestival.co.uk, which gives full information about the event, and the IYE Festival Facebook page. Young people performers are lined up for the day and a number of food outlets have been booked.

Outreach volunteers are still going out each Saturday to Llanfoist where young people are now expecting them and meeting them there. The HotSpot caravan will be present at the IYE Festival if anyone would like to see it.

The other upcoming event is the release on the 6th July of the film ‘Twelve’ for the Diocese of Monmouth in which Ange is one of the twelve individuals profiled. A preview of the film can be found at the web address below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r32BWvLKgnk

Finally, Simon Boyle has now retired and hence has withdrawn as our patron. We are now privileged to have Lt Col Andrew Tuggey CBE, Vice Lord Lieutenant for Gwent, as our patron as he has graciously accepted the invitation from the trustees to take up the role.

Well we have finally got the generator up and running so HotSpot now has lights and everything, and is going out to Llanfoist each Saturday evening. If anyone wants to get involved please contact Ange.

‘Sunday Diners’ is beginning to take off. Several young people joined Ange last Sunday and bangers, mash, peas and gravy have been ordered for next month’s meal!

The 9th July is creeping up on us and plans for the IYE Festival are beginning to come to fruition. Gateway Youth Workers have now signed up for a pitch and young people are rocking up to take part. The preparations are full steam ahead. Expect to see posters and mahoosive banners in town soon.

And so to The Garden Party – aka ‘A Grand Day Out … or two ‘.

Ange writes:

Well what an amazing time we both had. It’s fair to say we were blown away by the whole thing –hats, hats and more hats, not to mention the extraordinary array of fascinators on display … and the Shoes … O my … the Shoes! (Fortunately I had done bit of practising for the big day and managed not to fall over in mine, or get stuck in the grass.) This was afternoon tea on a massive scale; reportedly there are around 27 thousand cups of tea served at any one Royal Garden Party – we were glad it wasn’t us doing the washing up. The Queen wore mint green and baby pink. I spotted her in the Royal tea tent as I ate a cucumber sandwich, just before family members and her personal guests closed ranks and gathered around her. We hung out, people watching and listening to the band play for a while, and then it was time to go. Leaving by the main hallway we caught a glimpse of the grandeur within and then out into the courtyard and through the main gates, flanked by palace staff and then armed police as we went. Our thanks go to Simon for his kind invitation … it truly was ‘A Grand Day Out’.

Bye for now. See you next month.