'Keepin' It Real' aims to help children through the challenges of modern life. It is a resource book for children and youth leaders and aims to help 9 to 13-year-olds focus on the issues of respect, reputation and conflict.
'Keepin’ It Real' is produced by the Methodist Church and ecumenical children’s charity CURBS. It is aimed for use with 9 to 13-year-olds and addresses four main topics: communication, reputation, conflict and negotiation as they affect young people today.
Keepin’ It Real comes at a time when the Government is asking schools to help teach children good manners and behaviour, and also to help them deal with anxiety, anger and conflicts.
Penny Fuller from MethodistChildren says “there are lots of resources to help young people deal with topics like sexuality and drugs, but not to help with less tangible things like reputation. Yet we frequently hear that some teenagers are carrying weapons either for self-protection or ‘Street Cred’, and we see in the news the terrible consequences this can have. 'Keepin’ It Real' aims to help young people deal with these situations in very practical ways.”
Charity CURBS specialises in working with children in urban situations, and its experience enriches the practical wisdom offered by 'Keepin’ It Real'. But, says Penny, it does not only apply to inner cities. “Children and teenagers everywhere are under tremendous pressure. 'Keepin’ It Real' will help equip them to deal with difficult situations. Everyone gains when young people can find their way through life.”
Source: http://methodist.org.uk/opentogod.news 25/10
Showing posts with label Daily Life. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Daily Life. Show all posts
Thursday, 1 November 2007
Sunday, 28 October 2007
1.25 million OAPs 'always lonely'
Almost 300,000 pensioners have gone a full month without speaking to family or neighbours in the past year, according to the charity Help the Aged. Research published last week painted a bleak picture of isolation for many older people in Britain, with more than 1.25 million of them always feeling lonely.
The charity has now launched its new campaign to combat loneliness, with the slogan "1 is the saddest number." While a proportion of Britain's 11.4 million pensioners enjoy a more prosperous and fulfilling retirement than their predecessors, there are many thousands of elderly people who feel abandoned and alone, the charity said. This Christmas it aims to provide 25,000 festive meals for older people to enjoy with friends at day centres across the country.
Help the Aged said a £4 donation would cover the cost of a meal, which would have a huge impact on an older person' enjoyment of Christmas, and it was campaigning to raise £100,000 before the end of the year. In the spring, it wants to recruit more volunteers to reach out to the loneliest people in society and befriend people suffering from chronic isolation.
Research conducted by the charity found that currently 29 per cent of pensioners have to rely on family and friends to get out and about, but 2000,000 of them are trapped in their homes as they receive no help on a regular basis. Help the Aged said that 730,000 elderly people are unable to leave their homes more than once a week. More than a quarter of people aged 64-74 and almost half of those over 75 live alone. This is compared to one in eight people aged 24 to 44.
The charity estimated that, in 50 years, 7.5 million pensioners could be living alone - the equivalent of more than a third of the elderly population. Anna Pearson, policy manager for Social Inclusion at Help the Aged, said, "For many younger people, the thought of being old and lonely is their ultimate fear for the future, yet for thousands of older people in the UK today it is their harsh reality.
There is no substitute for human warmth and contact and our aim with this campaign is to ensure older people no longer feel abandoned by society. We know that something as simple as getting out of the house, to meet, eat with and be with other people can have a lasting effect, so please help us to really make a difference to the lives of hundreds of thousands of older people this Christmas and beyond."
Source: Reading Evening Post 10/26/07
In the Methodist Church we have a system whereby at least every member (and very often every regular worshipper) is allocated a pastoral visitor and I expect that other denominations have similar systems. Even so, I have sometimes known of older people who have had no visitors and so have stayed in bed all day or not bothered to get dressed, simply because they have ceased to expect anyone to ring their doorbell. When this is discovered the social services put them into a council-run retirement or nursing home, when all that they need and long for is to feel valued, loved and cared for and still part of the community.
Today our emphasis is on attracting younger people - and it is quite right to try Fresh Expressions of Church for them - but are we in danger of neglecting large numbers of elderly people who crave more than the monthly prayer in church (with a list of those unable to get to church now) or the occasional bunch of flowers after a stay in hospital? It is costly, difficult work to care for all these housebound elderly folk, many of whom were stalwarts of our churches in former times, but surely we should be doing at least as much to help as Help the Aged is proposing?
The charity has now launched its new campaign to combat loneliness, with the slogan "1 is the saddest number." While a proportion of Britain's 11.4 million pensioners enjoy a more prosperous and fulfilling retirement than their predecessors, there are many thousands of elderly people who feel abandoned and alone, the charity said. This Christmas it aims to provide 25,000 festive meals for older people to enjoy with friends at day centres across the country.
Help the Aged said a £4 donation would cover the cost of a meal, which would have a huge impact on an older person' enjoyment of Christmas, and it was campaigning to raise £100,000 before the end of the year. In the spring, it wants to recruit more volunteers to reach out to the loneliest people in society and befriend people suffering from chronic isolation.
Research conducted by the charity found that currently 29 per cent of pensioners have to rely on family and friends to get out and about, but 2000,000 of them are trapped in their homes as they receive no help on a regular basis. Help the Aged said that 730,000 elderly people are unable to leave their homes more than once a week. More than a quarter of people aged 64-74 and almost half of those over 75 live alone. This is compared to one in eight people aged 24 to 44.
The charity estimated that, in 50 years, 7.5 million pensioners could be living alone - the equivalent of more than a third of the elderly population. Anna Pearson, policy manager for Social Inclusion at Help the Aged, said, "For many younger people, the thought of being old and lonely is their ultimate fear for the future, yet for thousands of older people in the UK today it is their harsh reality.
There is no substitute for human warmth and contact and our aim with this campaign is to ensure older people no longer feel abandoned by society. We know that something as simple as getting out of the house, to meet, eat with and be with other people can have a lasting effect, so please help us to really make a difference to the lives of hundreds of thousands of older people this Christmas and beyond."
Source: Reading Evening Post 10/26/07
In the Methodist Church we have a system whereby at least every member (and very often every regular worshipper) is allocated a pastoral visitor and I expect that other denominations have similar systems. Even so, I have sometimes known of older people who have had no visitors and so have stayed in bed all day or not bothered to get dressed, simply because they have ceased to expect anyone to ring their doorbell. When this is discovered the social services put them into a council-run retirement or nursing home, when all that they need and long for is to feel valued, loved and cared for and still part of the community.
Today our emphasis is on attracting younger people - and it is quite right to try Fresh Expressions of Church for them - but are we in danger of neglecting large numbers of elderly people who crave more than the monthly prayer in church (with a list of those unable to get to church now) or the occasional bunch of flowers after a stay in hospital? It is costly, difficult work to care for all these housebound elderly folk, many of whom were stalwarts of our churches in former times, but surely we should be doing at least as much to help as Help the Aged is proposing?
Thursday, 25 October 2007
Seasons
Have you ever noticed when you sit and stare
The warmth turns to chill and the sun has no glare
Is time moving faster or is it just me
But for some reason the seasons are changing
Faster than they should be
While the summer sun and the flowers blooms
Seem to give way to the bright full moons
Rainbows, flowers, sun so bright
Stars so clear, never out of sight
--------
We never think of the change, that is very near
Gray clouds, drooped flowers, skies not so clear
Then the leaves on the trees, it's time to do their thing
Bringing glorious colors, and the birds still sing
When all of a sudden, the winters mighty hand
Takes control and makes us see, another season grand
Sparkling snow, iced up trees, still the sky is bright
Frost appearing on your window pane, what a beautiful sight
--------
The cold wind blows, howls in the dark
And yet we know God's working his wonderful work of art
Each time the seasons change, they are never the same
Each time their beauty is astounding, with the same glorious name
It's God's way of showing us, Life has changes too
We change like the seasons, it's between God and you
Embrace the beauty God has given, its beauty everywhere
Take the time to Let God know, kneel and say a prayer
Thank you God, for the beauty you allow all of us to see
Somehow when we look your way, we know You will always be
There to remind us of your mighty, powerful hand
Giving us these seasons, so beautiful and so grand
Cathy Carletti © 2007
[Reproduced by permission.]
The warmth turns to chill and the sun has no glare
Is time moving faster or is it just me
But for some reason the seasons are changing
Faster than they should be
While the summer sun and the flowers blooms
Seem to give way to the bright full moons
Rainbows, flowers, sun so bright
Stars so clear, never out of sight
--------
We never think of the change, that is very near
Gray clouds, drooped flowers, skies not so clear
Then the leaves on the trees, it's time to do their thing
Bringing glorious colors, and the birds still sing
When all of a sudden, the winters mighty hand
Takes control and makes us see, another season grand
Sparkling snow, iced up trees, still the sky is bright
Frost appearing on your window pane, what a beautiful sight
--------
The cold wind blows, howls in the dark
And yet we know God's working his wonderful work of art
Each time the seasons change, they are never the same
Each time their beauty is astounding, with the same glorious name
It's God's way of showing us, Life has changes too
We change like the seasons, it's between God and you
Embrace the beauty God has given, its beauty everywhere
Take the time to Let God know, kneel and say a prayer
Thank you God, for the beauty you allow all of us to see
Somehow when we look your way, we know You will always be
There to remind us of your mighty, powerful hand
Giving us these seasons, so beautiful and so grand
Cathy Carletti © 2007
[Reproduced by permission.]
Tuesday, 18 September 2007
Online Bible Study for Daily Life
A Word in Time, the online Bible study for daily life
As daily life gets more and more hectic, many find it difficult to make time for the spiritual side of life. Now they can simply log on to http://methodist.org.uk/bible from wherever they happen to be to access A Word in Time, the Methodist Church’s new online daily Bible study.
Launching Sunday September 2 as part of the new-look Methodist website, A Word in Time will feature a daily Bible reading, background on the text, reflections and questions to ponder from that week’s contributor. It follows the readings in the Methodist Prayer Handbook, All things in Christ, bringing the 40,000 readers of the handbook together with online disciples in their search for daily spirituality. Sundays will be extra special, with a blog attached to the commentary, enabling users to post their own comments and thoughts on the featured passage.
Alison Pollard, Web Writer, says; “the Bible is a central part of our faith, but with our hectic 21st century lifestyles, it’s often easy to neglect this essential part of our Christianity. With this exciting new online feature, we are trying to encourage the reader to apply the Bible to their own life and the social and political context in which they live.”
Each week, a different writer will offer their thoughts and reflections on a different passage of the Bible, with fifty-two contributors in total, from a wide range of social and academic backgrounds.
Source: http://methodist.org.uk/NewsIndex
As daily life gets more and more hectic, many find it difficult to make time for the spiritual side of life. Now they can simply log on to http://methodist.org.uk/bible from wherever they happen to be to access A Word in Time, the Methodist Church’s new online daily Bible study.
Launching Sunday September 2 as part of the new-look Methodist website, A Word in Time will feature a daily Bible reading, background on the text, reflections and questions to ponder from that week’s contributor. It follows the readings in the Methodist Prayer Handbook, All things in Christ, bringing the 40,000 readers of the handbook together with online disciples in their search for daily spirituality. Sundays will be extra special, with a blog attached to the commentary, enabling users to post their own comments and thoughts on the featured passage.
Alison Pollard, Web Writer, says; “the Bible is a central part of our faith, but with our hectic 21st century lifestyles, it’s often easy to neglect this essential part of our Christianity. With this exciting new online feature, we are trying to encourage the reader to apply the Bible to their own life and the social and political context in which they live.”
Each week, a different writer will offer their thoughts and reflections on a different passage of the Bible, with fifty-two contributors in total, from a wide range of social and academic backgrounds.
Source: http://methodist.org.uk/NewsIndex
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