Colby, Kallum and Elliott – the founders and performers of Achieve Your Dreams (AYD) dance group came to extreme today with a very clear vision of what they would like to see happen – a rehearsal space so they can achieve their dreams. Choreographed by the boys to music they mixed themselves, and having had very little dance training – these boys are a testament to what can be achieved if you put your whole heart into something. AYD were the winning dance group and runners up overall in the Showtime Rotary Club competition. Their involvement doesn’t stop there however. In their spare time the AYD boys offer dance lessons at their school to other pupils free of charge.

RE:generate is now supporting AYD to secure rehearsal space and funding so that they can take those next steps towards their careers in dance. Take a look at what these guys can do!

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Well what an amazing and inspirational week last week!

After 10 months working in Newark, we realised that, although we have already reached well over 600 people in the community, we had not been able to reach many of the young people in the Newark area.  With this in mind, Alex and myself spent a week at Magnus School, where we kindly allowed to take over  the Citizenship department for a week.

Based around the Listening Matters questions, we designed the the lessons to be participative and innovative.

As an introduction to listening – Alex brought his drum into each lesson, and this was used as a way encouraging students to listen and respond.   We then worked with the classes to think about what Community means to them, and how they belong to various different communities.

The main focus of the lesson was students listening to each other about the things that are important to them.  The things they love about their communities, the things that concern them, and the things they would like to see change or develop.  They then moved into small groups and wrote , drew or designed their group project plans for their communities which they then presented to the rest of the class.

This was something they really responded to – the freedom to be able to think and develop new ideas for their areas that they will have the opportunity to make happen should they want to, was key to engaging and animate their minds.

From skateparks to dance groups, a spa for young people to Charlie’s Chocolate Factory, the young people at Magnus showed true inspiration and vision, and were able really show the positive power of listening.  I can’t wait to work with these young people again to develop their ideas further.

 

 

What a great month we have had. We are beginning to see signs of some great new emergent projects as well as continuing to support those that are already running.

What’s been Happening

In January we have seen the start of the football project, The planning of our Newark Extreme (ideas factory event to take place in February. Watch this space for news on that. We are expecting some new leaders and great project emerging from that event.

A furniture project in Newark started by someone we listened last October is taking shape so we are supporting the launch and marketing of that project through the training of the leader to listen to others.

We are also very excited to have been involved in the early development stages of a Community Cafe based right in the heart of Hawtonville Estate. We are going to train the staff in the local charity store to listen to those people in the area to see if there is a market for such a Cafe. 

We have also been planning for our first listening session in a local secondary school so we are very excited about that.

Last but certainly not least was the visit we had from Richard Piper from NCVO, who facilitated a great discussion involving representatives from all partners involved in the project. There is a picture from that session in an earlier blog.

Lessons

This month has been very interesting in terms of listening and projects. I think that the biggest lesson from this month is that you can’t hurry people into starting projects. We are just now seeing more and more project ideas coming to fruition.

My Key phrase to remember going forward is definitely ” be patient and trust th process”

Challenge

Have we had an easy month? No. Definetly not. We have had a couple of problems arround the quality of communications this last month to which I will shoulder my portion of the blame. The second phrase to remember was “proof read it again”

Shout it Loud

Most proud of moment of the month goes to this quote from one of the guys on Yorke Drive who attends the football project. ” I would just be at home smoking weed if I wasn’t here”

As the “One Year Anniversay” of this project draws nearer, we have started to plan the next steps on how this work continues.  We use the phrase “One Year Anniversay” for the very good reason that although the Neighbourhood challenge phase of this project is coming to an end, this project will not end, the impact that volunteers and leaders identified and nurtured will not end.

This was highlighted on Wednesday when a meeting with Richard Piper from NCVO, the Management Team, Project leaders, Volunteers and listeners came together to reflect a little on the project so far, and where we are heading from here.

Facilitated by Richard, this meeting encouraged to think of the strengths of the project so far as well as the weaknesses and got us to think in depth about where the project will go from here.  Leaders shared stories about the projects they have been involved with, such as the youth project, developed directly through the Root Solution Listening Matters process in North Muskham, we learned of the successes of the Family Fridays drawing together parishioners and non parishioners.  We also found about the support of the Listening Ear project which is helping parishioners to deal with loss and the energy of young people on Yorke Drive setting up a their own football club.

As many of the projects are self financing, there is no doubt in anyone’s mind that these projects will continue beyond the life of the Neighbourhood Challenge project.  A Parish Listening Team has been established which will ensure that the Listening will continue in the Parish community and the wider community. So, looking forward to the future of this project, we will bring leaders together and build a strong team to take this project forward.

Have you got what it takes to change your street, your town, your country or even the world?  Social Entrepreneurs can and DO change the world.

Take part in the Newark Extreme Event to learn how to set up your own project or business, how to build networks, write a business plan, find funding and much more.  Just fill in our application form and post it to – RE:generate, Holy Trinity Community Partnership Centre, Boundary Road, Newark, NG24 4AU.

 

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Now anyone who knows me at all will know that football is not my favourite game. The issue with it is that the ball is the wrong shape and that you are not allowed to pick it up unless you are the only player on the team that has to wear gloves.

However in November 2011 I had a converstaion with a group of 3 guys from the Yorke Drive Estate in Newark soon tuned to the apparently beautiful game.

I started as I always do by introducing myself and asking the question “Tell me what you love about Newark” . This comment was met with great hillarity. I don’t think they had ever been asked to respond to this statement before. It was met mostly with laughter quickly turning to a thoughtful pause and the words “not much”. After a few more questions and some great conversation about the estate where they lived with comments both positive and negative, the conversation turned to the fact that some of these guys were bored and felt that there was nothing to do. “beer in the morning and weed in the afternoon” was the answer from one individual when asked what are your plans for today?

A small project idea came up very quickly. It was simple really, Can we hire out the pavilion on the playing fields to have a kick around once a week. After a couple of informal meetings we were ready to go. halls booked and players ready even I had my trainers on ready to play.

Now in january we have just had our second session wich involved guys from the age of 15 up to 26. Spending just an hour a week involved in a healthy positive activity. I am looking forward to seeing how it will progress. The guys involved are a breath of fresh air and are teaching me a thing or two about the beautiful game. Looking forward to Wednesday evening.

 

keep an eye on this blog for some more progress reports, thoughts and ideas. Exciting times are ahead.

Back to work this week and what a blustery start we have had. That has blown away even the most well hidden of cobwebs.

What a great start we have had. Some great  with people of all ages who have some great ideas to improve where they live. From engaging local youth in more meaningful activities to the widening of a road or provision of parking spaces. Keep looking out for more on those ideas.

I would like to say a quick thank you to Alexa who has spent and is going to spend lot’s more time supporting the work here in Newark. It is great drawing on the varied experience of others who have seen the process a little further on.

Well that’s all for now folks. Look out for some more news and great pics next week.

 

 

Traditionally the New Year is a time for reflecting over the previous 365 days and looking towards the coming ones, and it is clear that a lot has happened in Newark over the last year.

I am delighted to join the Newark team full time as of this year and having looked at the timeline that we pieced together yesterday and today, what a lot has been achieved already in this project!  From Family Fridays, to 1:1 support, from gig nights to football clubs, this project has truly shown very fast development, as well as the breaking down of barriers within the community.

The weekend before Christmas I was incredibly lucky to visit a Family Friday night at the centre, a night that saw over 70 people in attendance.  The variety of people there was incredible, from very young children, right through to parishioners in their 70s, this project,  developed from RE:generate’s Root Solution Listening Matters Process and from the enthusiasm, drive and vision of parishioners, has crossed generational divides, brought together members of the eastern european community with the parish community and engaged new volunteers.  As somewhat of an outsider, although I have sporadically been involved with the work here in Newark, I felt so welcomed into the community.

Now, as we approach the final few weeks of the first phase of RE:generate’s work in Newark, its full steam ahead with new project ideas developing every day, new volunteers, customers, leaders and entrepreurs emerging all the time.  I am looking forward to working with the team here, and learning all about this beautiful and historical town, and the people that live here!

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The church that I attend have been running several schools in The Gambia for a few years now so when the opportunity came up to pay a visit to these schools my son and I jumped at the chance. We were part of a much larger group of 19 people to go out this time to visit the schools in Kannifing and Half Dye both in the Serrakunda area of the Gambia.

This was my first visit to Africa and certainly won’t be my last. It was an unforgettable experience. The highlight of the trip for me was to see some very enthusiastic teachers who had come through the school itself and had been sponsored through college and were now teaching at the schools that they attended. What a great investment those sponsors are making. It was also great to meet the many and varied people who made us feel very welcome not just in the village but also into their businesses and homes.

A couple of things made me think about how we use our resources with the best of intentions. For example the amount of people who ask (or even beg) for goods to be left behind and clothes etc to be given and provided for free. Now at first theses things look like kind deeds and do very often meet an immediate need and may feel in some ways rather cathartic however I cannot help but feel that these actions, and much larger ones can in time develop an attitude of dependency that works against what we really want wich is to empower people to support themselves and there families to live a dignified and purposeful life.

This has made me more aware of how careful we should be when giving and supporting to make sure that we are empowering and not dis empowering people. We must not do for others what they themselves can do.

The Gambia recently held an election and reelected President Yahya Jammeh. I was amazed to see posters that used very strong religious language to encourage a vote for Jammeh. This for me raises a lot of questions as to the validity of a “free election” when the country itself is a very religious one. I will look out with great interest at what is happening in the Gambia in the future.

      

To sum up it was a great trip wich raised as many questions as it answered. The difference in communities was stark however the wants and needs of people to live happy and fulfilled lives were the same. There was great need and great challenge but also great opportunity. I can’t wait to go back and investigate how we can support our Gambian friends to make real and lasting improvment and change.

Apart from the odd occasion I have delivered some percussion workshops it has been a long time since I was at primary school. So I must admit the task of facing a class of year 5 pupils was not filling me with excitment.

However when we arrived we were given a very warm reception, although that may have been due to the juice and biscuits we were carrying. We were then shown into the school hall  wich we set up ready for the arrival of our class for the session. We were already getting intrigued looks from one or two wandering pupils.

Time to start and we are all set to use photospeak to encourage engagement and conversation. It doesn’t take long and in no time at all pupils are sharing with each other what they liked about an image they had chosen and how it  made them feel. It started with quiet contemplation then progressed from sharing with a friend, a small group and eventually the whole class. Next using the same process was time to find out what people really loved about Newark and how it made them feel. There was so much to be positive about, pupils told of their love for Sconce Hill Park, The Castle, The town centre and it’s many and varied shops. My favourite part of the day is when one group opened out their flip chart paper like a scroll and announcing all of their favourite things about Newark with an impromptu fanfare, backed up by a quote  “I feel privileged to live in Newark“

As in every great lesson at school there has to be some homework. I won’t spoil it and tell you what it is . You will have to wait for part 2. coming soon…