Who?
This training is aimed at current and potential volunteers:
people who have an interest, but perhaps no experience, in
helping vulnerable people and those with life-disrupting
problems. Our main focus is on homelessness and the problems
that tend to go with it.
What?
The training is delivered from a Christian perspective, but
is open to everyone and does not assume that those taking part
have any faith commitment. There will be time given to allow
people to ask questions and challenge the standard answers, so
participants will be expected to think! We will supply
detailed course notes, but please bring a pen.
When?
There will be ten sessions, each delivered twice.
It runs each month from September to July,
apart from December. The sessions are usually
on the second Wednesday of the month (at the CCM office) and the
second Saturday (at Trinity Tabernacle),
but Share Your Faith is slightly different.
Please aim to be with us for coffee and registration by 7.30
pm on the Wednesday evenings, or 9.45 am on Saturday mornings.
On nine of the ten sessions, the training will run from 7.35 pm
to 9.30 pm (Wednesdays) and 10.00 am to 1.00 pm (Saturdays), but
Share Your Faith will extend over three consecutive
Wednesday evenings and will run from 10.00 am until 5.00 pm on
the Saturday - please bring a packed lunch for this.
Cost
We ask for a donation of £4 for the course notes, plus
£3 per session to cover the cost of administration, tea
and coffee, and a contribution to the room hire; or £25 for
everything - all ten sessions and the notes. However, CCM
volunteers are welcome to attend for free, and we don't want
anyone to be excluded because of the cost.
About us
This training is being arranged by the BCAN (Bristol Christian
Action Network) Homeless Forum (or 'BHF') in association with
Crisis Centre Ministries (or 'CCM'). BHF works to link the people
and groups serving the homeless community in and around Bristol.
For more information about BHF and CCM, please visit their web sites:
Programme 2010-2011
For the precise dates, please see the diary pages.
- September 2010: Introduction -
what we are aiming to do, working together with each other, working
with other groups, policies, personal safety.
- October 2010: Personal Effectiveness -
boundaries, resources, essential personal skills (such as
communication and listening); ways to grow.
- November 2010: Reaching Out -
understanding our clients, recognising the effects of drugs and
alcohol, what it is like to live on the street; what makes a
difference short term and what sustains a difference long term.
- January 2011: Homelessness -
what it is like; why people become homeless; the family; sources
of help and barriers to being helped; what we can do.
- February 2011: Addiction -
what it is like; why people become addicted and how they can
get free; family and friends, sources of help, barriers to help;
what we can do.
- March 2011: Mental Health -
understanding the main areas of mental illness; addiction and
mental health; sources of help, barriers to being helped; what
we can do; avoiding unhelpful responses.
- April 2011: Faith and Social Action -
different ways they have been linked; why both are needed;
the place of prayer, prophecy and deliverance in helping people.
- May 2011: Share Your Faith -
communicate what you believe in a way that works both for
you and for the people you talk with: sensitive, gentle,
attractive and enjoyable; how to answer those difficult questions.
- June 2011: Work -
the importance of work; the difficulty of getting and keeping
it; what unemployment is like; why people become unemployed;
schemes, organisations and programmes that help.
- July 2011: Supporting People -
how and why people change; helping people survive through change;
counselling in its many forms; alternative approaches.
Bookings
If it is possible, please let us know by the previous Monday if
you plan to come. You can just turn up on the day, but there may
not be enough copies of the training notes and handouts for everyone.
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BCAN (Bristol Christian
Action Network)