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to people with life-disrupting problems |
Where Are They Now?
Introduction
Sometimes, people have to move on from CCM for a variety of reasons. That doesn't mean we forget about them or completely lose touch.
Here are some details of people who have contributed to the work in the past. If you know of more up to date news, please let us know.
The People
Jeff Baker
We were really sorry to hear of the death of Jeff in September this year (2003). Jeff was an intrinsic part of this ministry for almost as long as we have been operating. He was involved in many different parts of the work - heading up the coffee shop, leading Bridgehead church and running the Cornelius Project (supportive accommodation). Not only this, but perhaps more importantly he established very significant relationships with a number of our clients, supporting them through change and being a really good friend to them.
Jeff is greatly missed and we are grateful to God for the opportunity we had to know him and work with him.
Ann Banks
Ann Banks is a church leader in Bristol, with a background in healthcare.
Hi. My name is Ann Banks (not to be confused with Anni). I have taken an interest in and supported the work of the Crisis Centre over a number of years. My interest has grown over the last two years and, having been invited to join the Management team, did so in October 2000.
I am currently part of a leadership team in Bristol Christian Fellowship and feel my particular 'calling' is to be serving the church in Bristol. This, together with a real desire to see God being able to change people with life-disrupting problems, means that spending some of my time working with CCM is proving both challenging and rewarding.
I am married with two teenage children, so juggle my time between family, working as a Staff Nurse at Southmead Hospital (part-time), and my church leadership roles. This means my life is full and varied. As my work times are variable I can offer some support to CCM staff during the day, as well as attend evening events.
Arkle Bell
Arkle Bell was a lecturer at the Baptist Theological College in Bristol. While in Bristol, he was involved in youth training and development with Frontier Youth Trust.
Arkle's bio-slot for CCM used to read as follows.
I have lived in Bristol for the past 17 years with my wife Sheila and our children. We worship at Counterslip Baptist Church and live in the new urban development of St Annes Park. I was going to be a dolphin trainer, but after much prayer and challenge opted for youth work, and I have been committed to youth work and urban ministry for 25 years.
My relationship with CCM goes back to its foundations in 1984. My commitment to the marginalised has been focussed in Frontier Youth Trust (FYT) and, since living in Bristol, I have been its Youth Development Adviser for Wales and The West. In partnership with the Centre for Youth Ministry, FYT now deploys me to be the Assistant Course Director at Bristol Baptist College, training youth and community workers. In my professional capacity, I serve on a number of local and national bodies resourcing the youth and community sector and, on behalf of FYT I have worked internationally, particularly in Southern Africa, with youth work, liberation and Christian faith.
Greg Bigwood
April 2004: we received a prayer letter from Greg, which you can read here in either HTML or PDF format.
Autumn 2002: the placement with Betel in Spain didn't work out - at least in part, because Greg did not have the necessary language skills. Greg has now returned to Bristol and is seeking guidance for his long term future.
Spring 2002:Trudie writes (4 April 2002):
Greg ran our coffee shop for quite a long time before he moved on to work as a resettlement worker, recently with the Salvation Army. All the time we have known him he has dreamed of being involved in some sort of residential setting - from having people to live with him, working at the house we had in Copley Gardens to working in a rehab. He applied to Betel and has now been accepted. He will be working at their Centre in Spain.
Greg left Bristol on 27 March 2002, and will be getting there via Madrid and a Betel Conference.
This is such brilliant news, and I thought those of you who knew him would be encouraged to hear how God is continuing to use him as well as fulfil his dreams. I have asked Greg to include CCM on his mailing list for any newsletters he sends.
Greg writes (12 April 2002):
Paul, Thank you for your kind offer to allow me to publish my prayer letters on your web site. This would enable me to reach more people with my prayer requests as you suggest, which would be good. I have just yesterday been with the team into Vetardairo which is an area where there is much drug dealing. It's the main drug area, many addicts there in a bad way. Betel give food and drink and a chance to leave if they want. Not many take the offer but some do. My prayer is that many more people will start the process. Need to get the language as soon as possible. I also need to decide whether to stay in Madrid or go to Almeria, which was the original intention. Will send prayer letter soon. Every blessing, Greg.
Tony Bowen
We are sad to say that Tony died of cancer on Wednesday 12 February 2003.
Tony was one of the people who established CCM with Derek Groves in the very earliest days, and he made a deep impact on many people through this and his subsequent ministry.
Lucy Burgess
Lucy was our Office Manager from January to the end of September 2006. We will miss her good sense and enthusiasm. She has left to become a Traineee Probation Officer. As well as running the office, she was the Duty Manager in the shop on Wednesday evenings, organised the volunters from Woodlands, and helped a great many people in various ways. We are very grateful for all her hard work, and wish her all the best in her new career.
Anni Davey
Our Chairman for many years was Anni (Anthea) Davey, who has an extensive schools ministry in and around Bristol. She is a respected Christian leader, gifted in administration, outreach and pastoral care, has many contacts in Bristol and world wide, and is married to the well known evangelist Korky Davey.
Derek Groves
From the September 2003 Newsletter:
It was a great shock to many of us to hear that Derek Groves, the founder and Life President of Crisis Centre Ministries, died unexpectedly on Thursday 7 August 2003. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family at this sad time.
The news of Derek's unexpected death reached us as we were in the final stages of preparing this newsletter, so a 'proper' tribute to him will have to wait until the next edition.
By the time you read this, Derek's funeral will have come and gone, and we will probably know much more of the details, but our understanding is that Derek died of a heart attack. While the timing is a shock, his death in this way can be seen as an example of God's gracious love for him: Derek suffered from Parkinson's Disease, and he was not looking forward to the progressive deterioration caused by this illness. His prayers have been answered, and he has been spared its worst effects.
Derek had made a rare visit to the CCM office just a few weeks earlier, and we had all been impressed by how well he was looking and how enthusiastically he was talking about his art and the various places his work was being displayed. It was a beautiful piece of timing that various people who had not seen him since he retired were able to catch up with his news, and tell him how they were going on. We feel very grateful to have been given this last, bright memory.
Our lives are shaped by the people we love and spend time with. But some people seem able to have a greater and deeper impact on those around them than most of us achieve. Derek was certainly one of those. And as we continue to live out that vision and develop the ministry, so more and more people will be touched by God through his life and legacy.
Paul Hazelden, General Manager.
Sue Hazelden
Sue Hazelden is an administrator in a charity working with vulnerable women. She has experience in running a small business and has been involved with Christian outreach.
Sue's bio-slot for CCM used to read as follows.
I was invited onto the Council of Management in February 2000 by Anni Davey to strengthen the female presence. I have been a Christian since I was a teenager, and married Paul in 1982.
The next 15 years were spent comparatively uneventfully in Guildford, where our three sons were born. Then we started preparing for Paul to work for an evangelistic charity, which involved moving to Bristol, several changes of job/job location for each of us, and the nightmare of house-hunting.
I have been less active on the Trustees since Paul became General Manager, and I have never been a coffee shop volunteer, so my face is not nearly as familiar as Paul's. I'm not a natural 'people person', more a 'getting on with it in the background person'. (I will be deeply wounded if anyone understands this to mean 'bossy'!)
I now work part-time for One25, keeping the office running smoothly while the rest of the staff engage with the women. This suits me very well, especially as in theory I can get home from work about the same time as our youngest son. We have three boys aged 15, 13 and 11, and we all live together with another chap called Steve. In my 'spare' time I'm treasurer for a local out-of-school club. And when I get the chance, I enjoy reading (almost anything), watching Morse and Midsomer Murders, and sleeping - not enough of that lately!
Anne-Marie Holland
Anne-Marie Holland is a social worker with previous experience in working with people who have life-disrupting problems.
Anne-Marie's bio-slot for CCM used to read as follows.
I moved to Bristol in 1993, after finishing University and marrying my husband Simon. We both belong to Bristol Christian Fellowship. I have a strong calling to social justice issues. I currently work full time as a social worker with adults with learning difficulties. My direct experience of working with people with life-disrupting problems includes working for 18 months in a hostel for homeless 16-25 year old rough sleepers. I am also interested in international social justice issues, particularly Fairtrade and the Trade Justice Movement.
Jane Hoskins
Jane Hoskins became a Trustee at our AGM in 2003.
David Jeanneret
David Jeanneret has a background in IT consultancy and training services, and is now involved in tutoring young people and children who have been excluded from school.
David's bio-slot for CCM used to read as follows.
I'm David Jeanneret, one of the newer members of the Trustees. At the beginning of this year I was working for a computer consultancy providing IT consultancy and training services to the business community. Since January I have moved from working in business to working with The Crisis Centre and a number of other agencies that are providing for people with less privilege in life. Currently I am working as an IT Tutor for young people in Bristol and with children that have been excluded from school.
I am encouraged to be able to work with the Crisis Centre and fulfil some of my life vision: to bring God's kingdom into evidence now.
In my spare time I enjoy reading and studying applied theology and work with a training course called "Workshop" (www.workshop.org.uk). I also play my saxophone in a tremendously lively band called GoldFunk.
Jemma Mack
Jemma joined the board in 2007 and served for a year before standing down in October 2008.
Jemma is a Chartered Physiotherapist who runs her own physiotherapy practice in North Bristol and Clifton. Her past experience with the homeless has been on a voluntary basis and has included the co-starting and running of a homeless befriending project in London which put people who had once been homeless or in prison in touch with people who wanted to befriend them.
Since moving to Bristol in 2006 she has become a member of Christchurch Clifton where she now helps with the Breakfast Run which provides breakfast for homeless people in Bristol on Saturday mornings.
Barry Rider
Barry Rider is a business consultant. He has a background of involvement in a number of Christian charities.
Barry's bio-slot for CCM used to read as follows.
I have been a member of the Council of Management for seven years, including four years as Treasurer. A Bristolian born and bred, my business career was in the food and beverage industry.
I live and worship in a country parish south of Bristol, and describe myself as 'semi-retired' though I'm still active as a business consultant and am involved with a number of charities.
Andrew Robinson
Andrew Robinson joined the board in 2002. We had the privilege of his involvement as a volunteer for several years, specifically with Bridgehead Church.
Andrew's bio-slot for CCM used to read as follows.
I have been in full time ordained ministry in the Church of England for nearly two years. Before that I worked for many years as a mental halth nurse, including a job at the hospital wing in Bristol Prison. I have a great desire to see broken people made whole, and believe that the Crisis Centre provides a better opportunity for this to happen than many of our clients will find elsewhere.
Dave Wiles
David Wiles was co-opted onto the board when Arkle Bell moved away, and officially became a member at the next AGM in 2002. He has been involved in youth and community work for 30 years. David stood down from the board in October 2008.
I am Donna's husband and have three wonderful children who tolerate my ageing sense of humour remarkably well! I like reading, travel, sleeping, walking (when my leg is not broken!) and real ale - not necessarily in that order!
When young people occasionally suggest that I "get a life" I usually reply that I am living 3 already! I am the Chief Executive Officer of Frontier Youth Trust. I have 27 years of experience in youth and community work and believe that this is my 'street cred' - rather than the fancy MPhil I recently obtained at Bath University! I worked for the Children Society for 21 years in a wide range of roles and contexts having come into youth and community work, following a turbulent adolescence, as an apprentice to Bob Holman - who now lives and works in Easterhouse, Glasgow. My current mentor is Homer Simpson: Doh!... Just joking! I think youth and community work is great 'helper therapy' on the basis that I am still working out what happened to me in the 60's and 70's!
I spend a lot of time speaking at a wide range of Christian gatherings (e.g. Crisis Centre Ministries AGM's, Spring Harvest, Greenbelt etc). I have worked out that 50% of my speaking engagements are focused on trying to get people in the world to join the church and the other 50% are used on trying to get the church to join the world! A favourite 'hobby horse' is 'participation and inclusion' and I believe that there is a new call for participation: genuine involvement of people at the grassroots level, where they may begin to shape their own destiny. However, I also acknowledge that many institutions, like the church, will find the call for authentic inclusion extremely challenging and am only too willing to help them try!
Nick Wood
Nick Wood worked as our Coffee Shop Manager from February to September 2003, and then joined the Trustees at our AGM in October 2003.