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Newsletter
June 2003

Contents

• People Like Us
• Job Vacancy
• Bubbling Away
• The Wild Goose
• LITE Courses
• Bridgehead
• Prayer
• Introducing Nick Wood
• Volunteering

People Like Us

Whether we like it or not, there is a certain ‘them and us’ aspect to working with homeless people. We have homes and jobs and families. They live in hostels, don’t have jobs, and probably have no contact with their families any more. We have baths and clean clothes, they… well, you get the idea.

I could go on: the list of difference could take up the whole newsletter. But many of the differences are cultural, and many are much less important than we like to think. I heard recently that many of the ‘nice’ areas of Bristol have a higher percentage of addicts than here in St Pauls. Impossible? No – some people here are addicted to heroin and cocaine, but many residents in the leafy suburbs are addicted to tranquillisers. The social cost of these two forms of addiction may be very different; one is mainly hidden while the other is much more ‘in your face’, but in both situations people are trapped because they believe they need a drug. Whatever the reason for the addiction, there is always an answer. But (you could hear that ‘but’ coming, couldn’t you?)…

…BUT the answer is never an easy one. If the answer was easy, do you think anyone would be an addict?

…BUT the answer is never quick. Addiction is horrible, but it seems to be better than the real alternatives – which means the underlying problems are deep, powerful and very painful. Addressing these problems in a real way takes time, and it can easily feel like things are getting worse before they start to get better.

…BUT addiction is a lifestyle, not just a chemical reaction. Breaking the addiction means you need to adopt a new lifestyle – which is a scary thing for even the strongest and most well-adjusted of us to contemplate. Much of the LITE Course is designed to help people begin to discover for themselves a new lifestyle, but for this to be effective, we need a great deal of help from people outside CCM.

BUT none of this is possible without other people. Getting free from addiction needs a lot of help and support from other people – staying free needs even more. Some people think that when a person has become a Christian and been through a rehabilitation programme, the problem is over. The truth is that the challenge has only just begun. How do you build a new life? How do you learn who to trust, how to trust them, and when? How do you cope with disappointments and setbacks?

We can play a part in this process, as can the various agencies and professional bodies. Paid help is important, but very limited: people don’t want a new life made up of appointments with Key Workers and Community Psychiatric Nurses. They need friends. If people in the churches and the wider community get involved, if they are willing to risk building friendships with people exploring life outside drugs, then a new start and a new lifestyle is a real possibility.

If you would like to find out more, please get in touch with us. It is not easy – but it’s not that difficult, either. After all, people who have been trapped in addiction, of whatever form, are people like us.

Paul Hazelden
General Manager

Job Vacancy

Applications are invited for the post of Project Manager for Crisis Centre Ministries’ drop-in centre/coffee shop, The Wild Goose.

37.5 hours per week, salary £15,000 pa

The successful applicant will be a Christian, committed to a local church, and have personnel/management experience and an interest in Christian social action specifically among the poor and disadvantaged. Closing date for applications is 27 June 2003.

For further information and application pack, please get in touch with Paul Hazelden, General Manager. Contact details are on the back page of this Newsletter.

Bubbling Away

Now, that may sound like a kettle boiling or something a little disruptive under the surface, but how about considering it to mean a number of possibilities jostling for position or priority – because that is how it seems to be at Crisis Centre Ministries.

There are the major considerations which have been mentioned in previous Newsletters:

• Staffing levels :
• A larger building :
• Significantly increased finances to enable these two :
• A fundraiser/public relations officer towards significantly increasing finances

The Wild Goose

Here are just a few examples of things which have been BUBBLING AWAY with this part of the ministry.

'Surgeries’ for resettlement workers, debt advice etc, and also creativity opportunities such as art and drama.
The staff and volunteers in The Wild Goose are very good at providing a welcoming atmosphere, good wholesome food, and help with whatever issue clients bring into the shop. Because these essential aspects are in place, we are able to consider what other services may be helpful to our clients and these are some of the possibilities.

Board games, Video club
Our clients have also made suggestions about what they would like us to provide and this came about through something we recently introduced, Wild Goose Talk Time. This happens once a month and is an opportunity for our clients to say what they think about The Wild Goose and the service we provide, and also to suggest developments. Many of our clients are looking for support in changing from previous, addictive lifestyles and want to find more constructive ways to use their time and their suggestions are relevant in this context.

It can be amazing how things fall into place. A local school has provided funding which has enabled us to buy some board games, and one of our volunteers, Paul, had wanted to run a video club in The Wild Goose for some time and this is now something which is happening! He writes:

AT THE MOVIES On the 8 May, the launch of our Video Club began with the ‘network premier’ showing of ‘Die Another Day’. The event went well with many clients taking a great interest. The following week another premier film was shown, ‘Triple X’. The Video Club runs every week on a Thursday, from 1.30 to 4.00 pm in the basement of The Wild Goose coffee shop. I am organising this and would like more volunteers to be involved. If anyone has any unwanted films then please contact me at the office.”

This is something which is clearly engaging with clients and, as well as the obvious benefits to the clients of watching a film they want to see, the communication between them and with staff at the coffee break is very productive. It is a fairly easy way to get alongside people and learn what is important to them and what is affecting their lives at present.

Outreach and Hospital Visiting
One of our volunteers, Alan, has been involved with The Wild Goose for some time and has taken responsibility for two evening sessions each week, as duty manager. His interest is in reaching out to people and he has been developing outreach to the various places around the city centre where our client group is likely to congregate. He would very much like other people to volunteer to be involved in this aspect of the ministry.

Because he has been in a position to develop relationships with our clients, another opportunity has opened up. He says:- “Some of the people I have come to know through The Wild Goose have found themselves in hospital and often this is related to their use of drugs and resulting abscesses. These people are isolated and without support. They don’t realise they are entitled to a social worker, and they don’t know what to do on discharge – they are homeless and have nowhere to live. Together with other Crisis Centre volunteers, I have been able to spend quite a bit of time visiting these people in hospital and have built up good relationships with the hospital staff and other relevant organisations. It is a privilege to be able to show these people that we do genuinely care for them, by visiting them and also putting them in contact with organisations which can help with, for example, arranging accommodation. Some people move on to detoxification or rehabilitation from hospital, and it’s good to be able to support them through that process and afterwards.

This is such an important part of the ministry of The Crisis Centre and demands a great deal of time. It’s something I enjoy but, at the same time, myself and the other volunteers involved are reaching the point where we are working to our full capacity and are not able to take on involvement with other clients without risking disappointing them. This is very rewarding work, and I would love to hear from anyone who would be interested in volunteering with The Crisis Centre and helping in this particular aspect.”

For more information on this, please contact CCM office.

Lifeskills Initial Training for Employment

BUBBLING AWAY here have been a couple of things. Andrew Luxford, Project Manager for this aspect of the ministry, recently started operating LITE with a new format – one-off sessions on Monday and Tuesday afternoons. He has also been invited to take the training to Andrew House, which provides supportive accommodation in Clevedon. Andrew Luxford writes:

“Well, four weeks into the new format and eleven people have tasted what LITE can be about. That may sound pretty good, but an ongoing challenge with this project is to engage with people who do not maintain motivation.

Motivation is affected by the lifestyle of the clients. I am told that for many addicts, their whole life tends to revolve around their addiction, and they can get as much a buzz out of the ritual of the build-up, etc. as the actual fix itself. Then there is getting the money to support the habit and court appearances, visits to GPs to try and get prescribed drugs, etc. The hold of addiction and the accompanying lifestyle is difficult to understand looking on from the outside. One of the students on LITE wrote about her experience of addiction in this way:

Addiction Who am I?
What am I?
Where do I exist?

I exist in small wraps held in his hand, and the £10 note I pass to him.
My powers squeeze and wrapped tight in some rizla and plastic.
My weakness lays within my addiction.
Addiction loves me and won’t let me down,
it’s always there for me when I want it, And when I want I’ll do just anything to get it.
She gives me what I want, she gives me what I need.
She won’t push me around, she won’t treat me like dirt,
nor will she disobey me or choose to ignore me.
I have all her attention and all the time I need,
she’s the only true friend I’ve got, the only friend I need.
I am only an existence, for she is not true love,
she only wants to befriend me, and have control of me.
She wants to be close when you hit rock bottom,
and lift you up again, as you know that feeling when you
push her through your veins.

As I will convince you, I’m all that you need.
Where are your friends when you are sad and lonely?
Nowhere to be seen.
Yet I’m the one who helps you, when you are in need.
Aren’t I the one who gets you well again,
when you cry out with so much pain?
What else or who else will make you as happy and content
as I do in such an instance?
No-one or nothing can get to you like I do
As I am cunning and baffling, just like the enemy!!!
In reality I hate you, wish you nothing but misery,
I wish you DEATH as you choose life over me
I wish you back to addiction

YOUR ENEMY, HEROIN AND CRACK

• as we seek to find creative ways to engage with people who are saying they want to find a way forward, and:
• that our clients and others in the hostels, etc will be motivated to want to change their lifestyles and get involved in training.
• for James, Vicky, Pearl and myself as we are involved in presenting the training.

• For the staff that they will be encouraged.
• For rehabilitation centres to refer people to Andrew House.
• And for the resident(s) that he (they) will be encouraged and respond well to the care of the staff and the training.”

Bridgehead

This is Christian friendship and fellowship specifically for our client group – an opportunity for them to explore what it means to know God with their own peers. Quite a few clients drop in from time to time and a core group has formed.

There are similarities and differences between Bridgehead and a formal church service. We have Bible teaching, prayer and worship, and we also eat together each week. Discussions tend to be about what it is like to get to know God and to follow Him in the context of a very disrupted life and it can take a level of imagination to connect with people who are genuinely seeking God but whose immediate point of reference may be a film they have seen, a song they have heard, the values they are familiar with from a ‘street life’. What is exciting is their genuine hunger to know more about God and how to follow Him.

The aspects BUBBLING AWAY with Bridgehead are to do with maintaining contact with people who have become part of this group but who no longer come – maybe because they are in prison, in hospital or an issue in their lives has pulled them away. The present team working with Bridgehead include staff, volunteers and a trustee and these people are tremendously generous in the time they give to organising meetings, leading worship, being involved in the teaching, and maintaining contact with clients – but the need is considerably beyond the resources we currently have. With more workers, it is likely that we could be involved with more clients and our longing is for this resource to be more widely available. If you have time to give on a Wednesday, between 1.00 and 3.00 pm, and would be interested in being part of Bridgehead, then we would love to hear from you.

Prayer

This is ongoing, and the aspect which is BUBBLING AWAY is the constant knowledge that God is genuinely interested in the lives of our clients and His involvement is key to their change. Where the knowledge, skills and resources of staff and volunteers reach their limit, then our expectation is that we will see evidence of God’s involvement. Therefore, very significant to this ministry is to be able to engage with Him in prayer about the very complicated issues in our clients’ lives, as well as the broader ministry, and to know that others are also doing this. If you are not already receiving our monthly Prayer Update and would like to do so, please get in touch with the office. Our next prayer meeting is on Monday 16 June, 7.30 pm at The Crisis Centre and, if you are able to be with us then you would be most welcome.

Trudie Lane, Administrator

Introducing Nick Wood

Nick is a very recent addition to our team. He is married to Corrina and they have six children and another on the way. The family is part of Bristol Christian Fellowship.

Nick was appointed in March this year for a specific purpose. Following his offer of help, he was invited by the Trustees to be involved with the ministry in the role of Coffee Shop Manager, on a part-time basis for six months, to explore the details of what that role might involve and present a report to the Trustees. We greatly appreciate his skill, input and involvement.

He writes: “I started volunteering at The Wild Goose some time ago and, in March, was appointed Coffee Shop Manager on a part-time basis and for a period of six months. I see the ministry’s work with our clients as two fold:

• Firstly we aim to bring the love of Jesus to people where they are or, to put it another way, at their point of need. Their need is often for a good meal or some company, but central to our work is that we see all our customers as created in God’s image and therefore entitled to be treated with the same sense of respect and integrity as any one else.
• Secondly, because we see each of our clients as being created in The Lord’s image we also see the capacity for change in each of them. We can, of course, never demand or expect change, but what we attempt to do is provide the type of loving, caring environment where people themselves may feel encouraged to make changes in their lives. As an organisation we don’t have targets to meet or false ideas about pushing people at an unrealistic pace, but what we do try to do is establish strong and trusting relationships with those we meet.

Nick’s exploration and understanding of this role has confirmed our view that we need to appoint a full-time Coffee Shop Manager, and this position is presently being advertised. We would value your prayers regarding this – that we will be able to appoint the right person by the beginning of September

Volunteering

We have an ongoing need for volunteers in all aspects of the ministry and we do encourage you to get in touch with us to find out more about this and also to pass on our need to people you feel may be interested.

It may be that you, or someone you know, would like to be involved with us in some way but would find it difficult to get into St Pauls. If this is the case, it may be possible to help us from home. Of course, what you can do depends on many different things, but it is worth considering and praying about.

Possibilities include, for example:

• Spotting reference to The Crisis Centre in the local press. Every so often, people mention articles they have read and, most of the time, we don’t know what they are talking about. If you regularly read a local paper and spot a reference to CCM, or an article that is relevant to our work (begging, homelessness, addiction, mental health…) perhaps you would be prepared to let us have the relevant page(s) when you are finished with them.
• Letting us know of opportunities to include items in your church newsletter and/or passing onto us information about The Crisis Centre which has been included in your church newsletter.
• Perhaps you would like to try writing short pieces for the local media about some of the good things that are happening with people here.
• You may have the facility for letter writing which could be useful in connection with various aspects of our work.