Annual report of Restoring Broken Walls Trust 2009
It has been a difficult year for the Trust but a year which has its high points as well. Members of the team have had illnesses and family problems. We have continued to struggle with getting volunteers to work at the Plot and after Easter we decided to make a major change to way in which we worked at Hope Centre. We have also been questioning the way the Trust should head in the future. So, all in all 2009 has been a challenge. However….
Networking
This year has seen growing links with other agencies. We have been delighted to develop close working relationship with members of St. Thomas Church, Sheffield. Helen Edmondson has spearheaded the contact and is now employed for seven months as project development worker at the Trust. We are very excited about a football initiative which is involving two former professionals, Barry Miller and Bruce Dyer. The format is for some football in the morning followed by lunch and fellowship in the chapel afterwards. It is great to see the fellowship that is developing, the usual frustration being the rapid movement of prisoners to other prisons. The other developing relationship is with the Lighthouse Project in Rotherham. This is a Rotherham Churches project which now has Richard Ashby and Darren Jones as managers. They are now regularly in Doncaster to interview prospective residents, they also intend to visit Hope centre once a month to talk to potential clients. Richard became a Christian in HMP Doncaster in 2002 and it is great to be part of his journey away from drugs. It was a great privilege to have Richard and Clare Ashby leading two training events on drugs, alcohol and self-harm awareness, the Trust paid for the events and 35 people attended the two events.
The Plot
It has been another fruitful year on the Plot with some of our best ever crops. The back-bone of the work has been provided by an excellent team of lads from HMP Moorlands open and by our faithful part-time worker, Dave Silman and by Gordon Armstrong who has come to work with us on Wednesdays. We have had occasional visits from other volunteers but it is a continuing source of frustration that we are unable to attract more volunteers to this lovely and healing place. We enjoyed our annual Rogation ceremony with Bishop Cyril even though it was first wet Rogation evening in five years. Our open day was very windy but we had a good turn-out of family, friends and supporters. Barbara has continued to sell produce from the Plot to a wide audience included a local sandwich shop. She has also led some cooking sessions at the Gospel Hall including a pickle making day. The site continues to improve with a third poly-tunnel being added at the beginning of the day. The drainage is still a major issue and it is hoped that work will begin to improve the situation this winter. The addition of deep beds to the home Plot have been an excellent addition.
Hope Centre
After some soul-searching we cut down on the items on offer at the Centre. Previously we had been offering food on several afternoons a week, we also offered food supplies and clothes. The result was feverish activity which devalued the deeper work the Centre is well know for. Hope centre continues to be a place of calm and safety to many people who either live rough or in lonely accommodation. We have had a number of people calling in during the year to thank Marion and her team for their help in giving them a helping hand back to normality. D. popped in open day with her student badge on to tell Marion that she was now a student and had ambitions to go to university. In the early days of Hope centre D. had been leading a chaotic life and it was a lovely to see her looking so well and focussed. Millions of pounds have been thrown at the drugs problems which abound in Doncaster but time and time again we see the need for simple friendship, a listening ear, compassion and fast-moving response to need when it arises. I pay tribute to Marion and her team for the quiet, wonderful and godly work they do week in and week out.
Barbara and Helen
Barbara is in her third and final year as project worker with the Trust. Barbara is kept busy caring for people. During the year she has visited families of prisoners, supported prisoners on release by meeting them at the prison and taking them to the railway station. She has been a tireless support to the work on the Plot and at Hope centre.
Helen Edmondson joined the chaplaincy team as a volunteer eighteen months ago. We received some welcome extra support from the Government supported Fund for charities affected by the recession and this has enabled us to employ Helen part-time to work on developing funding sources for the charity
And finally….
A big thank you to the faithful trustees of RBW, Nicola, Jon, Drew and Robert. We meet every month without fail and have had some difficult issues to talk through this year, we remain united. A big thank you to Drew for his meticulous administration of the finances and to Jack Stirratt for his oversight of the accounts. We would also like to thank our funders this year, particularly mentioning major support from Lankelly Chase Foundation, Lloyds TSB, Worshipful Company of Weavers, Yapp Foundation. We have also been so grateful for numerous smaller amounts from Trusts, churches and individuals.
To celebrate seven years, yes seven years, of The Trust I have produced a little photo book looking back at the last seven years and celebrating all the people who have worked with the Trust, it has been a humbling exercise.
Philip Ireson
Annual report of Restoring Broken Walls Trust 2008
Trustees
The four trustees, Philip Ireson, Drew Bryce, Robert Heaton and Nicola Woosnam have worked away administering the work of the Trust for the past year. They have had monthly meetings. In September they were joined by Revd Jon Bellfield. Jon brings to the Trust enormous life experience.In thirteen years he has moved from drug addict to Methodist minister, in that time he initiated and managed the Beacon House project in Hexthorpe. He brings to the Trust the skills we need to take the Trust onto the next level as we seek to establish our funding base by working with the public sector. As ever we are indebted to Drew for his precise financial management of the Trust, this year our budget rose above £50,000 for the first time. We also owe a great debt of gratitude to Jack Stirratt who has overseen the finances. This year our work has been undergirded by major grants from Lloyds TSB Foundation, the Worshipful Company of Weavers and the Lankelly Chase Foundation; their generosity has enabled us to look forward with confidence to the next two years during which we aim to move the Trust on to another level which is less dependent on grants.
Lessons learnt
The Trust now has now gained much experience of working with offenders inside and outside of prison. It has a highly motivated group of paid and unpaid workers. Some of the lessons which have come to the fore-front this year are:
- Local solutions are better than sending people away to rehabs. We realise that for some, rescue is the only solution out of totally hopeless situations. For the majority, however, Doncaster will always be their home and solutions have to take this local element into consideration. The role of the local church is crucial.
- Supporting people is a long haul and, indeed a life-time calling. It is often inconvenient, messy, exhilarating ,frustrating, and satisfying. We may step back from being involved with an individual but we never give up on them.
- We recognise the need for each person to take responsibility for their decisions and we will not disable them by doing everything for them.
- Hope and love are the most important ingredients in our work. Each person is deeply special and valuable and never a number or a client but a friend and a guest.
- The frame-work we have built up of contact point (Hope Centre), work and volunteering opportunities (The Plot) and mentoring support (Barbara Collett) works. However we do need to move towards offering a further stage for people to move onto e.g. Structured day care.
- Networking and valuing other agencies is always better than going
solo.
Hope Centre
Marion and her faithful band of volunteers continued to offer outstanding help throughout the year. Some statistical analysis indicates that there are at least 4000 visits made to the Centre each year by over 200 people. The photo wall now has over 150 friends on it ad is a constant source of conversation and remembering and keeping tack of people, many of who are rootless and homeless. The Centre continues to provide a spiritual home for many and has become ‘’the church’ to many. Several have accessed Betel during the year. It is always wonderful when someone comes back to the Centre to say how well they are getting on. Hope Centre is also a place where people can come to mourn those who have passed away and receive comfort and strength. We have been very grateful this year for donations of food on a regular basis from Cantley Methodist church.
The Plot
Despite the second wet year in a row the Plot has continued to flourish. Sales have increased by 100%. Two men Scott and John have accessed full-time employment. Dave has moved from volunteer to paid employee this month. We enjoyed two beautiful occasions – Rogation with our patron Bishop Cyril and the open day, officially opened by Paul Coddington, town Mayor and RC chaplain at the prison. The open day concluded with a Harvest service. Peter Fox continues to be boundless in enthusiasm and drive. During the year twelve men have worked on the Plot for varying lengths of time.
Barbara Collett
Barbara continues to be very busy supporting ex-offenders and encouraging those who work on the Plot. She has enabled one man to live independently in Chesterfield for ten months since his release. She has also helped others to budget, cook and become independent. Her mix of love, care and steely determination is an enormous asset.
Ministry to prisoners
In addition to the work of the HMP Doncaster chaplaincy we support at least a dozen men who have moved to other prisons through letter writing and occasional visits and preparation for release.
Circles of Support
Several RBW members are involved with Circles of support supporting sex offenders in the community and it very gratifying seeing lives changed and confidence rebuilt.
Networking
Our links with groups working with ex-offenders has been much enhanced by our growing relationship with Streetwise in Sheffield. They have a Sunday service for homeless and rootless people and a day when they have a structured group - a pattern we would like to copy in Doncaster. Helen Edmondson, Danny Wilson and John Mansurgh visit the prison regularly to take an under 21 group. We also have links with Christian work with ex-offenders in Barnsley.
Communications
We continue to keep supporters informed through weekly e-mails for prayer needs. The web-site receives on average 100 visitors per month.
Funders
We are very grateful this year for financial support from Lankelly Chase Foundation, Lloyds TSB Foundation, Worshipful Company of Weavers, Lee Family Trust, Neill Trust.
Annual Report of the Restoring Broken Walls Trust 2007 This year has been an up and down one with real high-lights but with plenty of challenges and struggles. We would not be able to keep going without God’s help and a wonderful group of workers and supporters. We have benefited enormously from the drive and enthusiasm of Peter Fox our part-time horticultural manager. He has driven the Plot forward and the site is now larger (we have taken on an extra derelict allotment) and much tidier.
We continue to develop the concept of therapeutic employment and feel that a supportive but useful working environment is a very important feature in rehabilitating ex-offenders. Recently we have taken on an ex-offender who is the core member of a Circle of Support and Accountability. D, due to the nature of his offence, finds employment opportunities very hard to come by and we hope that his volunteering opportunity will help him to move towards paid employment. We feel we still have a long way to go with selling produce and marketing it but Barbara Collett has made a good start with distributing produce despite a terribly wet early Summer which ruined many of our potatoes and slowed down the growth of many crops. 2008 has got be better! We are taking part in Social Enterprise training to help us increase the revenue from the Plot. We would like to move into food processing (Pickles, sauces etc.) to add value to our product.
Marc Fairweather
We have supported Marc in his search for a degree course and continue to act as a financial channel for money to support him. He has finished his second year.
Rehabs
We continue to help men access help at rehabilitation centres but we are gradually beginning to feel that more local help is needed with accommodation, mentoring and networking with local services. Doncaster seems to have a 'pull' on men who have been brought up there and our efforts need increasingly to be targeted on helping them learn to thrive in their familiar environment.
Hope Centre
Hope Centre continues to be an open access drop-in off a busy shopping street near to the Town Centre. The team of helpers under Marion Berry have continuously ministered to a wide variety of need from the clientele who visit the HC on the three afternoons a week it is open. Some of the interventions have been emergencies. In more than one case workers from the Centre have taken people to hospital. The urgency of the work of the Centre is shown by the deaths of two of the centre's regulars during the year through drug overdoses. We planted a tree on the Plot in memory of Rod O’Berg, a Hope centre regular who died in the Spring.
One afternoon three of the 'regulars' turned up covered in soot. Their squat had been burnt down around them and they were traumatised and terrified. HC offered them a place to clean up and receive some love and care as they recovered from their ordeal. We are continually grateful for the wonderful efforts of Marion and her team. Everyone who visits – and that includes funders- comment on the warm and accepting atmosphere.
We have not managed to advance our aims to provide some basic skills training. Space is at a real premium but we feel that we offer something unique in the town. We have been able to renew the lease on the property for a further two years and we hope Barbara Collett will help us make more connections outside the Centre with the Town and the work at the Plot.
Sad times and good times
The death of Paul Baker just three days after he had been with us at a Yorkshire prayer breakfast was hard to bear. Paul’s faith continues to be an inspiration to many and we continue to pray and support his family.
We all rejoiced at the wedding of Scott and Allison at St. Peter’s Conisburgh on September 1st. The weather was glorious and we were able to luxuriate in all that God had blessed us as a group of people as we gathered around the happy couple. It was a memorable day!
We enjoyed a lovely open day when we enjoyed produce from the Plot, picked and cooked on site. Rogation early on in the year before the rains came was a magical occasion with Bishop Cyril and High Sheriff Jonathan Hunt who has been a very good friend to the Trust.
It has also been good to see some folk connected with the Trust making progress and lovely to see Gemma blossoming-in more ways than one- at Hope centre.
Thank you
I am ever-grateful to Drew our treasurer who has worked tirelessly to put our finances onto a firm computerised footing – and to Jack Stirratt who has assisted him and audited the final accounts. Also to Nicola and Robert for their faithful work as chaplains and trustees. Thank you to our band of prayerful people who have supported so many people during the year.