Online
Safety Zoom Seminar
Over recent months we've become more aware than ever of the
opportunities and challenges of connecting online. The Birmingham
District Safeguarding Group, in collaboration with the Learning
Network West Midlands, invite you to join us for a Zoom Seminar on
Online Safety led by independent e-safety expert,
Karl Hopwood.
To enable as many people as possible to benefit from this
session, we will be running it twice. The two options are Thursday 26th
November 19:00-21:00 or Thursday 3rd
December 9:30-11:30. The session on the 3rd
December will cover the same material as the one on the 26th
November, so please book in for one session only.
How to
Book: For more details, and to
register, please go to: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/online-safety-birmingham-district-safeguarding-conference-2020-tickets-123484582711
Further
Information:
This session will be led by Karl Hopwood. Karl is a member of
UKCCIS (UK Council for Child Internet Safety) and sits on the
advisory board for the UK Safer Internet Centre and the education
advisory board for CEOP (Child Exploitation and Online Protection
Centre). Karl has also done work for BECTA (British Educational
and Communications Technology Agency), the European Commission
and several Local Authorities within the UK. Karl has been
employed for the last 5 years as an in-house consultant for
INSAFE which is the coordinating node of the EU safer internet
programme where he is responsible for the coordination of safer
internet helplines across the EU.
Session
Outline:
- An overview of
online safety and social media; including an update on
current threats (national and regional)
- Online
safeguarding in the church context: with particular focus on
children, young people and older people, and Methodist
Church safeguarding policies
- Good practice for
ministers, lay workers, volunteers, supervisors or line managers,
or those who are part of a management /oversight group.
- Breakout Room
discussions: Exploring case studies related to
children/ young people and older people, and
discussing how to respond to concerns, and the
aftermath/consequences for the individual, their family and
friends, the church and the wider community.
- Final Plenary: Q
& A with Karl Hopwood & Sue Holder (Birmingham
District Safeguarding Officer)
FAQ
Who
should attend?
This event will be of relevance to ministers lay workers
(including pastoral workers, community workers, and youth,
children and family workers), safeguarding officers, circuit and
church stewards, local preachers and worship leaders, Sunday
School teachers, and other volunteers. We also encourage strongly
attendance by those acting in a supervisory, management or
support capacity with lay workers.
Will
the session be live streamed or recorded? The
event will not be live streamed, but some parts of the session
will be recorded. On Karl’s advice we will not be
making this recording publicly available (e.g., on Facebook,
District websites, etc.) due to the time sensitive and context
specific nature of the issue. However, a copy of the recording,
for personal use or use within a local Methodist Church context
only, can be shared on request following the event. Please email scarlettk@methodistchurch.org.uk
for further information.
Can I
invite someone from another denomination / another region? We
anticipate high demand for these sessions, which are limited to
95 attendees at each. We are therefore prioritising places for
those in the Birmingham and Wolverhampton & Shrewsbury
Districts. Please do encourage attendance from relevant persons
within your church or circuit, but we politely ask you not to
share event details with those in other Districts or
denominations.
For further information, please contact either Sue Holder
(Birmingham District Safeguarding Officer) (birminghamsafeguarding@birminghammethodist.org.uk
) or Kerry Scarlett (scarlettk@methodistchurch.org.uk
)
With best wishes
Kerry and Sue
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3Generate
Elections
This
year’s 3Generate elections take place from 21st November 2020 and
will remain open for a whole month. We’re keen that as many
children and young people as possible, from across the Methodist
Church, are able to participate. They have the opportunity
to elect the Youth President for 2021/22 as well as their
3Generate representatives for the coming year.
In order to vote children and young people need to be
registered. There are some simple steps to make this
happen:
1.
Children and young people aged 8-17 years old can be registered
only once by either their group leader or parent/carer.
2.
They need to be registered by 15th November via this link: https://eventsfeedback2020.typeform.com/to/lS3YiH
3.
Elections open on 21st November for a limited period.
4.
All those aged 18-23 years can register to vote here: https://methodistchurchlondon.myiknowchurch.co.uk/form/load/U1Urb2FwOEY5NkE2elB3YThySmlMSGMxMC9sb09wWWoyanE5dS9XdG96ZFppSWU3RWRvdFp2N1pPK1BM
. Keep an eye on the Methodist Young Adults facebook page
too.
Please could you help us get the word out and communicate this as
widely as possible? There will be more information
appearing in the coming weeks about the candidates standing for
election so do check 3Gen TV and the 3Generate webpage for
further details. We hope that lots of children and young
people will use their vote and know that by doing so they are
making a difference to the life and ministry of the Church.
With grateful thanks for all your support in this,
Phoebe Parkin and the Children, Youth and Family Team
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Pastoral
Letter from the District Chair
Available for printing here
Also available as a video message on YouTube here
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Place
of Welcome Facilitator (Black Country) Job opportunity
Salary
£8,736 (£21,840 FTE) + travel expenses,
(fixed term contract for 12 months with possible extension
subject to funding)
Places of Welcome offer safe spaces within the local community
which are open to everyone and provide a friendly face, a cup of
tea and a conversation if and when it is needed. We want to
ensure that every
neighbourhood has places where all people feel safe to belong,
connect with others and contribute to their local community.
There are over 60 Places of Welcome that were open regularly
across the Black Country until Covid 19 forced them to shut.
Thoughts are now turning to reopening these important community
assets and we are looking for some help to do this whilst
prioritising the welfare and safety of volunteers and guests.
If you are passionate about cohesive, safe and happy communities
and you have the skills to rebuild the confidence of volunteers
and local people to re-establish Places of Welcome, we would love
to hear from you. You will need to:
- Be a self starter
who can work independently and manage your own workload
- Be a good
communicator and able to empathise with others whilst taking
a problem solving approach to challenges
- Have experience
of working or volunteering in the community sector and
networking with a range of partners
- Able to travel
across the Black Country (and ideally have experience of
working in the area)
- Able to use
social and other media creatively in order to promote Places
of Welcome
Hours of
work would be flexible over the year but likely to average at
about 14 per week. This post could be combined with that of
Places of Welcome Buddying Co-ordinator.
If you are interested in this role, please complete an
application form and send to Helen Titterton of Transforming
Communities Together (TCT) on helen.titterton@tctogether.org.uk
by 5pm
on Friday 30th October 2020.
Interviews for this role will take place via Zoom. Provisional
dates for this are Wednesday 11th and Friday 13th
November 2020
Job
Description
Application
Form
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Place
of Welcome Buddying Co-ordinator (Black Country) Job
opportunity
Salary
£8,736 (£21,840 FTE) + travel expenses
(fixed
term contract for 12 months with possible extension subject to
funding)
Places of Welcome offer safe spaces within the local community
which are open to everyone and provide a friendly face, a cup of
tea and a conversation if and when it is needed. We want to
ensure that every
neighbourhood has places where all people feel safe to belong,
connect with others and contribute to their local community.
There are over 60 Places of Welcome that were open regularly
across the Black Country until covid 19 forced them to shut.
Thoughts are now turning to reopening these important community
assets and we are looking for somebody to develop a buddying
scheme to support this process. You will work with local
referring agencies, like PCSOs and social housing officers across
Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall and Wolverhampton to link extremely
vulnerable older and disabled people who are socially isolated
with their local Place of Welcome, supporting their initial
attendance and working with them for a period of time, if this is
needed so that they are able to connect or reconnect with other
community opportunity that would be of benefit to them.
If you are passionate about promoting the wellbeing of vulnerable
people at risk of social isolation and have the skills to
recruit, manage and support a team of volunteer buddies, we would
love to hear from you. You will need to:
- Have experience
of developing and managing a project
- Have an
understanding of the needs of people who are older or living
with disabilities
- Have experience
of working or volunteering in the community sector and
networking with a range of partners
- Have people
management skills, especially supporting volunteers
- Be a self starter
who can work independently and manage your own workload
- Be a good
communicator and able to empathise with others whilst taking
a problem solving approach to challenges
- Able to travel
across the Black Country (and ideally have experience of
working in the area)
Hours of
work would be flexible over the year but likely to average at
about 14 per week. This post could be combined with that of
Places of Welcome Facilitator.
If you are interested in this role, please complete an
application form and send to Helen Titteron of Transforming
Communities Together (TCT) on helen.titterton@tctogether.org.uk
by 5pm
on Friday 30th October 2020
Interviews for this role will take place via Zoom. Provisional
dates for this are Wednesday 11th and Friday 13th
November 2020
Job
Description
Application
Form
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District
Children's Support Fund
The funding allocated
specifically to the support of children and families in the
District - particularly those experiencing some form of
deprivation - is still open to accept applications at the moment.
Are there projects you might consider which could offer
support even during the lockdown?
The
maximum amount of any claim is £500 and a Church can apply at any
time using the attached form
and send it electronically to Tim Lorimer who will process your
application and give a decision within six weeks of receipt. The
application will need the support of the hosting Church and
circuit superintendent. Church’s cannot apply for retrospective funding.
We would hope that individuals and groups that have contributed
in the past to the Holiday Fund will still wish to do so knowing
that there money will still be used for Children’s Projects.
For more information please contact Tim Lorimer
on lorimertim@yahoo.co.uk
07971899084.
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