Hello blogreaders,
Please forgive me for not updating the blog as frequently as I would like to have done recently. It's testament to the progress of the project that I literally haven't had time over the past few weeks, everything seems to be happening in a pre-holidays rush!
So, exciting updates:
Keys:
The CCT have agreed with our suggestion that making one of our New Saints members an official keyholder for All Saints church will show that the CCT believe in the whole 'youth empowerment, giving young people responsibility and trusting them'. The project has been designed from the start so that the young peoples' involvement doesn't remove anything that the church was providing already (for example, whatever combination of new uses, the building will remain consecrated and available for worship), so rather than take the keys from another local keyholder, the CCT are investing in a new set just for us!
Noticeboard:
We have been working for a while on a plan to replace the current noticeboard outside the church with a bigger, shinier, new one. This will be a good, early, physical change to the building that will show followers of the project that we mean business, that we're proud of our community's building, and that we want to make it an inviting place to be used by the community once more. These plans are going ahead with the knowledge and approval of the parish council.
Cinema Night:
...and speaking of the building being used once more. The next event that New Saints are managing is a cinema night at the church (probably at the end of January). We don't have all the details ironed out just yet, but the idea is to bring people into the building that might not have been in before, for a fun family film; but also so that the community can meet the New Saints in our official roles, put faces to names that they've seen in our newspaper articles. The public events will also be a good opportunity for New Saints to continue speaking to the local community about ideas they have for the future uses of the building.
Abseil:
New Saints had a very exciting meeting recently with the Fundraising Officer at the CCT, to look at the possibility of holding a sponsored abseil down the tower at All Saints. The professionals went up and had a look and gave us a thumbs up in their risk assessment. The CCT have held a good few sponsored abseils in the past and they've always been very popular (and raised a lot of money). This event will take a while to plan, but that also means that our intrepid abseilers will have a long time to raise money! (get in touch if you want to abseil and raise money too!)
HLF Application:
Last week was a momentus occasion in New Saints history, we sent off our Heritage Lottery Fund application to be read through by our HLF contacts. If we succeed with this funding application (and we'd like to think we will) we'll be able to hold many more events over the next two years, to celebrate the heritage of the building and it's links with Langport, open the building to visitors, tourists and the local community, build the capacity of the New Saints so that events in future run so smoothly and have much more communication with that community that will be using the building after the regeneration so we can work together on defining the new uses. Good times!
Constituting Ourselves:
As you may have seen from excited tweets on our twitter, the New Saints are making great steps forward to constitute ourselves. This means that we'll have much more power to make decisions quicker, we'll also be a more attractive offer to funders when we ask for support, and the group will have much more independency from the CCT (for example, having our own bank account). We haven't yet finalised what sort of formal group we'll be, but hopefully that's a decision for our next meeting and we can keep moving forward from there!
So, that's a lot to digest, isn't it! Keep checking back for updates :)
Friday 9 December 2011
Thursday 13 October 2011
Take Art ... up the hill to All Saints
On Saturday we invited ourselves along to a Take Art event, part of the Made In Somerset programme which saw a whole day of performance arts workshops happening in Langport.
Originally, we'd wanted to offer our building as a venue for one of their events during the day, but we got in touch just a little bit too late...
...fortunately the organiser, Sarah, was very interested in our project and the effect it will have (and is having) in Langport, and welcomed the idea of us giving a 5-minute presentation at the end of their day.
We were able to share information about the project, talk about the building, and the ways we will be connecting with the community to learn about the options for new uses. After the presentation we invited anyone who was still interested (at the end of their long day of performing!) up the hill to have a look around the building.
The response was very positive and we made some very useful connections! As well as being able to open the building to new visitors the event also served to give some of the New Saints more experience with speaking to members of the public. We even managed to entice some of them onto our email-newsletter mailing list!
Speaking of which, newsletter number 2 is in the works, keep an eye out and get in touch if you want to join the mailing list!
Originally, we'd wanted to offer our building as a venue for one of their events during the day, but we got in touch just a little bit too late...
...fortunately the organiser, Sarah, was very interested in our project and the effect it will have (and is having) in Langport, and welcomed the idea of us giving a 5-minute presentation at the end of their day.
We were able to share information about the project, talk about the building, and the ways we will be connecting with the community to learn about the options for new uses. After the presentation we invited anyone who was still interested (at the end of their long day of performing!) up the hill to have a look around the building.
The response was very positive and we made some very useful connections! As well as being able to open the building to new visitors the event also served to give some of the New Saints more experience with speaking to members of the public. We even managed to entice some of them onto our email-newsletter mailing list!
Speaking of which, newsletter number 2 is in the works, keep an eye out and get in touch if you want to join the mailing list!
Thursday 29 September 2011
Bad News and Good News for the project
Bad News
Yesterday I heard from my CCT colleagues that our building, All Saints Langport, had become the victim of lead theft. Lots of historic buildings, especially churches have lead roofs...
Anyone who's read a newspaper in the last 10 years will know that lead theft from church roofs is becoming an increasingly common problem in the UK due to the price of metals like lead increasing rapidly as other less stable commodities drop in the recession.
Anyone who also works for the CCT will know that some CCT churches are seen to be more at risk because they don't have regular activities in them, a sophisticated (and expensive) roof alarm, or a local community around them to put the thieves off. None of these are true of All Saints Langport, but it explains the empathetic reaction I got from other members of staff.
Whilst very upsetting and frustrating (it's proving very difficult not to take it personally, or for New Saints as a group to see it as a personal affront), this also provides an opportunity. The local community have already, since hearing, proven vocal about their passion for the building, and we can use this expression to produce something active and positive. We are planning to include a 'lead theft awareness' event as part of a larger (and much more fun) series of events in an HLF Application. This will show legacy, community activism and passion from the New Saints to the community (and the HLF), to show that we're serious about what we're doing.
Good News
On a much, much brighter note, I got an email this morning saying that our first attempt at a funding application has been successful!
Do you remember ages and ages and ages ago when we applied for money from Somerset Crimebeat to provide New Saints with portable office equipment including laptops, memory sticks and a digital camera? Well, we've finally got the result (a good lesson in waiting and waiting and waiting to hear from grant funders).
This will be a huge positive boost to the project as it means we can do effective training on social media (I wouldn't be surprised if this blog started getting more than one contributor), have a much more digital approach to meetings and site visits, and ensure much more regular and efficient communications within and from New Saints!
Wooooooo :D
Yesterday I heard from my CCT colleagues that our building, All Saints Langport, had become the victim of lead theft. Lots of historic buildings, especially churches have lead roofs...
Anyone who's read a newspaper in the last 10 years will know that lead theft from church roofs is becoming an increasingly common problem in the UK due to the price of metals like lead increasing rapidly as other less stable commodities drop in the recession.
Anyone who also works for the CCT will know that some CCT churches are seen to be more at risk because they don't have regular activities in them, a sophisticated (and expensive) roof alarm, or a local community around them to put the thieves off. None of these are true of All Saints Langport, but it explains the empathetic reaction I got from other members of staff.
Whilst very upsetting and frustrating (it's proving very difficult not to take it personally, or for New Saints as a group to see it as a personal affront), this also provides an opportunity. The local community have already, since hearing, proven vocal about their passion for the building, and we can use this expression to produce something active and positive. We are planning to include a 'lead theft awareness' event as part of a larger (and much more fun) series of events in an HLF Application. This will show legacy, community activism and passion from the New Saints to the community (and the HLF), to show that we're serious about what we're doing.
Good News
On a much, much brighter note, I got an email this morning saying that our first attempt at a funding application has been successful!
Do you remember ages and ages and ages ago when we applied for money from Somerset Crimebeat to provide New Saints with portable office equipment including laptops, memory sticks and a digital camera? Well, we've finally got the result (a good lesson in waiting and waiting and waiting to hear from grant funders).
This will be a huge positive boost to the project as it means we can do effective training on social media (I wouldn't be surprised if this blog started getting more than one contributor), have a much more digital approach to meetings and site visits, and ensure much more regular and efficient communications within and from New Saints!
Wooooooo :D
Thursday 22 September 2011
Who are we?
Last night we had an amazingly productive meeting (that went on an hour longer than scheduled and meant that I got home at 11pm after starting work at 9am! *stretches and yawns*) where we defined roles and responsibilities for the members of New Saints.
We've done this now, rather than at the start because it's given the CCT a chance to get to know the New Saints members in relation to the project (see Blog Statements), and it's given our members the chance to sample elements of different roles, find out what they enjoyed and what they didn't enjoy, and make a consciously competent decision about what roles they would like to have in the project.
Having said that these roles aren't set in stone - if a member of New Saints isn't the 'Historic Investigator', they're not forbidden from digging up some juicy social history about Langport (there's a lot, we've checked!). Similarly, if the Communications Manager isn't enjoying being Comms Manager, then we can all shift and change and take different responsibilities.
So,
Events Managers - Alice and Tadgh
Buildings Manager - Tadgh
Design and Branding - Charlotte
Historic Investigations - Joe W
Techie - Joe F
Communications - Mark
Advisor/Observer/Mentor - Melita
Our other current members, Paige and Grant haven't yet been assigned specific roles, however they still play a valuable part in decision-making at meetings, and can take part in any of the roles or work out their own.
We've done this now, rather than at the start because it's given the CCT a chance to get to know the New Saints members in relation to the project (see Blog Statements), and it's given our members the chance to sample elements of different roles, find out what they enjoyed and what they didn't enjoy, and make a consciously competent decision about what roles they would like to have in the project.
Having said that these roles aren't set in stone - if a member of New Saints isn't the 'Historic Investigator', they're not forbidden from digging up some juicy social history about Langport (there's a lot, we've checked!). Similarly, if the Communications Manager isn't enjoying being Comms Manager, then we can all shift and change and take different responsibilities.
So,
Events Managers - Alice and Tadgh
Buildings Manager - Tadgh
Design and Branding - Charlotte
Historic Investigations - Joe W
Techie - Joe F
Communications - Mark
Advisor/Observer/Mentor - Melita
Our other current members, Paige and Grant haven't yet been assigned specific roles, however they still play a valuable part in decision-making at meetings, and can take part in any of the roles or work out their own.
Wednesday 31 August 2011
Langport Funday
On Sunday we had our first public presence, as part of the Langport Funday. Even though this wasn't our own event, it was still very important for the project as it was the first time some local people had heard about the project. We all know how imporant first impressions are! It was also a nice warm-up for New Saints' Event Management skills before we embark on our very own events in Langport.
Our presence at the event included one of the stalls on the Rec - from this we were giving out leaflets (see below), signing people up to our e-newsletter, doing facepainting and selling cupcakes to the crowds. All of which went down very favourably, hooray!
We also took the opportunity to have the church itself obviously open to visitors and got a very healthy 21 people into the church. This was a real triumph as it meant we could speak to locals and tourists about our project whilst standing in the space that it involved.
All in all, a very good (if soggy) day for all of us.
Thursday 25 August 2011
We have our New Saints Logo!
And this is it:
We managed to get it sorted just in time for the first event where we go public (but I think that deserves it's own blogpost later). From this whole logo, we are also going to use different elements in different parts of our branding, so for instance, this monogram:
... can be used on letterheads and business cards, whereas this derivation of the logo:
... can be used on funding applications and other formal documents.
The logo design has come a long way over the last few weeks, here are some of the previous drafts:
The logo design has come a long way over the last few weeks, here are some of the previous drafts:
It'd be great to have some feedback, what do you think?
Wednesday 3 August 2011
Blog Statement - Mark Small
Name: Mark Small
Why do you want to be involved in the project? I have always had an interest in historic buildings – specifically churches and castles - and during university I discovered a passion for regeneration projects, so when the opportunity to be part of a regeneration project focussing on a church building came along, I jumped at the chance.
I also very firmly believe in the ability of young people to work better, if not as well, as the ‘old people’ community, and this project is an opportunity to prove young peoples’ worth and justify their voice in a community.
What kind of new opportunities are you looking forward to? The project has already brought along lots of new opportunities for me – before New Saints I’d never chaired a meeting, or arranged site visits for groups of heritage professionals, or written funding applications. One of the new opportunities that I’m looking forward to is creating a heritage project that uses social media like blogging, twitter, facebook, linkedIn and digital photos to enhance and extend the project. I think if we do this right, we could create a model of practice for future heritage and regeneration projects.
How will working with the project help your future? Being part of the New Saints group has given me a lot of confidence in my abilities, more than one person that I’ve met at distinct parts of the project has commented on how much I’ve grown through this work. Working with the project has already put me in contact with a whole range of influential people, which could potentially have a huge impact on my future. Having the project under my belt will also be great for using as examples during job interviews.
Where would you like to take lead in the project? I’m looking forward to the next few phases of the project where we’ve made a decision on what the new use will be and start comparing designs for the actual physical regeneration work. I’m also interested to see the results of our community consultation initiatives. One area that I would like to take the lead on is the social media side of the project as it is a passion of mine.
How would you like to celebrate achievements? I think the biggest celebration of our achievements, for me, will be when I see the church packed full of people – of all backgrounds, ages, and genders. Seeing the church used and valued is the ultimate endgame.
Newsletter number 1
Ladies and gentleman, I can now cut the ribbon and raise the curtain on New Saints very first and totally electronic newsletter! *Fanfare*
You can see a copy of the newsletter here
...and if you're really interested you can join our rapidly increasing mailing list to receive newsletter #2 hot off the press! Exciting stuff!
(In the interest of getting the highest exposure and not missing out anyone who might not have got to grips with emails yet, we're also working on a hard copy that we will distribute around public Langport)
You can see a copy of the newsletter here
...and if you're really interested you can join our rapidly increasing mailing list to receive newsletter #2 hot off the press! Exciting stuff!
(In the interest of getting the highest exposure and not missing out anyone who might not have got to grips with emails yet, we're also working on a hard copy that we will distribute around public Langport)
Presentation time!
Last week, myself, Alice and Tadgh gave a presentation about our project to the South West Association of Preservation Trusts at Great Bow Wharf in Langport.
This was good fun - we were given the 'graveyard slot' just after lunch, so I had made sure our powerpoint presentation was a bit off-the-wall to keep everyone's attention, it included slides like this:
and this:
... just to keep people on their toes. It seemed to work!
The purpose of the presentation was to give members of local Preservation Trusts a bit of background on the project that they might have heard about from our newspaper articles and radio appearance, but also to enlist their help (hence the 'HELP!'). These guys are the representatives for a lot of the exemplar sites that we want to make our Go&Sees, so making a good, enthusiastic impression was very important!
From the meeting, we learnt more about the Walronds project, and the Dawes Twine Works Building in West Coker, as seen on the BBC's 'Restoration Village' show in 2006 (something to aspire to, eh?)
On top of all this, it was a great opportunity for our young people to get some experience in presenting in front of people, and talking to people about the church. It was also really nice to meet a whole room full of people who were wholly behind the idea of giving a significant gr1 building to young people to create its' future! Hooray!
This was good fun - we were given the 'graveyard slot' just after lunch, so I had made sure our powerpoint presentation was a bit off-the-wall to keep everyone's attention, it included slides like this:
and this:
The purpose of the presentation was to give members of local Preservation Trusts a bit of background on the project that they might have heard about from our newspaper articles and radio appearance, but also to enlist their help (hence the 'HELP!'). These guys are the representatives for a lot of the exemplar sites that we want to make our Go&Sees, so making a good, enthusiastic impression was very important!
From the meeting, we learnt more about the Walronds project, and the Dawes Twine Works Building in West Coker, as seen on the BBC's 'Restoration Village' show in 2006 (something to aspire to, eh?)
On top of all this, it was a great opportunity for our young people to get some experience in presenting in front of people, and talking to people about the church. It was also really nice to meet a whole room full of people who were wholly behind the idea of giving a significant gr1 building to young people to create its' future! Hooray!
Tuesday 19 July 2011
Getting letters!
Following our articles in the Western Gazette and the Langport Leveller, we've had some letters concerned about our project at the church. Whilst getting letters worrying about something you're working hard on is never fun, we can see this as a very positive thing, it shows that the people still recognise the importances of the building and are moved to make their voices heard when they are concerned about it's future.
Peter mentioned a while ago that this might happen. Some see this sort of work as controversial - regenerating a building that once had a strong religious significance and developing a new use which may not have such a religious focus. On top of this, our project has an added layer of breaking with tradition by being managed by 'young people'.
All of the regeneration projects that the CCT undertake remain consecrated spaces - we don't want to alienate any particular part of a community by not allowing them to use the space that we're creating, especially when the space we're creating is for the benefit of the whole community.
One of the aims of this project is to show that if you give young people responsibility they will rise to it - if you take responsibility away from them and tell them that its a job for grown-ups then they will lose the opportunity to learn about the building, its history, and its value to the community they're living in. As Peter once said
'As Noel Clarke once said:
"Young people ... feel that they are not spoken to but spoken at. I know that when I was a teenager, I felt totally unrepresented ... But if you do speak to them, and give them a positive choice, they take it." ' (from here)
We can also use this as an opportunity to develop a new skill - receiving and responding to letters asking you to explain yourself is difficult, but it's a transferable skill that will be useful in just about any job a young person might go on to do.
New Saints and the Churches Conservation Trust welcome feedback on the project, because it is a new venture and we want to hear what people think about it
... I wouldn't mind a few letters saying 'well done, what a great idea' though ...
Peter mentioned a while ago that this might happen. Some see this sort of work as controversial - regenerating a building that once had a strong religious significance and developing a new use which may not have such a religious focus. On top of this, our project has an added layer of breaking with tradition by being managed by 'young people'.
All of the regeneration projects that the CCT undertake remain consecrated spaces - we don't want to alienate any particular part of a community by not allowing them to use the space that we're creating, especially when the space we're creating is for the benefit of the whole community.
One of the aims of this project is to show that if you give young people responsibility they will rise to it - if you take responsibility away from them and tell them that its a job for grown-ups then they will lose the opportunity to learn about the building, its history, and its value to the community they're living in. As Peter once said
'As Noel Clarke once said:
"Young people ... feel that they are not spoken to but spoken at. I know that when I was a teenager, I felt totally unrepresented ... But if you do speak to them, and give them a positive choice, they take it." ' (from here)
We can also use this as an opportunity to develop a new skill - receiving and responding to letters asking you to explain yourself is difficult, but it's a transferable skill that will be useful in just about any job a young person might go on to do.
New Saints and the Churches Conservation Trust welcome feedback on the project, because it is a new venture and we want to hear what people think about it
... I wouldn't mind a few letters saying 'well done, what a great idea' though ...
New Saints Blog Statment - Paige
Name- Paige Blackwell
Why do you want to be involved in the project?- I think the project is a good opportunity for me to do something more for our community, and develop some new skills for my future. It also gives me something to focus on whilst I'm out of work.
What kind of new opportunities are you looking forward to?- I'm mostly looking forward to learning about the business development, as I would like to hold my own business some day. Also hopefully see the public enjoy our progress for the church!
How will working with the project help your future?- The project will give me vital experience that I will need for my CV. Working for a project this big, and different, will also show me other opportunities in my career. Hopefully it will give me a boost to get myself into a job.
Where would you like to take lead in the project?- I would like to always have it part as a team, but my interests are of course making the money, the arts side of things, and help organise activities for our project.
How would you like to celebrate achievements?- to celebrate I would probably want to go for a drink or get Joe to put his boat on the river!!
Why do you want to be involved in the project?- I think the project is a good opportunity for me to do something more for our community, and develop some new skills for my future. It also gives me something to focus on whilst I'm out of work.
What kind of new opportunities are you looking forward to?- I'm mostly looking forward to learning about the business development, as I would like to hold my own business some day. Also hopefully see the public enjoy our progress for the church!
How will working with the project help your future?- The project will give me vital experience that I will need for my CV. Working for a project this big, and different, will also show me other opportunities in my career. Hopefully it will give me a boost to get myself into a job.
Where would you like to take lead in the project?- I would like to always have it part as a team, but my interests are of course making the money, the arts side of things, and help organise activities for our project.
How would you like to celebrate achievements?- to celebrate I would probably want to go for a drink or get Joe to put his boat on the river!!
New Saints Blog Statement - Joe F
Joe Fosters Blog Statement for the New Saints Church Project
Why do you want to be involved in the project?
I have made myself a part of this project, as I'm fed up of having nothing to do around my local town and its the same everywhere here... All the youth dont know what to do with themselves. I also think it would be nice to look back in the future and think I helped add something to the community despite all the people telling me it couldnt be done!!
What kind of new opportunities are you looking forward to?
At this point in time I'm not a hundred percent sure; but I am a person who likes to learn new skills and have them under my belt. The idea of setting up a business is appealing to me, as its something I would like to do myself in the future; I'm hoping that this project will give me some ideas and skills to help me later on in life.
Do you think the project is fun and interesting? Any suggestions?
The team we have built on this project is brilliant. We are all from different backgrounds and have many different interests, its nice the way this project is already bringing people together.
How would you like to celebrate achievements?
I'd like to have a massive open day at the church. A day where me and the group could just go around and show off what we have managed to achieve.
Why do you want to be involved in the project?
I have made myself a part of this project, as I'm fed up of having nothing to do around my local town and its the same everywhere here... All the youth dont know what to do with themselves. I also think it would be nice to look back in the future and think I helped add something to the community despite all the people telling me it couldnt be done!!
What kind of new opportunities are you looking forward to?
At this point in time I'm not a hundred percent sure; but I am a person who likes to learn new skills and have them under my belt. The idea of setting up a business is appealing to me, as its something I would like to do myself in the future; I'm hoping that this project will give me some ideas and skills to help me later on in life.
Do you think the project is fun and interesting? Any suggestions?
The team we have built on this project is brilliant. We are all from different backgrounds and have many different interests, its nice the way this project is already bringing people together.
How would you like to celebrate achievements?
I'd like to have a massive open day at the church. A day where me and the group could just go around and show off what we have managed to achieve.
New Saints Blog Statement - Alice
Why do I want to be involved?
I really wanted to get involved because it is a different and exciting project. Langport in previous years had many events, so now by the use of the church we can bring them back to life again. Being a young person in society I'm used to the stereotype of being a 'nuisance'. I think its unfair that we are stuck with that. So, by the fact that we are all young and working together, we can prove to everyone else that we are still capable of doing amazing things for the community. The first time I heard of the project I was wary as I automatically thought it was religious. But the more I found out the more intrigued and keen I was to get involved. This is an amazing opportunity for us!
How will it affect my future?
This project will give me a great insight into the business I'm about to start studying at Bridgwater College - Event planning. Therefore, from the managing, accountancy and planning training i will receive will really enhance my skills. I am currently studying to be a MakeUp Artist, which is a very different route, but event planning has always been a passion. Since starting work on this project it has pursuaded me to do it alongside. I will have many opportunities to attend conferences and speak to many people I wouldnt normally be able to, in which I am grateful for. It will also look very good on my CV, the fact that I am a founder and trustee of a charity. So, the harder I work, the more beneficial for my future and the future of the project.
Do I think it is interesting?
Definitely! I've never heard of a group of young people having responsibility of regenerating a church into something completely different . The heritage organisation who are backing our project have followed out many of these fantastic projects and havbe shown that the posibilities are endless. For example St. Paul's church in Bristol, which was renovated into a Circus School. I think that the fact a Church is such an important part of English heritage and religion for many people, and we have been trusted to renovate it into something completely different is very lucky. We have so many people on board to help us, with a wide range of skills to inspire us - this really gives us so many routes we can go down.
Where would I like to take it?
It is still very early days to say exactly where I would like to take it. But, there has been many nearby music venues closing down due to funding. Langport is a very central place and we wouldn't need to worry about funding (if we work hard enough!). It would be great to regenerate the church into a music venue for all types of genres. We have already been asked if a classical concert could take place, which i feel is just the start. Somerset is a very creative part of the country and I feel that we could work alongside many local, creative organisations to make something big. But we wouldn't just have to stop with music, we could breach out to Drama performances, hiring it out for various performances, art exhibitions etc, it really is endless. I would like to see the Church having many different uses for all ages in society.
I would also like the church to be used to give other young people the same opportunities that we have.
I really wanted to get involved because it is a different and exciting project. Langport in previous years had many events, so now by the use of the church we can bring them back to life again. Being a young person in society I'm used to the stereotype of being a 'nuisance'. I think its unfair that we are stuck with that. So, by the fact that we are all young and working together, we can prove to everyone else that we are still capable of doing amazing things for the community. The first time I heard of the project I was wary as I automatically thought it was religious. But the more I found out the more intrigued and keen I was to get involved. This is an amazing opportunity for us!
How will it affect my future?
This project will give me a great insight into the business I'm about to start studying at Bridgwater College - Event planning. Therefore, from the managing, accountancy and planning training i will receive will really enhance my skills. I am currently studying to be a MakeUp Artist, which is a very different route, but event planning has always been a passion. Since starting work on this project it has pursuaded me to do it alongside. I will have many opportunities to attend conferences and speak to many people I wouldnt normally be able to, in which I am grateful for. It will also look very good on my CV, the fact that I am a founder and trustee of a charity. So, the harder I work, the more beneficial for my future and the future of the project.
Do I think it is interesting?
Definitely! I've never heard of a group of young people having responsibility of regenerating a church into something completely different . The heritage organisation who are backing our project have followed out many of these fantastic projects and havbe shown that the posibilities are endless. For example St. Paul's church in Bristol, which was renovated into a Circus School. I think that the fact a Church is such an important part of English heritage and religion for many people, and we have been trusted to renovate it into something completely different is very lucky. We have so many people on board to help us, with a wide range of skills to inspire us - this really gives us so many routes we can go down.
Where would I like to take it?
It is still very early days to say exactly where I would like to take it. But, there has been many nearby music venues closing down due to funding. Langport is a very central place and we wouldn't need to worry about funding (if we work hard enough!). It would be great to regenerate the church into a music venue for all types of genres. We have already been asked if a classical concert could take place, which i feel is just the start. Somerset is a very creative part of the country and I feel that we could work alongside many local, creative organisations to make something big. But we wouldn't just have to stop with music, we could breach out to Drama performances, hiring it out for various performances, art exhibitions etc, it really is endless. I would like to see the Church having many different uses for all ages in society.
I would also like the church to be used to give other young people the same opportunities that we have.
New Saints Blog Statement - Joe W
Name
Joe Walls
Why do you want to be involved in the project?
Personally I believe that this project will not only benefit myself and have an influence on future jobs, but I have always wanted to give something to my community.
This particular project will involve engaging with the public and exploring the possibilities of turning a huge church into a venue more sustainable for the people of Langport and to itself.
Without this opportunity, Langport will continue to have very limited things to do or see, as we have already lost a lot of the usual events that used to attract the community, for example; The Fun fair on the riverside, the firework show at Elis,
and many smaller events like Film nights and Morning / Evening get-togethers for all ages.
What kind of new opportunities are you looking forward to?
There are many opportunities that I am looking forward to, one of the main ones being running our own registered charity to aid the church and the project. This is a very powerful thing to have on your CV, as the responsibility involved, and the amount of different subjects it covers are phenomenal. Inc, Finances, Admin, Management, Being responsible for spending / Budgets. Applying for grants, and meeting demands. Holding and managing fundraising events, and keeping a log / documentary on progress, or alternatively what went wrong. Problem solving and meeting opposition.
How will working with the project help your future?
I would hope, that by working alongside my friends and peers, that after the project has been a success, then I would still have some kind of connection with the outcome. I would like to continue working with the church, and the Church Conservation Trust to ensure that the Church is maintained, the venue is still adequate for Langports' needs, and be there to assist young people in the future, to help them gain the relevant experience and prospects that I hope to receive from the project.
Where would you like to take lead in the project?
To be quite honest, I would like to run the project completely, however, being realistic I would like to learn the needed skills and collect the required experience in order to do this in the future, maybe with another project as well as this one.
Being business minded already, I believe I would be a very good asset to any role in the project.
How would you like to celebrate achievements?
To celebrate any achievements, I think it would be nice go for a pint in my local and feel proud that I have made a difference to my community.
Tuesday 28 June 2011
'We're New Saints, not a nuisance' in the Western Gazette
Following hotly on the heels of our article last week in the Langport Leveller, we have a shiny new article in the Western Gazette! This media attention really pleases and excites me as it really shows how much of an impact the project is already having with the local community, and how much value the community place on the building. (Added to that, both articles have portrayed the project in a fantastically positive light - there's always a small concern that someone will write a 'What on earth are they doing to my church?!' piece!)
Below is a scan of the article, reproduced with permission from the author, Rob Golledge, who is the Langport correspondent for the Western Gazette. Don't we look cool!! (Click to embiggen)
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So, the Langport Leveller one week, Western Gazette the next, I'll be sitting by the phone waiting for Rupert Murdoch to call this week!
Below is a scan of the article, reproduced with permission from the author, Rob Golledge, who is the Langport correspondent for the Western Gazette. Don't we look cool!! (Click to embiggen)
Wednesday 22 June 2011
'New Saints for All Saints' in the Langport Leveller
Below is our first piece of print media for the project. The Langport Leveller is a local newspaper with a circulation of over 2,000 in Langport, Huish Episcopi and the Levels. We were really pleased with the way the project came over in the article - I almost sound as if I know what I'm talking about! (I'm joking, I do know what I'm talking about really :P).
We had a very nice email from Andrew Lee, the Editor of the Langport Leveller and author of the article, giving us permission to reproduce it, so here it is in all its scanned in glory! (click to embiggen)
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Andrew also said that the Langport Leveller has taken an interest in the project and would be following it in the future, so hopefully we'll be able to show some later articles too! Hooray!
We had a very nice email from Andrew Lee, the Editor of the Langport Leveller and author of the article, giving us permission to reproduce it, so here it is in all its scanned in glory! (click to embiggen)
Thursday 16 June 2011
Policies, (potential) partnerships, pfunding, project development websites and p...logos...
Lots to keep afloat this week!
I've been working on a first draft of the Social Media Policy for New Saints, drawing inspiration from Carl Haggerty's much-respected policy. The trick here (or so I think) is to find the balance between being a creative, innovative social media-er, and being safe, responsible and respectful. There's one point that a lot of social networking policy examples seem to miss out though, and that is to participate in a way that you enjoy! If you have fun tweeting/blogging/networking then it'll have a much more positive impact on the network you're socialising with!
We're also getting to the stage where we're finishing a few funding and partnership applications, soon comes the agonising wait whilst committees in rooms around the South West and London decide whether we're - or if I'm taking it personally (which Melita has told me to stop doing) I'm - worthy of funding and partnering! Eek!
We've started thinking about how we're going to go about building our Project Development Website, and training New Saints members to maintain and build on it. A very useful connection we made through twitter was Cosmic Ethical IT. Now I'm not making any promises, but the websites these guys design and train look soooooooo good, I want one! (Having gone through millions of parish church "websites" that were last updated in 1992 for volunteer research with the CCT, I have become a bit of a snob about webdesign) Check out the Devon Historic Churches Trust site to see the pretty shiny!
We've got our next New Saints meeting tomorrow where we will be discussing logos and branding, I've seen a sneak preview of a few mock-ups with hunkypunks galore, hooray!
I've been working on a first draft of the Social Media Policy for New Saints, drawing inspiration from Carl Haggerty's much-respected policy. The trick here (or so I think) is to find the balance between being a creative, innovative social media-er, and being safe, responsible and respectful. There's one point that a lot of social networking policy examples seem to miss out though, and that is to participate in a way that you enjoy! If you have fun tweeting/blogging/networking then it'll have a much more positive impact on the network you're socialising with!
We're also getting to the stage where we're finishing a few funding and partnership applications, soon comes the agonising wait whilst committees in rooms around the South West and London decide whether we're - or if I'm taking it personally (which Melita has told me to stop doing) I'm - worthy of funding and partnering! Eek!
We've started thinking about how we're going to go about building our Project Development Website, and training New Saints members to maintain and build on it. A very useful connection we made through twitter was Cosmic Ethical IT. Now I'm not making any promises, but the websites these guys design and train look soooooooo good, I want one! (Having gone through millions of parish church "websites" that were last updated in 1992 for volunteer research with the CCT, I have become a bit of a snob about webdesign) Check out the Devon Historic Churches Trust site to see the pretty shiny!
We've got our next New Saints meeting tomorrow where we will be discussing logos and branding, I've seen a sneak preview of a few mock-ups with hunkypunks galore, hooray!
Friday 10 June 2011
New Saints Blog Statement - Grant
This is the first in a series of guest posts from the other members of New Saints, giving some background as to why they got involved in the project, what they're looking forward to, and what they hope to achieve through the All Saints Langport Youth Project. Take it away ... Grant!
"I wanted to be involved in the project because it opens up new opportunities to myself and others, to also say that I helped and had a part of it. I think my thoughts and opinions could help for designs and running of the project. Also just another person to be there to help where I can.
Opportunities: I'm looking forward to being part of something that will affect the community. To gain new experiences and to meet new people and create new friendship or build on the ones already there. I'm really looking forward to work with our group and others as it gives you ideas and hopefully I give them. Also seeing new places.
Career and future prospects: With doing anything there is always lessons and skills that you can learn. The project and group will be a great thing to be a part of. The project will throw its own challenges, big and small but if we all stick together I'm sure we can beat them. As with all projects that you're a part of, it always looks good on the CV and if they've heard of the project then it will look even better.
Heritage learning: well I have already learnt about the hunkypunks on the sides of the church, which really surprised me to know they are rare. It makes me feel a little privileged to be living really close to it. Its always nice to be able to tell the history of an area/place/building as it makes you feel proud to even know
The group's always a laugh, as much as we enjoy ourselves, we also get the work done, which is just a great way to work. As always with working with a heritage project it always can be as you learn history bit not in a boring way, in a interesting way.
As a team we congratulate ourselves. Its always nice to know something's gone well and if not then see how we can change or do something about it. A nice way would be to spend a day or something together just to have a bit of fun."
Thanks Grant! Stay tuned for more statements from more New Saints in the future.
"I wanted to be involved in the project because it opens up new opportunities to myself and others, to also say that I helped and had a part of it. I think my thoughts and opinions could help for designs and running of the project. Also just another person to be there to help where I can.
Opportunities: I'm looking forward to being part of something that will affect the community. To gain new experiences and to meet new people and create new friendship or build on the ones already there. I'm really looking forward to work with our group and others as it gives you ideas and hopefully I give them. Also seeing new places.
Career and future prospects: With doing anything there is always lessons and skills that you can learn. The project and group will be a great thing to be a part of. The project will throw its own challenges, big and small but if we all stick together I'm sure we can beat them. As with all projects that you're a part of, it always looks good on the CV and if they've heard of the project then it will look even better.
Heritage learning: well I have already learnt about the hunkypunks on the sides of the church, which really surprised me to know they are rare. It makes me feel a little privileged to be living really close to it. Its always nice to be able to tell the history of an area/place/building as it makes you feel proud to even know
The group's always a laugh, as much as we enjoy ourselves, we also get the work done, which is just a great way to work. As always with working with a heritage project it always can be as you learn history bit not in a boring way, in a interesting way.
As a team we congratulate ourselves. Its always nice to know something's gone well and if not then see how we can change or do something about it. A nice way would be to spend a day or something together just to have a bit of fun."
Thanks Grant! Stay tuned for more statements from more New Saints in the future.
Thursday 9 June 2011
Making more of a name for ourselves
The last week has been a bit of a media whirlwind!
Monday was the deadline to get an article about New Saints and the project into the Langport Leveller, I think we made that by the skin of our teeth! This went through multiple redrafts as I had an identity crisis regarding whether I was a young person or a heritage person whilst writing (by the end of it we decided I was a young person). It was very helpful to have Melita's guiding hand to point out that no, I was not writing a press release, I was writing an article for the local newspaper.
As you may have seen from my last post, I was on BBC Radio Somerset on Tuesday, talking about the project to Matt Faulkner on the breakfast show. This was a really good experience, having to condense the essence of the project into a couple of sentences to put it across simply but effectively on the radio. It's also a very good way of making sure you're wide awake first thing in the morning, nothing like a bit of adrenaline with your cereal!
According to anyone who listened, my identity crisis cropped up again here, but this time in the form of making very sure that everyone knew that I am a young person! Perhaps I've just got too used to referring to 'young people' with the project!
On Wednesday I was invited to a special viewing of the CCT's new fundraising video, you may remember me talking about this here. This was the CCT making the most of our innovative and exciting project to appeal to potential donors to the charity. If hearing yourself on the radio is cringeworthy, watching yourself on the telly is 10 times worse! I was pleasantly surprised that I looked like I knew what I was talking about though. I was also pleased and proud of Joe's performance on the video - one of the New Saints, but that meeting was the first time he'd met any of us and he had a camera shoved in his face!
On Wednesday, due to my brief stint as a radio star, the project was featured in the News section on the CCT website ... gosh, that writing style looks awfully familiar, I wonder who wrote that...
So, I think apart from a giant billboard on the A303 (which will be addressed in the options appraisal) (that was a joke) we've covered most of the mainstream media platforms this week! phew!
(Not to mention that twitter is still going strong).
Monday was the deadline to get an article about New Saints and the project into the Langport Leveller, I think we made that by the skin of our teeth! This went through multiple redrafts as I had an identity crisis regarding whether I was a young person or a heritage person whilst writing (by the end of it we decided I was a young person). It was very helpful to have Melita's guiding hand to point out that no, I was not writing a press release, I was writing an article for the local newspaper.
As you may have seen from my last post, I was on BBC Radio Somerset on Tuesday, talking about the project to Matt Faulkner on the breakfast show. This was a really good experience, having to condense the essence of the project into a couple of sentences to put it across simply but effectively on the radio. It's also a very good way of making sure you're wide awake first thing in the morning, nothing like a bit of adrenaline with your cereal!
According to anyone who listened, my identity crisis cropped up again here, but this time in the form of making very sure that everyone knew that I am a young person! Perhaps I've just got too used to referring to 'young people' with the project!
On Wednesday I was invited to a special viewing of the CCT's new fundraising video, you may remember me talking about this here. This was the CCT making the most of our innovative and exciting project to appeal to potential donors to the charity. If hearing yourself on the radio is cringeworthy, watching yourself on the telly is 10 times worse! I was pleasantly surprised that I looked like I knew what I was talking about though. I was also pleased and proud of Joe's performance on the video - one of the New Saints, but that meeting was the first time he'd met any of us and he had a camera shoved in his face!
On Wednesday, due to my brief stint as a radio star, the project was featured in the News section on the CCT website ... gosh, that writing style looks awfully familiar, I wonder who wrote that...
So, I think apart from a giant billboard on the A303 (which will be addressed in the options appraisal) (that was a joke) we've covered most of the mainstream media platforms this week! phew!
(Not to mention that twitter is still going strong).
Tuesday 7 June 2011
New Saints is a radio star!
Hello! Just a quick update today to say that we were on BBC Radio Somerset this morning with Matt Faulkner! Go and have a listen! I think my short interview is at about the 1hr 55 mark, talking about how the project's given us professional opportunities like...oh I don't know, being interviewed on BBC radio?
(I'll do a much bigger update blog tomorrow, but I just wanted to let everyone know before the recording disappears off iPlayer)
(I'll do a much bigger update blog tomorrow, but I just wanted to let everyone know before the recording disappears off iPlayer)
Tuesday 24 May 2011
Top 5 things Mark's learnt in the last 4 months
1) Budgets are hard
... or rather, if you're leading a project you don't have to know every detail of every aspect of the project. You panicked because you had no previous experience of building and managing a budget and in your mind that meant that the project would fall apart and it was your fault for not knowing enough. In reality everything was fine because Peter and Melita both have more than enough experience of successfully wrangling budgets for projects and had everything under control without you understanding what Full Cost Recovery is... you still don't and that's absolutely fine!
2) Young people enjoy working hard!
This shouldn't be so much of a revelation for a hardworking young person, but New Saints has done such great work individually and as a group already. You've always rallied against anyone who automatically precedes 'student' with 'lazy' and the preconception about young people is just the same, yet here you have a group of young people voluntarily dedicating time, effort and brainpower because they want to, hooray!
3) Ask stupid questions.
Actually, ask all questions, you'll soon find out whether they're stupid or not... even then, don't stop asking questions, its all another tick in the box of Things I've Learnt Today. At the very least it'll remind people that you're very new to this and should be allowed leeway when you need it.
4) Accept praise.
Don't just blush and brush it off, no-one's going to praise you unless you definitely deserve it, so allow yourself to feel good when someone tells you you've done well. Otherwise you'll never escape that 'flying by the seat of your pants' 'only just managed by the skin of your teeth' feeling!
5) DON'T PANIC!
You're only 22, and this is your first taste of real life work after years in a lovely uni bubble of lovely. By a lot of others' standards you should be sitting in the corner of a dark office doing nothing more responsibility-laden than endlessly putting numbers in excel spreadsheets, or phoning people and finding out just how much they don't want to talk about car insurance, so enjoy working on something you actually enjoy doing!
If anyone's got any comments/suggestions for learnings they've had in a similar situation, drop us a comment :)
... or rather, if you're leading a project you don't have to know every detail of every aspect of the project. You panicked because you had no previous experience of building and managing a budget and in your mind that meant that the project would fall apart and it was your fault for not knowing enough. In reality everything was fine because Peter and Melita both have more than enough experience of successfully wrangling budgets for projects and had everything under control without you understanding what Full Cost Recovery is... you still don't and that's absolutely fine!
2) Young people enjoy working hard!
This shouldn't be so much of a revelation for a hardworking young person, but New Saints has done such great work individually and as a group already. You've always rallied against anyone who automatically precedes 'student' with 'lazy' and the preconception about young people is just the same, yet here you have a group of young people voluntarily dedicating time, effort and brainpower because they want to, hooray!
3) Ask stupid questions.
Actually, ask all questions, you'll soon find out whether they're stupid or not... even then, don't stop asking questions, its all another tick in the box of Things I've Learnt Today. At the very least it'll remind people that you're very new to this and should be allowed leeway when you need it.
4) Accept praise.
Don't just blush and brush it off, no-one's going to praise you unless you definitely deserve it, so allow yourself to feel good when someone tells you you've done well. Otherwise you'll never escape that 'flying by the seat of your pants' 'only just managed by the skin of your teeth' feeling!
5) DON'T PANIC!
You're only 22, and this is your first taste of real life work after years in a lovely uni bubble of lovely. By a lot of others' standards you should be sitting in the corner of a dark office doing nothing more responsibility-laden than endlessly putting numbers in excel spreadsheets, or phoning people and finding out just how much they don't want to talk about car insurance, so enjoy working on something you actually enjoy doing!
If anyone's got any comments/suggestions for learnings they've had in a similar situation, drop us a comment :)
Monday 23 May 2011
Making a name for ourselves
Our last meeting on Friday was a huge success, we got a lot covered and a lot gained.
Our committee group is now called 'New Saints'. I like this name as it works in a couple of ways:
1) It uses part of the dedication of the church (All Saints)
2) It overtly shows that we're new (young) people, coming up with new (exciting) regeneration means, methods and mideas.
3) New Saints also works very closely, phonetically, as 'nuisance' - our group, and this whole project, is challenging the perception that young people could only cause problems if given a voice. (No-one's actually expressed this perception, but its a good view to work against anyway).
4) It doesn't sound too 'church-y' or 'youth club-y'. There's nothing wrong with sounding church-y or youth club-y, but its not the impression we want to give on funding applications/press releases/word of mouth promotion. We want to show that we're about young people, opportunities, skills and networking, new ideas, and (by no means least) saving the building.
Also during the meeting we got a couple of our members, Joe, Alice and Paige, to start thinking about a logo for New Saints. I can't tell you how excited I am by the prospect of headed paper right now...
Another way in which we have been making a name for ourselves: Melita was contacted last week by Andrew Lee from the 'Langport Leveller' asking for a description of the project so that they could write a story about it! Exciting times! I've written a press statement (something else to add to the CV) in conjunction with the rest of New Saints, and its currently being scrutinised by Peter before it goes to press. Prepare for a hastily scanned and excitedly published newspaper clipping! :D
A second outcome of our super-successful meeting is that New Saints members agreed to a guest spot each on here so you can view their hopes and dreams (well, plans and expectations) for the project from the horses mouth, so to speak, look out for them over the next few weeks too!
Our committee group is now called 'New Saints'. I like this name as it works in a couple of ways:
1) It uses part of the dedication of the church (All Saints)
2) It overtly shows that we're new (young) people, coming up with new (exciting) regeneration means, methods and mideas.
3) New Saints also works very closely, phonetically, as 'nuisance' - our group, and this whole project, is challenging the perception that young people could only cause problems if given a voice. (No-one's actually expressed this perception, but its a good view to work against anyway).
4) It doesn't sound too 'church-y' or 'youth club-y'. There's nothing wrong with sounding church-y or youth club-y, but its not the impression we want to give on funding applications/press releases/word of mouth promotion. We want to show that we're about young people, opportunities, skills and networking, new ideas, and (by no means least) saving the building.
Also during the meeting we got a couple of our members, Joe, Alice and Paige, to start thinking about a logo for New Saints. I can't tell you how excited I am by the prospect of headed paper right now...
Another way in which we have been making a name for ourselves: Melita was contacted last week by Andrew Lee from the 'Langport Leveller' asking for a description of the project so that they could write a story about it! Exciting times! I've written a press statement (something else to add to the CV) in conjunction with the rest of New Saints, and its currently being scrutinised by Peter before it goes to press. Prepare for a hastily scanned and excitedly published newspaper clipping! :D
A second outcome of our super-successful meeting is that New Saints members agreed to a guest spot each on here so you can view their hopes and dreams (well, plans and expectations) for the project from the horses mouth, so to speak, look out for them over the next few weeks too!
Monday 16 May 2011
Our first day on Twitter
We kicked off our Twitter account last week and had a really great response. Our twitter account is @allsaintsyouth (there's also a link over there -------> to it), at the moment its me writing tweets, but hopefully before long all the young people involved will be tweeting!
Here's a storify of the last couple of day's exciting points:
Edit: Since May 11th, Tom Dyckhoff (tv history presenter) has also retweeted one of our tweets! yaaaaaaay :)
Another Edit: We've also just been retweeted by Amanda Vickery!! :D Awesomesauce
Here's a storify of the last couple of day's exciting points:
Edit: Since May 11th, Tom Dyckhoff (tv history presenter) has also retweeted one of our tweets! yaaaaaaay :)
Another Edit: We've also just been retweeted by Amanda Vickery!! :D Awesomesauce
Wednesday 11 May 2011
A Langport meeting, feedback from the HLF, and a meeting with an award winning website
Last Friday we had our most recent meeting with young people. We started thinking critically about a name for the group, which is good as it means we can start submitting some of our mix-funding applications before we go for the big one for phase 1. We also got two new members turning up, both of whom are girls! (it was starting to be a very male project), and one of whom is on the Town Council which could be a very useful connection
The challenge here is that we need a striking name that will stand out from other applications, and reflects how innovative the project is. We also need to stand out from other local projects so that any visitors are well aware of who we are and what we're doing. Whilst I was eager to get the name down there and then, it was decided that we should give the young people a fortnight to brainstorm ideas and bring some concepts, logos and taglines along to the next meeting. This will be good as it means that the members local to Langport can have chance to roadtest their name ideas with other locals to make sure their name ideas fit the criteria.
Yesterday I got the long-awaited feedback phonecall from the HLF South West following our pre-application. Whilst there was a fair amount of constructive criticism and scepticism about the scope of the project, they were also willing to hold a meeting to discuss our application. I was slightly disappointed that they weren't skipping round the office encouraging us to submit the application ASAP so that they could throw money at us because our project was entirely what the HLF were looking for from a Young Roots submission. On the other hand it was very useful to hear that feedback in a process prior to submitting the application, if that process hadn't been in place we would have failed our first funding application!
Today I'm going to meet Rakhee from Eastside Educational Trust. This is a children's charity established in 1994, focussed on arts, culture and heritage in London, who are very good at using social media and the internet to inspire, motivate, interact with, and promote to young people. So good that they've won awards! I'll be showing Rakhee this blog, and the plans for the whole web-presence network to see what she thinks, what she can suggest and learn from her experiences. I'm really looking forward to seeing what she's got to say - I've been blogging and tweeting for a few years, but I don't just want to stagnate at the level I'm at, I want this project to be at the cutting edge (something not many heritage projects can claim to be!)
Other than this, Melita and I are also readying our funding application to Somerset Crime Beat for our mobile office, and working on another application to fund building and training to run our website! Exciting times!
The challenge here is that we need a striking name that will stand out from other applications, and reflects how innovative the project is. We also need to stand out from other local projects so that any visitors are well aware of who we are and what we're doing. Whilst I was eager to get the name down there and then, it was decided that we should give the young people a fortnight to brainstorm ideas and bring some concepts, logos and taglines along to the next meeting. This will be good as it means that the members local to Langport can have chance to roadtest their name ideas with other locals to make sure their name ideas fit the criteria.
Yesterday I got the long-awaited feedback phonecall from the HLF South West following our pre-application. Whilst there was a fair amount of constructive criticism and scepticism about the scope of the project, they were also willing to hold a meeting to discuss our application. I was slightly disappointed that they weren't skipping round the office encouraging us to submit the application ASAP so that they could throw money at us because our project was entirely what the HLF were looking for from a Young Roots submission. On the other hand it was very useful to hear that feedback in a process prior to submitting the application, if that process hadn't been in place we would have failed our first funding application!
Today I'm going to meet Rakhee from Eastside Educational Trust. This is a children's charity established in 1994, focussed on arts, culture and heritage in London, who are very good at using social media and the internet to inspire, motivate, interact with, and promote to young people. So good that they've won awards! I'll be showing Rakhee this blog, and the plans for the whole web-presence network to see what she thinks, what she can suggest and learn from her experiences. I'm really looking forward to seeing what she's got to say - I've been blogging and tweeting for a few years, but I don't just want to stagnate at the level I'm at, I want this project to be at the cutting edge (something not many heritage projects can claim to be!)
Other than this, Melita and I are also readying our funding application to Somerset Crime Beat for our mobile office, and working on another application to fund building and training to run our website! Exciting times!
Friday 22 April 2011
Leading meetings, winning over sceptics and discussing significance, all without back-up!
Our meeting today was the first time I'd lead a meeting in Langport without Melita to keep me on track, eek!
The first issue that came up was that our planned venue for the meeting was closed and locked because it was Good Friday. This was quickly resolved by moving to a pub garden, so silver-linings all round.
The meeting, whilst not following the planned agenda very closely, actually went very well, early on we met with a young person who came to the meeting opposed to the project but after a short introduction to who the CCT were and why we were developing a project in Langport, they soon became a supporter and a new member of the core group, success!
Our core group, which is growing every week, enjoy a bit of progressive thinking coming up with future use ideas for the church. This really makes me happy because we're actively engaging in the idea of regenerating the church, we're exploring the wants and needs of the community, and we are a group of young people sitting round a table discussing how the grown-ups have messed it all up and what we're going to do to remedy that.
The only problem is that this part of the project development should be happening weeks and months later on, in tandem with community consultation, so that we're having informed discussions on the wants and needs of the whole community, with documentary back-up, rather than the wants and needs of 6 people around a table.
The upshot of this is that we're all getting excited (myself included) about the possibility of a music and performance venue *idea*, and coming up with very legitimate reasons why the community needs it and how it could fit sustainably and with multi-purpose effects in the church (as well as reasons that people might not like it). What we can't do is get carried away with this idea and push it forward without properly researching how it might fit into the community. Having said all this, enthusiastic young people with big ideas and conscientious thinking are not to be sniffed at!
The second half of the meeting was spent inside the church, discussing ideas of value and identifying what was seen as highly valuable and less valuable (I identified the aspect of the nave from East to West, in my eyes it would be heresy to chop the nave in half with a stud wall), other areas that were identified as valuable for different reasons were the space around the altar and the Chancel in general due to its spiritual significance, the monuments on the walls and floor slabs due to their local resonances, and the 'hunkypunk' grotesques due to their sheer number and uniqueness to Somerset. All in all some good, useful discussion.
Next meeting we're working on filling in the HLF application with young people, and coming up with a name that stands out a little bit more than 'All Saints Langport Youth Project', woooooo! After discussing today's meeting with Melita, she's going to scribe the next meeting whilst I lead it, so that I can practice some techniques for holding on to a meeting that enjoys going off-piste.
The first issue that came up was that our planned venue for the meeting was closed and locked because it was Good Friday. This was quickly resolved by moving to a pub garden, so silver-linings all round.
The meeting, whilst not following the planned agenda very closely, actually went very well, early on we met with a young person who came to the meeting opposed to the project but after a short introduction to who the CCT were and why we were developing a project in Langport, they soon became a supporter and a new member of the core group, success!
Our core group, which is growing every week, enjoy a bit of progressive thinking coming up with future use ideas for the church. This really makes me happy because we're actively engaging in the idea of regenerating the church, we're exploring the wants and needs of the community, and we are a group of young people sitting round a table discussing how the grown-ups have messed it all up and what we're going to do to remedy that.
The only problem is that this part of the project development should be happening weeks and months later on, in tandem with community consultation, so that we're having informed discussions on the wants and needs of the whole community, with documentary back-up, rather than the wants and needs of 6 people around a table.
The upshot of this is that we're all getting excited (myself included) about the possibility of a music and performance venue *idea*, and coming up with very legitimate reasons why the community needs it and how it could fit sustainably and with multi-purpose effects in the church (as well as reasons that people might not like it). What we can't do is get carried away with this idea and push it forward without properly researching how it might fit into the community. Having said all this, enthusiastic young people with big ideas and conscientious thinking are not to be sniffed at!
The second half of the meeting was spent inside the church, discussing ideas of value and identifying what was seen as highly valuable and less valuable (I identified the aspect of the nave from East to West, in my eyes it would be heresy to chop the nave in half with a stud wall), other areas that were identified as valuable for different reasons were the space around the altar and the Chancel in general due to its spiritual significance, the monuments on the walls and floor slabs due to their local resonances, and the 'hunkypunk' grotesques due to their sheer number and uniqueness to Somerset. All in all some good, useful discussion.
Next meeting we're working on filling in the HLF application with young people, and coming up with a name that stands out a little bit more than 'All Saints Langport Youth Project', woooooo! After discussing today's meeting with Melita, she's going to scribe the next meeting whilst I lead it, so that I can practice some techniques for holding on to a meeting that enjoys going off-piste.
Wednesday 13 April 2011
More young people and *Action* for the project
We had two exciting achievements by the end of today. We were down in Langport again for another recruitment meeting, and we also wanted to take our current group to the church to have a first look with a critical eye.
The first achievement was a brand new young person who's enthusiastic about the project, and very Arts-minded, so I'm looking forward to having him at future brainstorming sessions for ideas for the regeneration project.
The second was that we were filmed! The CCT are so excited by the project that they want to use it in a video that will be shown at fundraising events. Very exciting indeed! Catherine and Selvyn who work for RandalFox (who have done work for the CCT before) came down and filmed a meeting and some interviews with young people, including me! Whilst we thought it was a little early in the lifetime of the project to be filming young people with big ideas about the church (we're still really at the recruiting stage), our young people really stepped up to the plate, even the one who turned up for the first time today!
Quite apart from making it a little bit different and fun, I think this also sends a message to our young people, and Langport, that we're excited about this project, and we're taking it seriously, so whilst it felt a bit rushed and a ad hoc, and took over our meeting a little bit, we got a lot out of it as well! (Plus I get to be on telly!... well, video...)
We're hoping that initial recruitment is sorted now and we can start meeting with our young people, as the core team, to start building the HLF project application, so next meeting we're exploring the church in a bit more detail, and thinking about the core team as a consolidated group ... could be interesting!
The first achievement was a brand new young person who's enthusiastic about the project, and very Arts-minded, so I'm looking forward to having him at future brainstorming sessions for ideas for the regeneration project.
The second was that we were filmed! The CCT are so excited by the project that they want to use it in a video that will be shown at fundraising events. Very exciting indeed! Catherine and Selvyn who work for RandalFox (who have done work for the CCT before) came down and filmed a meeting and some interviews with young people, including me! Whilst we thought it was a little early in the lifetime of the project to be filming young people with big ideas about the church (we're still really at the recruiting stage), our young people really stepped up to the plate, even the one who turned up for the first time today!
Quite apart from making it a little bit different and fun, I think this also sends a message to our young people, and Langport, that we're excited about this project, and we're taking it seriously, so whilst it felt a bit rushed and a ad hoc, and took over our meeting a little bit, we got a lot out of it as well! (Plus I get to be on telly!... well, video...)
We're hoping that initial recruitment is sorted now and we can start meeting with our young people, as the core team, to start building the HLF project application, so next meeting we're exploring the church in a bit more detail, and thinking about the core team as a consolidated group ... could be interesting!
Monday 4 April 2011
Meetings meetings meetings, Go&Sees go&sees go&sees!
Today was spent cramming as many meetings as humanly possible into a day in Bristol. I met with Circomedia, Heritage and Community, and The Station. Circomedia and The Station have been earmarked since very early stages of the project as potential Go&Sees to take our group of young people on and meet people from nearby exemplar projects, so these meetings were crucial to get right! (and there was no Melita this time to ask all the experienced and informed questions!)
These Go&Sees will be undertaken by two groups of people (the first being Melita and myself, the second being Melita, myself and the young people), and fit into three categories (Heritage, Community, and Youth), a lot of which overlap. We aim to provide the project with as wide a range of research and inspirational visits as is viable, so these Go&Sees are undergoing some fairly extensive research!
I've already written about The Station here. Circomedia is a Circus School that is celebrating its 25th birthday this year. It recently started using St Paul's church (the first Regeneration Taskforce project) as one of its venues and training spaces. This soon became the Regeneration Taskforce's flagship project, fulfilling its' roles of securing and maintaining the building, and making steps to regenerate the surrounding community.
Whilst this picture does look great, it doesn't really do justice to the experience of watching a performance with trapeze artists swinging between pillars, people climbing 30m high ropes to the ceiling, and generally using the whole space so creatively. At today's meeting I managed to convince Circomedia that they wanted our young people looking round during one of their BTEC classes, which is fantastic because that huge space is going to be a hive of activity. This will undoubtedly get some creative juices flowing around ideas for All Saints'! Hooray.
The meeting at The Station had the same good conclusion - they were happy for us to bring our young people to see the site and talk to the people involved in planning their project (which includes some Bristolian young people, ooooh). The difference with this Go&See is that The Station is currently derelict, and when we visit it, it'll be an enormous building site. We're going to make the most of this opportunity to see a restoration and regeneration project mid-development (rather than see shiny pictures of one that's yet to commence, or a shiny building thats already been completed), so this summer/autumn our young people are going there!
John from Heritage and Community is no stranger to the CCT and its' exploits, having covered posts during maternity leave in the past, so it was very useful to have an informed but external point of view on the project. He also recommended another local project for a Go&See, that he worked on - Tyntesfield is a National Trust property, which utilises young volunteers in similar (and different) ways to our project, so that's definitely one to keep fresh in our minds. It was certainly good to pick John's brains about his experience of that project - what we should watch out for and what we don't need to be panicking about just yet!
A very long day, but very very useful, and with some great outcomes!
These Go&Sees will be undertaken by two groups of people (the first being Melita and myself, the second being Melita, myself and the young people), and fit into three categories (Heritage, Community, and Youth), a lot of which overlap. We aim to provide the project with as wide a range of research and inspirational visits as is viable, so these Go&Sees are undergoing some fairly extensive research!
I've already written about The Station here. Circomedia is a Circus School that is celebrating its 25th birthday this year. It recently started using St Paul's church (the first Regeneration Taskforce project) as one of its venues and training spaces. This soon became the Regeneration Taskforce's flagship project, fulfilling its' roles of securing and maintaining the building, and making steps to regenerate the surrounding community.
The meeting at The Station had the same good conclusion - they were happy for us to bring our young people to see the site and talk to the people involved in planning their project (which includes some Bristolian young people, ooooh). The difference with this Go&See is that The Station is currently derelict, and when we visit it, it'll be an enormous building site. We're going to make the most of this opportunity to see a restoration and regeneration project mid-development (rather than see shiny pictures of one that's yet to commence, or a shiny building thats already been completed), so this summer/autumn our young people are going there!
John from Heritage and Community is no stranger to the CCT and its' exploits, having covered posts during maternity leave in the past, so it was very useful to have an informed but external point of view on the project. He also recommended another local project for a Go&See, that he worked on - Tyntesfield is a National Trust property, which utilises young volunteers in similar (and different) ways to our project, so that's definitely one to keep fresh in our minds. It was certainly good to pick John's brains about his experience of that project - what we should watch out for and what we don't need to be panicking about just yet!
A very long day, but very very useful, and with some great outcomes!
Wednesday 30 March 2011
Second meeting with Young People, and the idea of a Fundraising Video
Today we were down in Langport again, at the lovely Art Tea Zen café. This was our second attempt at recruiting local young people to be part of the team (at our first attempt one person turned up). We had high hopes when about 15 people in school uniforms trooped through the door, but it turned out they were just there for a cup of tea.
Instead we met one more young person, and another young person's mum (as well as Annie and Jack). We still treated this as a success - young people can tell their friends, and parents can persuade offspring. I should also say that parents are welcomed and encouraged to sit in on meetings and even take part - that sort of communication embodies the idea of young people developing an asset for the whole community, speaking to other residents of Langport so as to collect as broad a base of information as possible. Absolutely.
Two days before this meeting, Peter passed a message on to me saying that Langport had been picked as a potential project for a fundraising video to be made for the CCT. This is great news for the project (which will be displayed to wealthy would-be sponsors across the country), but its also very early in the project to be able to find something that will look interesting on a screen! After a short emergency meeting with Melita we agreed to go ahead with the filming and present the plan to whoever turned up at the meeting!
News of the filming got mixed reactions - there were some young people who definitely didn't want to be on camera, and others were pointed out who might turn up just to be on camera. Generally the feedback was positive, so a date was arranged for the next meeting, at which there will also be a camera crew and someone wanting to interview me! It will also be a good (if early) mechanism to get the young people to start thinking creatively about using the church. Hope it works!
Instead we met one more young person, and another young person's mum (as well as Annie and Jack). We still treated this as a success - young people can tell their friends, and parents can persuade offspring. I should also say that parents are welcomed and encouraged to sit in on meetings and even take part - that sort of communication embodies the idea of young people developing an asset for the whole community, speaking to other residents of Langport so as to collect as broad a base of information as possible. Absolutely.
Two days before this meeting, Peter passed a message on to me saying that Langport had been picked as a potential project for a fundraising video to be made for the CCT. This is great news for the project (which will be displayed to wealthy would-be sponsors across the country), but its also very early in the project to be able to find something that will look interesting on a screen! After a short emergency meeting with Melita we agreed to go ahead with the filming and present the plan to whoever turned up at the meeting!
News of the filming got mixed reactions - there were some young people who definitely didn't want to be on camera, and others were pointed out who might turn up just to be on camera. Generally the feedback was positive, so a date was arranged for the next meeting, at which there will also be a camera crew and someone wanting to interview me! It will also be a good (if early) mechanism to get the young people to start thinking creatively about using the church. Hope it works!
Friday 25 March 2011
The dreaded budget meeting
Today I had a difficult meeting. This meeting was between Me, Melita and Peter, to plan out the costs for the project so that we could define how much we think the project will cost and how much we need to ask for from funders.
To give you some background, I have steered well clear of maths since GCSE, and blissfully forgotten everything I knew up until then. I've never shown an ounce of interest in finance or accounting, my money management is not to be held up as an exemplar. Budgets are not something that turn my cogs.
Peter had asked me to plan an agenda for this meeting so that we could get the ball rolling and start meating out our plans for the project, the problem with this was that I didn't have the tiniest clue as to how to start planning a budget for a project - up until 6 or 7 months ago I was considering being a volunteer on a project that spends the money, not the employee who's in charge of raising the money!
Fortunately for me, Melita seems to enjoy this sort of planning (which I will never understand), and had prepared not one, but three, mindmaps that presented the myriad of things on which to spend money (the vast majority of which I could never have even thought of before today's meeting).
This complete ignorance was also not helpful during the meeting - Peter and Melita, who have both had involvement in project budgets before, were spouting finance jargon which was alien to me (I wouldn't know an FCR if it shouted at me), so I sat tight until there was enough room to ask what everything meant. This is not the best way to act in a meeting.
The silver-lining is that I now have some very pretty mindmaps that tell me what goes in a budget for next time, and a bit of a footing on some of the terms that I can learn about, so that I don't look entirely stupid in the next budget meeting, hooray! Melita also suggested I aquaint myself with businessballs.com, which is proving a highly useful ornament to my rollercoaster of a learning curve!
To give you some background, I have steered well clear of maths since GCSE, and blissfully forgotten everything I knew up until then. I've never shown an ounce of interest in finance or accounting, my money management is not to be held up as an exemplar. Budgets are not something that turn my cogs.
Peter had asked me to plan an agenda for this meeting so that we could get the ball rolling and start meating out our plans for the project, the problem with this was that I didn't have the tiniest clue as to how to start planning a budget for a project - up until 6 or 7 months ago I was considering being a volunteer on a project that spends the money, not the employee who's in charge of raising the money!
Fortunately for me, Melita seems to enjoy this sort of planning (which I will never understand), and had prepared not one, but three, mindmaps that presented the myriad of things on which to spend money (the vast majority of which I could never have even thought of before today's meeting).
This complete ignorance was also not helpful during the meeting - Peter and Melita, who have both had involvement in project budgets before, were spouting finance jargon which was alien to me (I wouldn't know an FCR if it shouted at me), so I sat tight until there was enough room to ask what everything meant. This is not the best way to act in a meeting.
The silver-lining is that I now have some very pretty mindmaps that tell me what goes in a budget for next time, and a bit of a footing on some of the terms that I can learn about, so that I don't look entirely stupid in the next budget meeting, hooray! Melita also suggested I aquaint myself with businessballs.com, which is proving a highly useful ornament to my rollercoaster of a learning curve!
Tuesday 22 March 2011
So many things!!
This post is just going to be a general catch-up of everything that has happened last Friday, yesterday and today, because there's a lot!
So, to start with, last Friday I had a meeting with Peter to show him where we'd got to with the project planning, and for him to advise on next steps. One of the strongest effects of this meeting was my realisation that I'm a conservation nazi! I'm one of those people who puts red rope banners around historic houses so that mere human beings can't touch the precious history! This has got to stop immediately!
I need to take off my 'Don't Touch That' hat, and put on my 'Wahey, Lets See What Happens If We Do This' hat, which is a much more exciting hat anyway.
Part of this is in the way I pitch the project to the young people - less talking about the limitations of a listed building and more of the opportunities that this project provides.
Another part is the way I write documents. Peter used the word 'boring', I prefer the term 'grown-up', but neither of them make for an exciting public document!
Peter also shouted at me for not having made proper contact with the Heritage Lottery Fund yet, so today I've downloaded the Pre-application Form for Young Roots funding, and have started filling in the bits we definitely know about our project. Once Melita's had a go too we can send it to the SW HLF team and see what they think about our project, woop!
On Monday, Melita and I were in the South West for two meetings - one for us to visit Yeovil Foyer Foundation, and the other to meet Langportian young people who might be interested in being involved with the project.
The YFF was a good meeting, Chris showed us around the converted church and gave us details of the building manager for us to ask more indepth questions. He also made a nice little offer for the YFF to deal with all the paperwork if our young people wanted to use our project to work towards an ASDAN Award. We haven't decided whether this is the route for us, or whether other organisations might be able to offer the same, but it has highlighted to me how project partners can still offer useful resources without them stumping up funding.
This ended up being the first of our Serendipitous Connections in that Melita hadn't known about YFF before, and I hadn't realised the extent to which it could be useful, but because we turned up and made the connection with Chris and got details for further connections, we can now use this project as an exemplar further down the road, hooray!
The second meeting was at Art Tea Zen (fantastic name for an unorthodox cafe/teashop).
The original plan here was for Annie to have rounded up 3 or 4 young people for Melita and I to lightly pitch the project to, to see whether they were interested. Out of the original 3, 1 turned up.
I don't really mind this - I'm not so out of touch with young people as to expect them to drop everything and come running when someone says 'church conservation'.
It also led to another Serendipitous Connection; Jack owns Art Tea Zen, he overheard the topic of our meeting and joined in! (he's a young person too). And there was me worrying about enthusiasm levels! Jack seemed very interested in getting involved, and has helped to organise another meeting next week where Melita and I can pitch the project to a larger group so that we can start the ball rolling proper, like.
From this, I learnt that all* the fuss was over nothing - young people aren't that scary, even when some of the young people aren't as young as me. Melita commented on my growing confidence whilst I was speaking, so next time I can build on today's experience and "sparkle" as Melita put it.
*(most of)
Finally, today's work included sorting out some Go&Sees for me and Melita in the near future. One of which is The Station, what I done already blogged about, and the other is the CCT's very own Bristol St Pauls, home of Circomedia, about which you can read in this blog which I wrote in a past-life.
I'm actually really looking forward to next week now, hopefully within a fortnight we will have got our group sorted and can begin doing things! Wooo!
So, to start with, last Friday I had a meeting with Peter to show him where we'd got to with the project planning, and for him to advise on next steps. One of the strongest effects of this meeting was my realisation that I'm a conservation nazi! I'm one of those people who puts red rope banners around historic houses so that mere human beings can't touch the precious history! This has got to stop immediately!
I need to take off my 'Don't Touch That' hat, and put on my 'Wahey, Lets See What Happens If We Do This' hat, which is a much more exciting hat anyway.
Part of this is in the way I pitch the project to the young people - less talking about the limitations of a listed building and more of the opportunities that this project provides.
Another part is the way I write documents. Peter used the word 'boring', I prefer the term 'grown-up', but neither of them make for an exciting public document!
Peter also shouted at me for not having made proper contact with the Heritage Lottery Fund yet, so today I've downloaded the Pre-application Form for Young Roots funding, and have started filling in the bits we definitely know about our project. Once Melita's had a go too we can send it to the SW HLF team and see what they think about our project, woop!
On Monday, Melita and I were in the South West for two meetings - one for us to visit Yeovil Foyer Foundation, and the other to meet Langportian young people who might be interested in being involved with the project.
The YFF was a good meeting, Chris showed us around the converted church and gave us details of the building manager for us to ask more indepth questions. He also made a nice little offer for the YFF to deal with all the paperwork if our young people wanted to use our project to work towards an ASDAN Award. We haven't decided whether this is the route for us, or whether other organisations might be able to offer the same, but it has highlighted to me how project partners can still offer useful resources without them stumping up funding.
This ended up being the first of our Serendipitous Connections in that Melita hadn't known about YFF before, and I hadn't realised the extent to which it could be useful, but because we turned up and made the connection with Chris and got details for further connections, we can now use this project as an exemplar further down the road, hooray!
The second meeting was at Art Tea Zen (fantastic name for an unorthodox cafe/teashop).
The original plan here was for Annie to have rounded up 3 or 4 young people for Melita and I to lightly pitch the project to, to see whether they were interested. Out of the original 3, 1 turned up.
I don't really mind this - I'm not so out of touch with young people as to expect them to drop everything and come running when someone says 'church conservation'.
It also led to another Serendipitous Connection; Jack owns Art Tea Zen, he overheard the topic of our meeting and joined in! (he's a young person too). And there was me worrying about enthusiasm levels! Jack seemed very interested in getting involved, and has helped to organise another meeting next week where Melita and I can pitch the project to a larger group so that we can start the ball rolling proper, like.
From this, I learnt that all* the fuss was over nothing - young people aren't that scary, even when some of the young people aren't as young as me. Melita commented on my growing confidence whilst I was speaking, so next time I can build on today's experience and "sparkle" as Melita put it.
*(most of)
Finally, today's work included sorting out some Go&Sees for me and Melita in the near future. One of which is The Station, what I done already blogged about, and the other is the CCT's very own Bristol St Pauls, home of Circomedia, about which you can read in this blog which I wrote in a past-life.
I'm actually really looking forward to next week now, hopefully within a fortnight we will have got our group sorted and can begin doing things! Wooo!
Thursday 17 March 2011
Preparing for Monday's meeting
I've had a final flurry of activity today as I realised that I won't be at work again properly until Monday when the meeting with the young people is happening! Eek!
Fortunately I've got a catch-up with Melita planned for earlier on Monday, where she can reassure me that we are prepared and that young people aren't really that scary...
This afternoon's been focussed on preparing documents that establish the roles of individuals and organisations within the project, after asking the Regeneration Taskforce for some advice I've been given lots and lots of information with about 20 minutes before I go home! Lots of note-taking and keeping things at the top of my mind!
I've been drafting organograms for the project and trying to find an up-to-date one for the Trust. I've also been discussing Memorandums of Understanding, and trying to work out the best method to keep in touch with the young people once they've committed. Good strong business philosophy stuff!
Fortunately I've got a catch-up with Melita planned for earlier on Monday, where she can reassure me that we are prepared and that young people aren't really that scary...
This afternoon's been focussed on preparing documents that establish the roles of individuals and organisations within the project, after asking the Regeneration Taskforce for some advice I've been given lots and lots of information with about 20 minutes before I go home! Lots of note-taking and keeping things at the top of my mind!
I've been drafting organograms for the project and trying to find an up-to-date one for the Trust. I've also been discussing Memorandums of Understanding, and trying to work out the best method to keep in touch with the young people once they've committed. Good strong business philosophy stuff!
Wednesday 16 March 2011
Staff Away Day - Birmingham
Today was a little bit different. We went to Birmingham!
The Churches Conservation Trust hold two annual 'Staff Away Days', one at Christmas to round up the year and one at another significant point in the year. This one coincided with the end of the financial year and the results of the CCT's restructuring due to government cuts to its core funding.
From my perspective the day was very useful, it gave me a good view of how I fit into the Trust, and how the All Saints Langport, Youth Project fits into the Trust's portfolio. The project might be the most important thing for my work at the moment, but its not the most important for the Regeneration Taskforce, or the CCT (the Regeneration Taskforce presented on two other projects in Bolton and Ipswich which have either been granted, or are currently raising millions of pounds for regeneration projects, by comparison, Langport is in the process of raising £25,000 ...)
The day was also a good milestone for making me think about where I'd like to be approximately 1 year from now, at the next Staff Away Day (which I hadn't really put much thought into before now). The conclusion that I came to (which might or might not be a conclusive conclusion) was that where I'd like to be is employed with money from the HLF bid to continue working on the Langport Project as a Project Assistant for the CCT. So the project has taken on a personal development panic as well as a professional development panic. Hooray!...
On a less reflective note, the day was also useful in that I got chatting to Neil, an archaeologist who is also Conservation Manager in the South West for the CCT. Neil has previous experience of working with young people, being the contact with Cathedral Camps* and leading a few youth-based CCT projects, so he may end up a very useful colleague within the Trust!
*I did a Cathedral Camp at Durham Cathedral when I was the tender, innocent age of 18, it was amazing. We got to sweep pigeon poo out of the huge west towers. Here is a picture of me being very cool in some overalls, aged 18.
The Churches Conservation Trust hold two annual 'Staff Away Days', one at Christmas to round up the year and one at another significant point in the year. This one coincided with the end of the financial year and the results of the CCT's restructuring due to government cuts to its core funding.
From my perspective the day was very useful, it gave me a good view of how I fit into the Trust, and how the All Saints Langport, Youth Project fits into the Trust's portfolio. The project might be the most important thing for my work at the moment, but its not the most important for the Regeneration Taskforce, or the CCT (the Regeneration Taskforce presented on two other projects in Bolton and Ipswich which have either been granted, or are currently raising millions of pounds for regeneration projects, by comparison, Langport is in the process of raising £25,000 ...)
The day was also a good milestone for making me think about where I'd like to be approximately 1 year from now, at the next Staff Away Day (which I hadn't really put much thought into before now). The conclusion that I came to (which might or might not be a conclusive conclusion) was that where I'd like to be is employed with money from the HLF bid to continue working on the Langport Project as a Project Assistant for the CCT. So the project has taken on a personal development panic as well as a professional development panic. Hooray!...
On a less reflective note, the day was also useful in that I got chatting to Neil, an archaeologist who is also Conservation Manager in the South West for the CCT. Neil has previous experience of working with young people, being the contact with Cathedral Camps* and leading a few youth-based CCT projects, so he may end up a very useful colleague within the Trust!
*I did a Cathedral Camp at Durham Cathedral when I was the tender, innocent age of 18, it was amazing. We got to sweep pigeon poo out of the huge west towers. Here is a picture of me being very cool in some overalls, aged 18.
Friday 11 March 2011
Rationalising the exemplar project case studies list
Don't worry, I'm not entirely sure what it means either.
Today has been spent turning a series of emails saying 'we should go here!' and 'oooh, this project looks interesting' into a proper document listing the exemplar projects, and ones that we want to use as case studies for our project.
This means first of all sorting them into 'heritage', 'youth' or 'community asset' projects, or a combination of two, or all three. This was the stage where I decided what a great idea it would be to investigate Microsoft Word's SmartArt application in making us a venn diagram of exemplar projects. It didn't go well, I wouldn't recommend it. Its much easier to draw your own venn diagram using the normal shapes.
So anyway, then we establish whether we have a contact for that project and document their name, phone number, email address, website (and some of the more exciting youth projects have twitter accounts). Then a couple of sentences explaining who they are and why they'd be useful for us (and whether they'd be more useful for Melita and I, or the youth group), and any publications they might have made available. Finally we document the stage of contact we're at with them - whether we've got in touch, whether we want to make a trip to visit them, or just speak to them, or get them to visit us. This will eventually include the date that we visited them, the lessons learnt and exactly what makes their project a best practice case study for us, but its a bit early days for that yet.
This document was put to good use almost straight after I finished it as we got a reply from our contact at The Station in Bristol, who gave us lots more people to contact, and places to get training and guidance from. Score!
Today has been spent turning a series of emails saying 'we should go here!' and 'oooh, this project looks interesting' into a proper document listing the exemplar projects, and ones that we want to use as case studies for our project.
This means first of all sorting them into 'heritage', 'youth' or 'community asset' projects, or a combination of two, or all three. This was the stage where I decided what a great idea it would be to investigate Microsoft Word's SmartArt application in making us a venn diagram of exemplar projects. It didn't go well, I wouldn't recommend it. Its much easier to draw your own venn diagram using the normal shapes.
So anyway, then we establish whether we have a contact for that project and document their name, phone number, email address, website (and some of the more exciting youth projects have twitter accounts). Then a couple of sentences explaining who they are and why they'd be useful for us (and whether they'd be more useful for Melita and I, or the youth group), and any publications they might have made available. Finally we document the stage of contact we're at with them - whether we've got in touch, whether we want to make a trip to visit them, or just speak to them, or get them to visit us. This will eventually include the date that we visited them, the lessons learnt and exactly what makes their project a best practice case study for us, but its a bit early days for that yet.
This document was put to good use almost straight after I finished it as we got a reply from our contact at The Station in Bristol, who gave us lots more people to contact, and places to get training and guidance from. Score!
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