lighthouse newsletter issue #2
TRANSCRIPT
1 registered charity #1135584
www.lighthouse-weston.org.uk
Sparkle and Shine!
November was an eventful month to say the least for everyone involved in Light-house, but two gala events shared the limelight in what was a busy, but thrilling, few days for our charity.
Jane Macpherson’s cheeky request that Hugh Cornwell (caught left -by Ross- “tuning up”!) should head south to play in the unusual setting of St Paul’s Church, paid divi-dends, as the night went without a hitch. Several hundred people went home with hope in their hearts after a two hour set in which Hugh took his fans through a musical journey spanning no less than five decades. From the early days of The Stranglers playing Slade covers in work-ing men’s clubs in Wolverhampton, to travelling the world off the back of hit singles like Duchess and Always the Sun, Hugh Cornwell charmed an audience that had travelled from as far afield as Birmingham to hear his acoustic set.
The Lighthouse team, led by Jo and Jane, ensured that security was tight and that the bar was well stocked, whilst Wendy Dover unfurled the Lighthouse flag in the stalls signing up a few more volunteers and even a couple of new Lighthouse Keep-
ers into the bargain. With £4 per ticket sold and 50% of the bar takings we can expect to have raised upwards of £1,000 through our collective efforts and through Jane’s initiative. Hugh posed for pic-tures and signed autographs for a full 45 minutes and as a steady stream of smiling young-at-heart wannabe punk rockers shuffled off into the W-s-M chill, we lost count of the number of re-
quests to do something similar again soon!
And just a few days later, the annual Sparkle Dinner provided a fitting finale to what has been a momentous year for Lighthouse. A more detailed article will feature in the January 2016 issue but the night will be remembered for a crowning crooner’s performance by Marvin “da Jazzman” (pictured above)!
We wish all of our clients, volunteers and supporters a very happy and blessed Christmas.
Christmas can be a season of extremes.
Whilst we celebrate with great joy the birth of Jesus and the
hope of new life that He brings, many people find it extremely
difficult to cope during the holiday period.
I’m so grateful for Lighthouse, churches and other charitable
partners who all play a vital role in creating the support networks
which keep Weston’s communities together.
They are like the Christmas Angels who announced God’s favour on humanity by saying
‘don’t be afraid!’
So thank you for caring and Happy Christmas!
Tom Yacomeni, Lead Minister, Locking Castle
In This Issue
Project Updates
What’s in a shed?
Volunteer View
Trussell Trust
My Favourite
(Christmas) Hymn
“The concert was a real
triumph” said Denys
Rayner, Chair of Trustees.
“It showed that Lighthouse
can do these things really
well and was an excellent
way to raise awareness for
our cause. Well done all”.
The Lighthouse Post
Bringing hope to Weston’s people in need December 2015
Volume 1 Issue 2
ISSUE #2 DECEMBER 2015
The Foodbank provides food and
provisions for people facing hardship
throughout the year. We work with over
150 local agencies and provide 50-60 food
parcels a week to families/individuals who
are in need of emergency help.
The Foodbank team are now taking a
collective breath after collecting 5½ tonnes
of food during the harvest period. The
volunteers, as always, were amazing
checking every item of food before putting
it away. The new stock room is almost full
and waiting in anticipation of the National
Tesco's 3 day Christmas collection to see
how our talented stock rotators will work
wonders with creative storage!
SUPPORTING PEOPLE IN CRISIS
Become a
Lighthouse Keeper
If you feel able to give a regular
donation of £5 or more a month we
would be delighted to welcome you
to our growing illumination of Light-
house Keepers. In return you will
receive a membership card that enti-
tles you to 20% off all bookings at
The Hub, a mailed copy of this news-
letter to keep you up to date on all
aspects of our work and a comple-
mentary gift to remind you of your
commitment.
Register your support here and we’ll
do the rest or search for Lighthouse
at Weston at www.localgiving.com
And help us to keep
our light shining in
W-s-M in 2016
Steve Anderson, President of the W-s-M
Chamber of Commerce recently emailed Jo
to say that for the 2016 Business Awards
the Executive Committee had voted
overwhelmingly in favour of Lighthouse
who together with Weston Hospice Care
will receive a share of funds raised.
“I’m delighted to be able to inform you that
we would like to contribute to the great
work that you and your team achieve at
Lighthouse” said Steve. “I hope you will
accept this proposal and we look forward to
raising as much funds as possible”.
We gratefully accepted. Thank You.
GUIDING LIGHTS
“What ParentWise has achieved
over the last 7 years would not have
been possible without the help of so
many people. Thanks to everyone
behind the scenes; fund-raising,
admin, session support, prayer ...”
Julie Lanham, Project Supervisor Lighthouse Weston
Just a typical common all-garden shed to
you or I, but not to Mrs. Rene Taylor,
mother of our very own trustee Abbi
King. This unassuming little shed is in
fact a veritable swap-shop, full of books
and various items left over by holiday
makers throughout the summer and
then recycled to the next batch of happy
campers in return for a donation. In a
bumper 2015 season Mrs. Taylor has
raised over £600 for her daughter’s
favourite charity which is (of course)
Lighthouse! God Bless You, Mrs. T.
A Shed Load of Cash!
IT’S CHRISTMAS
Gillian Garforth’s favourite
yuletide hymn is
Joy to the World
“It’s so good it should be sung all
year round” says Gillian, Volunteer
Coordinator, Lighthouse.
My Favourite Hymn
ISSUE #2 DECEMBER 2015
Lighthouse runs English classes for people
for whom English is their second
language and who want to improve their
conversational skills.
STRENGTHENING
Lighthouse works in partnership with a
local treatment center Western
Counselling to help people in the latter
stages of recovery from addiction.
Working alongside volunteers on
practical action projects in the
community, volunteers learn new skills
and gain confidence as they rebuild their
lives and prepare to return to work.
TRAINING
This project provides for small groups of
married couples to engage with one
another using inspiring and thought
provoking materials which help their
relationships to grow. A new “Couple
Connect” initiative based on the popular
“Come Dine With Me” TV series is about
to be launched by Kevin and Mandy
Wood … sound interesting? Email:
STRENGTHENING
The Lighthouse community choir brings
together a group of people of all ages
who meet to sing, have fun and raise
much needed funds. Don’t forget it’s a
busy month for the choir with two big
events taking place at St Paul’s Church.
On December 13th Lighthouse and St
Paul’s are Christmas Caroling and 3 days
later on 16th it’s the Christmas Recital.
STRENGTHENING
Lighthouse supports families by offering
courses on parenting and anger
management. The trustees will be
looking to find a new project supervisor
in the new year to fill the rather large gap
left by the outgoing Julie Lanham.
In the 7 years since Julie started with
ParentWise over 800 parents have been
through the program and Julie still bumps
into parents from that time who remind
her of the strategies they learned and
how they have applied them (and go on
applying them) as their children have
grown up.
From January Julie will continue to
facilitate a small number of courses from
Locking Castle Church only.
STRENGTHENING Lighthouse runs a weekly basic skills class
for adult learners that includes award
winning digital photography, cookery,
literacy, numeracy and creative arts and
crafts. At the street art exhibition at the
Hub on 3rd to 6th December, our art
teachers Jackie Barnwell and Liz Rayner,
together with our wonderful
photographers Simon Parry and John
Wyatt will be displaying their work.
“The event provides a great opportunity
for us to showcase the talent that comes
from Vision4Skills” said Wendy Dover,
Project Coordinator. “Please come along
to support our teachers and students”.
Email: [email protected] for info
TRAINING
@Lighthousewsm
The Lighthouse at Weston is a company limited by guarantee No 7128063. Regis-tered Charity No. 1135584, Registered Address: c/o St Paul’s Church Office,
Walliscote Road, Weston-super-Mare, BS23 1EF
ISSUE #2 DECEMBER 2015
A word from our sponsor
“Let us not become
weary in doing good”
Galatians
6:9
Lighthouse provides free meals every
week for up to 50 people at King’s Table.
A committed team of volunteers cook
delicious hot food and provide a safe and
comfortable environment to relax and
chat with the street support team.
King’s Table Christmas Party at St Paul’s
10th December 2015.
SUPPORTING PEOPLE IN CRISIS
FUN-DING FACTS
Donations in 2015 came from:
Agilisys, Souter Charitable Trust,
Quartet Community Foundation,
The Mayor’s Charity Fund,
McDonalds Franchisee
(Lambradt Ltd), Royal Mail
(Weston), The Weston Lions
Club & Zurich Insurance.
Email your fundraising ideas to:
The Hub A space for groups to meet in the heart
of Weston-super-Mare, convenient for
the railway and buses and with nearby
parking available at reasonable rates.
Training Room seats 30-50
Meeting Rooms seat 8
Creative space for up to 25 people
Hot desks available to book
Email: [email protected]
Burgers for Lighthouse
McDonalds will donate £1 to
Lighthouse for each car that uses
their drive-through facilities in
W-s-M on Saturday 5th Decem-
ber, so if you fancy a quarter-
pounder with fries or one of those
new wraps, make sure that you
drive through on the first
Saturday in December!
Volunteer View There were 43 new volunteers for
Lighthouse in 2015, 6 went back to full
time employment whilst 26 continue to
volunteer and some have moved away.
On a week-to-week basis we have 96 reg-
ular volunteers plus Laila Rizvi, an intern
from Plymouth University, who is helping
the project supervisors and Lighthouse
Central at The Hub whilst carrying out
some valuable research.
Western Counselling continue to provide
amazing support, whilst in the
summer we had teams from Lloyds Bank,
British Gas and TSB who helped us to get
The Hub ready. Thank You all.
Email: volunteer@lighthouse-
weston.org.uk
Trussell Trust & Tesco
Will be collecting donations for
foodbank at participating Tesco
stores on the 1st weekend in
December 3rd, 4th & 5th—Tesco
also top-up customer donations
with a 30% financial contribution,
so get involved (and don’t forget to
drop in) by clicking here or go to :
http://www.trusselltrust.org/