PROJECTS IN THE DIOCESE

(For further information, contacts or to help with any of our projects, please contact the  MUoffice)

Parenting                           

One of the special aspects of the Mothers' Union Parenting Programme is the fun and enjoyable way people are taught facilitation skills through a participatory approach. Mothers' Union has developed and extended the support it was already offering to parents in the parish and wider community with its Parenting Programme, which trains members to lead and facilitate parenting groups. Each parenting group varies enormously. Typically a group consists of six to ten parents and meet for six to eight weeks. They share with one another the joys and challenges of being a parent, learn more about the parent child relationship, and develop friendships and mutually supportive networks.

The trained facilitator helps the parenting group become more cohesive, open and able to talk about experiences and ideas.

Facilitators encourage parents to attend groups by pointing out that everyone can have difficult times and sometimes wonder if they are parenting in the best way. Facilitators are not experts and don’t have all the answers. They are there to help the groups work closely together and to give encouragement. Videos, books and leaflets are used as the groups share problems and pleasures and help each other in the hardest job anyone can have.

Parenting courses are held across this diocese with particular success in Churchdown.

Prisons

Mothers’ Union is involved nationally with over 80 prisons throughout the UK and Ireland. There are now over 1,000 Mothers' Union members who volunteer in a variety of roles, many of which are under the auspices of the Chaplain.

There are currently more than 73,000 prisoners in the UK, with projections indicating that this could rise over the next 10 years to in excess of 100,000, unless action is taken.

Mothers’ Union’s involvement in prisons is very varied; sometimes Mothers' Union is in sole charge of running a project or initiative. On other occasions Mothers' Union provides volunteers to work in conjunction with another organisation inside the prison.

In Gloucester Diocese Mothers' Union helps in three prisons:

HMP Eastwood Park -The small group of volunteers from Thornbury Branch continue to visit the Mother & Baby Unit at the Women’s Prison. Their visits sometimes consist of attending the Nursery out of working hours to chat with the mothers and other times assisting the Nursery staff in taking the babies out of the Prison on visits.

 Leyhill Prison Visitors’ centre - Volunteers are still helping at the Visitors’ Centre but there is a need for more help here for the Visitors’ Centre Play Area. This is a very valuable service to the families of the prisoners and it would be good to ensure to continues.

HMP Gloucester - Mothers’ Union Volunteers now take a very active part in helping at the Visitors’ Centre of Gloucester Prison. The volunteers work under the direction of Castlegate Family Trust who are responsible for all aspects of the Visitors’ Centre.

Volunteers work on rota, as often as they wish,and help the families of the prisoners by working in:

•    the Tea Bar, (serving drinks and snacks) 

•   the Play Area, helping the Play Workers to entertain the children

•  working with the Courts Liaison worker in Crown Court

 All the volunteers seem to be enjoying the challenge of this fairly new project and the staff at Castlgate Family Trust are very grateful for all the help that Mothers’ Union gives.

Mothers’ Union AFIA (Away From It All) Holiday Scheme

Mothers’ Union AFIA holidays are a practical and important way to help support family life. Each year the MU nationally offers on average 600 families a holiday through the AFIA holiday scheme.

The scheme is funded by the members of Mothers' Union and enables around 1,000 adults and 1350 children to get away for a break in the UK each year. Each diocese has a team of Mothers' Union members who organise the scheme. They will normally help with part of the cost of a holiday or with travel expenses. In some cases they are able to pay the whole cost but diocesan funds are often limited. The scheme is open to anyone who is under stress. Applicants do not have to be a member of a church or any organisation. It is also possible for people to apply personally or on the behalf of someone else. Each application needs the support of one of the following professionals such as a clergyperson, doctor, head teacher or social worker. Other basic information such as when the family last had a holiday and the reason why they would like a break should also be included.

AFIA is also arranging days out for The Haven including outings to Farm Park, Weston-super-Mare and the Activity Day.

Community

Mothers' Union is involved in many ways with local communities.

• Help with the elderly : 24 branches help in residential homes or day centres

St Catharine's Mothers' Union run a "Knit & Natter" group in Wotton Rise Nursing Home on the 1st Wednesday of the month making squares for blankets to be sent to Oxfam

• Children : 36 branches run or help with Mother and Toddler groups, Children's clubs and pram services

• Open the Book: 8 branches run or help with this initiative to take Bible stories into Primary schools.

Spectacles for Africa

Mothers' Union members collect and wash unwanted spectacles to be sent to African countries. This has had much more significance since the Literacy Programme began. Hundreds, if not thousands of pairs have been sent over the past few years . The picture below from Rwanda shows some delighted recipients!

All these spectacles have to be washed and packed and we were glad to hear from Denise Fenley :

WHAT A SPECTACLE – OR SPECTACLES!!

Tomato or vegetable?  That was the question posed by our hostess Sue Watson, as eighteen Mothers’ Union members from Cheltenham Deanery sat down to a lunch she had kindly provided.   We had spent the morning sorting and packing what seemed like hundreds of pairs of spectacles which had been collected by the branches in the Diocese, it is amazing how many can be amassed in twelve months.

It was necessary to have several groups of us, each with a different task, a great way to meet and chat to members from other branches and to renew friendships with people we had perhaps only met at the same place last year – a real social occasion.

One group took the pairs out of their cases and sorted out those not required, for instance bi-focals and sunglasses are not suitable to recycle.  The second group packed them into boxes with paper between layers to prevent scratching.  A label stating that the members of Gloucester Diocese had sent them was included in all twelve boxes before they were finally sealed and sent off to Vision Aid, a charity who send trained optometrists to third world countries to test and dispense relevant glasses to people who would not be able to afford them & who have often walked miles and waited for hours to be seen & given some specs. We have also seen a video of the work done by Vision Aid in Ethiopia

What a wonderful sight to see the transformation from various bulging plastic bags to neat packages ready for transport.

We are so pleased to think of all the people who will benefit from the glasses. Being able to read more easily must make a big difference to their lives in so many ways.  Seeing how many that we throw away each year is quite a humbling experience.

Can you please keep this project in your minds this year and continue to pass on your specs. That are no longer needed via the Mothers’ Union office it is a way of reminding us how lucky we are to be able to replace them on a regular basis and to count our blessings while helping those less fortunate than ourselves.

Thank you for all your support in the past year. We look forward to meeting again next January to deal with your contributions, renewing friendships at the same time as helping others.

(Feb 2010)

Well done again, Cheltenham Deanery! The photograph below bears but a passing resemblance to the picture above from Burundi  - the smiles on each speak volumes of the pleasure of giving and the pleasure of receiving: