Events
We're excited to be working with partners to continue to equip and empower people to support their community to thrive and flourish via online training!
Online events and training sessions / workshops are a key part of our work.
Each week we create a menu of events and trainings to equip you to serve your community and wrestle with difficult issues like poverty, community cohesion and modern slavery during lockdown.
This page is updated regularly, so keep checking for the latest sessions.
Page updated 14th September 2021
This month
Saturday 18th September 2021 - 10:00 to 12:00
“Let’s Talk” - Real conversations that make a difference
This event focuses on how to stay safe and protect our children from the evils of criminal exploitation, human trafficking & modern slavery.
The Lichfield Diocese Mothers’ Union (LDMU), Lichfield Cathedral and Transforming Communities Together (TCT) are inviting families from across the Lichfield Diocese to come together for this ground breaking event.
This is a call to action, to gather and to equip!
We are bringing together Mothers’ Union member, their children and their grandchildren (from 10 years and upwards) at Lichfield Cathedral for two hours to focus on the real dangers of criminal exploitation, human trafficking and modern slavery.
There is power in multiple generations coming together to explore this growing issue, that threatens all ages.
We’ll be sensitively discussing how we might work together to keep our children safe, valuing the input of the children themselves. This is a unique opportunity to engage with our LDMU members, their families, and the wider church.
Hosted by Lichfield Cathedra, we will be blessed with the support of:
• The Children’s Society
• West Midlands Police Violence Reduction
• Blue Bear Coffee company
What will the format be?
It is a call to action, as this event will be centred around the narrative ‘What will you do next?’
Everyone in attendance will be working together in family groups to create their own action plan.
It will be an engaging, interactive session for all attending, with quizzes, talks and art.
Why?
With alarming figures reported in April 2021, we must act now. Our children are at risk and we MUST act together to ensure that they are safe.
No matter where we live, there is real danger. During the pandemic, many vulnerable people have been targeted here in the UK. Reports of sexual and criminal exploitation increased dramatically during the pandemic. Our children are being groomed into drug criminal gangs in so-called ’county lines’ trafficking, forced begging and shoplifting. The BBC reported recently that a 14-year-old boy was recruited in less than 80 minutes on social media.
Need more information?
Please contact info@tctogether.org.uk
21st September - 4pm to 5:30pm
Dementia Introduction - Dementia Friends and Dementia-Friendly Churches
If you're embarking on becoming a more dementia-friendly church, why not come along to one of our online "Dementia Introduction" session?
It's a great opportunity to invite other from your church or community to come along and understand more about dementia, using the national Dementia Friends programme. And you'll also find out how you can take next steps, supported by the Diocese of Lichfield Dementia-Friendly Churches network.
Dementia & Spirituality Day
Thu, 23 September 2021
10:00 – 13:00
Training for the Diocese of Lichfield, equipping us to use our "Dementia-Friendly Churches Toolkit" videos on "Dementia & Spirituality"
780,000 across the country are living with dementia, many supported by family carers. Many people affected by dementia are part of their local church or faith community. How does our experience of dementia affect our faith?
"Dementia and Spirituality" has two aims:
- To encourage you to have a conversation, ahead of the session, with someone in your church or community affected by dementia, asking them about spirituality/faith. In that conversation, explore whether and how their spirituality/faith has been shaped by their experience of dementia. Use this "Conversation Prompts" sheet for your conversation. And come to the Training Session with (one or more) direct quotations from the people you have listened to, ready to share these at the start of the session. It's good to hear people's own words: they have a powerful impact.
- To try out together the "Dementia and Spirituality" videos which are part of our Diocese of Lichfield dementia-friendly churches toolkit, so that we equip participants to use these videos locally, with members of their church and community. The main part of the Training Session will be spent using these videos. We will watch them together in the session. And we will share time in breakout groups, reflecting on them. We'll finish the morning by looking at how we can use them effectively in our own churches and communities.
This session is for the Diocese of Lichfield Dementia-Friendly Churches Network. If you are not in the Diocese of Lichfield, please speak to Sarah Thorpe before booking in to this session: sarah.thorpe@lichfield.anglican.org or 0798 224 8949
Dementia-Friendly Churches Network meetings
THURSDAY 21 SEPTEMBER
7-8:30pm: Telford / Wellington / Newport / Albrighton / Shifnal Local Network Meeting
IN PERSON (!!) Contact Sarah for further details
TUESDAY 28 SEPTEMBER
2-3.30pm Wem / Whitchurch / Market Drayton Local Network Meeting
Join Zoom Meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87419952771?pwd=UE8zQWR3SG5tZGdqdzlURkFSdFc2UT09
Meeting ID: 874 1995 2771 Passcode: DFC
(Or, if you prefer to join by phone, dial in on 0203 901 7895 or 0203 481 5237 (Meeting ID: 874 1995 2771 Passcode: 240573).)
If you want a bit of help on how to use Zoom, here’s a 7-minute video to explain more. Sarah is happy to have a "practice" on Zoom connections, ahead of a meeting, if that would help you. As always, you're welcome simply to phone or email her to keep in touch, if that's the way that works best for you..
Coming up in October…
Wednesday 6th October - 2pm-4pm & Tuesday 12th October - 7pm-9pm
An Introduction to Becoming Trauma-Informed with TLG by Transforming Communities Together
About this event
During these last few months of pandemic, lockdown and huge uncertainty, many of us will have experienced some measure of stress, grief, loss, bereavement and anxiety. Becoming ‘trauma-informed’ and responsive is about developing an awareness of attachment needs, and responding in a way that shows understanding of the impact of toxic stress.
During this free 2 hour online taster session we will explore different attachment styles, how trauma effects healthy emotional development, and how best to respond to behaviours and emotions relating to this.
This is great refresher to build on learning for those who attended ‘The Emotional Rollercoaster’ and a fantastic way to begin your journey on becoming trauma-informed. This training is hosted by Transforming Communities Together (TCT) and delivered by The Lighthouse Group (TLG). It is open to anybody who is interested in expanding their skill set and in journeying sensitively with other people, and will include some Christian content.
Come and join this skilfully facilitated training session, to learn more about becoming trauma-informed, as we seek to care well for ourselves and more fully support those around us.
Regular Events
Modern Slavery Awareness Training
We will then be having a break in August, but we’ll be resuming regular sessions in September:
- Thursday 23rd September 2021 @ 10:00
- Thursday 30th September @ 19:00
We're delighted to be working with Lichfield Diocese Mothers' Union to deliver weekly online Modern Slavery Awareness Training. This is for anyone, because Modern Slavery is present in every major town and city, and increasingly in rural areas too!
We want to create a communities that are safe for all and where everyone can thrive and flourish.
Contact Debbie for more information.
Women Together Wolverhampton
Fortnightly on Thursdays
Time : 11-12pm
Meeting dates for Sept - Nov 2021
- 23rd September
- 7th October
- 21st October
- 4th November
- 18th November
Join via Zoom:
Zoom Meeting ID: 179 646 785
Meeting ID: 179 646 785
Join a local Bringing People Together (BPT) group
Bringing People Together is an National Lottery funded network, designed to connect people to others from the comfort of their own home.
We have an expanding number of groups across the Black country and Staffordshire (and hope to get some across northern Shropshire).
Check out the website to find a group near you!
Join a Place of Welcome
Many of our Places of Welcome across the Black country, Staffordshire, Stoke-on-Trent and northern Shropshire are starting to reopen.
The are a safe way for anyone to (re)connect, belong and contribute.
Find out more here
Are you one of these 1 in 6 people with a lived experience of a disability?
At least 1 in 6 people in our communities (significantly more in those aged 60+) are impacted by difficulties with mobility, vision, hearing, or living with some kind of physical or mental disability - many of them hidden.
The Enabling Church team would love you to join their network. They'll be offering regular online meetings to help people share their experiences and build relationships with others from around the diocese.
Email them at Enabling.Church@lichfield.anglican.org