Events

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 24th September 2021

This month

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

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..

Covid Cash Course

COVID Cash Recovery (CCR) is a free online course which up-skills churches, charities, community leaders and organisations to provide information and resources, to help their communities recover from money issues that have arisen due to COVID-19.

Due to the financial chaos of the Coronavirus, it can be difficult for people to know what they’re entitled to, all the options of support that are available to them and how to cope financially.

COVID Cash Recovery is a 2 hour webinar workshop which trains you to help others through giving accurate information and signposting. The workshop covers:

• General entitlements
• Universal Credit
• Budgeting
• Government and charitable grants
• Money strategies for making it through these next few months
• Help with bills
• Debt

Generously supported by Allchurches Trust, the National Lottery and Nationwide, over 1,700 churches, charities, organisations and community leaders have so far been trained.

These sessions are run by our national colleagues - Just Finance Foundation

• Wednesday 29th September 2021 (12:30-14:30) Register Here
• Tuesday 12th October 2021 (10:00-12:00) Register Here

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.

Dudley 'Worrying About Money?' Leaflet Launch

Tue, October 12, 2021 - 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM

The launch of Dudley's 'Worrying About Money?' leaflet.

Based on learning from Scotland's A Menu for Change project, Dudley's 'Worrying About Money?' leaflet has been co-designed to help people experiencing financial insecurity, and those supporting them, to easily identify and access appropriate financial support and advice. By helping people access any existing financial entitlements and advice on income maximisation, the hope is to reduce the need for emergency food aid.

The Dudley 'Worrying About Money?' leaflet is a step-by-step guide that:

• starts with the money problem situation/s someone might be facing (Step1)

• explains the options available that could help (Step 2)

• includes contact information for local organisations that can directly support people with these options (Step 3)

This launch event is an opportunity for frontline workers and volunteers in Dudley to hear more about the new leaflet and how to use it. Types of support available will be highlighted and awareness raised about the services that can help someone facing financial crisis or money worries.

We will be welcoming representatives of partner organisations who have worked together to co-develop the Dudley leaflet to share their experiences and thoughts. They will reflect on why a cash first response to food insecurity is fundamental and how access to appropriate money advice and support can help reduce the need for charitable food aid. Partner organisations include Citizen’s Advice Dudley and Wolverhampton, Dudley Welfare Rights Service, Dudley Council, CHADD, Warmer Homes West Midlands, Springs Church Debt Advice, Just Straight Talk, Castle and Crystal Credit Union and Age Concern Stourbridge and Halesowen.

These cash first referral leaflets have been successfully co-developed in multiple local authorities in Scotland and work is underway to co-produce further leaflets in local authorities across England, Scotland and Wales. You can find out more here.

The roll-out of this resource in Dudley will be supported by future training sessions designed for food bank staff, volunteers and other frontline workers.

Book your place for the launch via this page and we will send the zoom joining details shortly before the event. If you have any questions ahead of the event, please contact Sabine Goodwin (sabine@foodaidnetwork.org.uk)

You can access the Dudley ‘Worrying About Money?’ leaflet online here and order free hard copies of the leaflet here.

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 30th September @ 19:00
• Thursday 14th October @ 19:00
  
• Thursday 4th November @ 10:00
• Thursday 18th November @ 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

• 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