Annual Report 2011
Conscious as we are of the problems facing society at this time, we are very grateful for the continued financial (expenses) support the Workplace Chaplains in Essex and East London receive from churches who make up ‘Churches Together in Essex and East London’ (CTEEL). Two chaplains are full time and the other 12 who are in post at this time meet together once a month as a Core Team. With the support of lay and ordained voluntary chaplains, the Core Chaplains maintain strong links with the management and workforces they minister to in the retail, commercial, local government, emergency services, transport, construction and manufacturing sectors of our economy. So, here follow reports from Core Chaplains. Chris Bishop, Team Leader and Chaplain at Stansted Airport
In the past year, things have been rather disheartening in Colchester, the many regeneration projects within the town centre have not been started and many streets are beginning to look run down and shabby. It has also seen shops closing down, some opening up, but then closing down after a short time. The town as a whole is beginning to look unloved and in need of care and attention. In saying that the chaplaincies that my associates and I have have gone from strength to strength, with another associate taken on the chaplaincy to Waitrose at the end of last year. At Christmas I ran an Advent Trail in the town centre, which consisted of 24 shops opening a window each day during Advent culminating in a town wide carol service on Christmas Eve. My Police chaplaincy is going well, but with many staff losing their jobs, or, as I write still not knowing the outcome of the reshuffle, the morale as you can imagine is very low. I seem to have spent much of my time this past year with those who are facing unemployment. The problem I face is what can I do about it, in a practical way? I’ve even been asked about organising a march through Colchester – maybe I can’t do this, but what can I do that shows them I want to stand alongside them in their pain and anger? Alison Finch
In 2010, Volunteer Workplace Chaplains in Chelmsford continued to serve in the Royal Mail at Victoria Road and the Boreham Sorting Office, at Chelmsford Bus Depot, Asda at High Chelmer and in Essex County Council offices at County Hall. Prayers were answered when three new volunteers joined the Chelmsford Team, enabling workplace chaplaincy to be offered to the Units on the Duke’s Park Industrial Estate, The High Chelmer Shopping Centre and The Meadows Shopping Centre. The recession has taken its toll in all areas, as workforces were restructured and downsized. A particularly high staff turnover was noted at the Royal Mail Sorting Office, which is now highly mechanised and where early retirement packages attracted many who have been replaced by short-term contracted staff. Low morale is common here as it is at County Hall, where many have been the victims of local government spending cuts. Thus, new faces are more commonly seen than familiar faces and the visiting chaplain is often ‘starting all over again’. That said, the retail sector here is relatively stable and buoyant. The High Chelmer Shopping Centre is expanding and the news that John Lewis is coming to Chelmsford and that City Status is to be applied for again in 2012 has lifted the spirits of many. Carol Smith
The Ilford Town Centre Chaplaincy has been in operation for the last two years. We have experienced ups and downs this year. Our team has lost one member (she sadly passed away) and one new member. It has being exciting to see a growth of ministry within the town centre through work in the local Sainsbury. The team continues to be made up of an ecumenical group of Christians who try to offer a listening ear to anyone regardless of age, gender, religion etc. The Chaplaincy Service is available to everyone who works or shops in Ilford Town Centre. The Ilford churches together have become involved in the chaplaincy through the offering of prayer support and a desire to widen the type of work offered by the chaplaincy team. This offers an exciting development for the future and with continued prayers we hope it will grow to extend into different areas of the town centre. Marie Segal
Braintree chaplains are involved with local government and the retail trade. Experiences in the past 12 months have included: a Filipino lady wanting to set up a charity for the poor of her home village; a 30 year old man whose idea of a “career change” was to be a missionary (“any faith will do”) who was guided towards community volunteering; supporting people both young and not-so-young who face redundancy; supporting a shop manager after marital breakdown; being invited to speak about British life at classes for immigrants from Pakistan; attending Council managers’ briefings. Just a typical year – makes you wonder what is the point of Workplace Chaplaincy! David Dickens
Basildon has, as it has been since I began Chaplaincy here, an area of constant change and transition. We are watching the structure for the Olympic training pool for the aquatic sports, this will eventually be a much needed stadium for the future of these sports in Essex and further afield. Like many areas around Essex, the changes are not always for the best as we have seen many businesses close and unemployment increase. The main focus for my work has been the factories and offices where many staff have been made redundant. And, of course we are waiting to see how many the Basildon and Grays police division have to lose. But there is hope in the engineering sector that has taken on several new hourly paid workers, with the intention of increasing this at a later stage. I am also in the process of arranging a training day for the five lay chaplains who assist me in the town centre shopping area and the neighbouring town of Wickford. I have seen examples in the past year of an increase in discussion of faith, which also leads me to think that God is very much in the grand scheme of things in industry and commerce in the Basildon district. Long may that continue. Ian Swift
It’s been a busy year in Stratford and the London Thames Gateway , especially as 2012 gets closer. I’ve spent a lot of time working with Stratford businesses on exciting plans for showcasing the area (regeneration); but also on all the practical issues during the Games, like how businesses can keep functioning when roads are closed and they can’t get their deliveries in. I’ve also been very busy during the past year on the development work for the new Chaplaincy and space for faith (inSpiration) at the Westfield Stratford City shopping centre that opens in September 2011. Carol Richards
Opportunities opened up when the minister at Church Langley designed and produced a life size mannequin display of the Nativity. We had the use of a shop for prayer and the presentation of charitable and voluntary service resources in Harlow. It made contacting and developing relationships in the retail sector so much easier than cold calling. We have lost jobs in Business, Council and Charities over the last year and mere numbers do not convey the hardship and challenges that individuals and families are facing. We had a prayer vigil for unemployment on Shrove Tuesday, including both testimonies to the difficulties and candles of hope. We pray for the creation of new jobs in Harlow. The farming community in the surrounding rural parishes have a quite different set of circumstances from the town and I am seeking to learn from my coffee chats with a variety of farmers and clergy. The Church and community came together for carols in the Harvey Shopping Centre and Praise in the Park in the period of Pentecost. We also had a good attendance for the walk of witness on Good Friday. Robert Findlay
In Purfleet it is like so many other areas where fear and the reality of redundancy is certainly having a major effect on people’s lives right across the workforce, and as a response we have started a club for the unemployed. We seek to offer help and support at such a difficult time, but take up has been slow, but we have been able to help one person find employment possibilities and an interview. We are in the process of setting up a community trust so that the work we have been doing here in Purfleet can continue as we seek new funding opportunities that hopefully we will be able to tap in to, but times are hard for charities and funders too. Andy Hudson
The workplace chaplaincy has quietly been doing good works in the Olympic Park and Athletes Village. It has continued to support and listen to people who have sought us out. As the Olympic venues reach completion and the workforce is laid off, so members of the chaplaincy team have also completed their work roles and have left the site. By the summer’s end our part in the work will also be completed and the chaplaincy team to the construction workforce will end. Our place in the changing history of London will stop, but the seeds we have planted for Christ by our presence will in due course come to flower, so, in that way the work will continue. The Olympic Park Chaplaincy work I have been involved in is to be highlighted in a Songs of Praise programme, which aired on 19th June 2011. Kelvin Woolmer
This year has again been an exciting year at Lakeside. We now have 8 chaplains working with us in the main shopping centre together with one new chaplain who is now working in the out of town retail park in Thurrock. During the year the chapel has been refurbished and is being used by staff and shoppers alike. We have had two students of the Diocesan Pastoral Studies course working with us, which has been a great encouragement. We have had permission to use the main mall on several occasions for exhibitions, including Palm Sunday giving out over 3,000 palm crosses to shoppers and staff. The team has also provided the staff newspaper with an article each month which goes out to 5,000 Lakeside employees. Colin Phillips
The work at the Crown Court at Snaresbrook has grown this year both in the quantity of activities and the number of people reached. The work falls into two main areas. The first among the staff (about 200 judges, magistrates, admin, security, clerks, ushers, loggers, caterers etc) and professionals (police, crown prosecution service, probation service, witness support etc). These are visited at least once a week. There are services in the Chapel for them at Christmas with the candlelit service which 400 attended, Armistice Day (250) Ash Wednesday, Ascension Day, in Holy Week, as well as a weekly prayer meeting. The second area is with the court users i.e. defendants, victims and their families, jurors, police witnesses and visiting barristers. The chapel and prayer room are open during the lunch hour for them to spend time in reflection, prayer or simply being quiet. There are refreshments available and helpful literature. There is also the opportunity to talk to a member of the Chaplaincy Team. It has been a great privilege to be able to minister to so many people at a stressful and difficult time in their lives. Shaun Moore
Ever wondered what it might be like landing in another country where you don’t quite speak the language, don’t know where everything is, don’t know anybody; and when you do start getting to know a few bods, how they connect with anything or anyone? And then, you have to start doing stuff straight away because the new year has started and everyone else knows what they are doing and seem to think that you do too! That’s a little bit of how it felt as I started my new role as Chaplain to Anglia Ruskin University in Chelmsford in September 2010. Chucked in at the deep end. But what a great place it is and full of great people doing great things - I love it! So far, I’ve been working mostly with staff as I learn my way around and get known as the new Chaplain. We’ve put on some very good events including Remembrance Day and Carols around the Christmas Tree, which drew big crowds who very much enjoyed being together at those times. I’m currently working on a new initiative for International Development, which has its genesis in an old and well established Chaplaincy Project. Mission Croatia, which itself is happening again in June. We take around 40 staff and students to Croatia for 2 weeks, working in 3 local hospitals, serving them mostly by DIY and some care work with clients. There’s a lot to do at a big Uni’ like this, and there’s a real value to Chaplaincy in these difficult and uncertain economic times in the post-Browne Report era. There are plenty of anxious staff wondering about their jobs, and plenty of anxious students who wonder whether they’ll ever get a job that had anything to do with their degree. So, please pray for the work of the Chaplaincy here. Tony Cant
The work of the Chaplain is to minister in the circumstances of the day, the chaplain may be challenged by them or not, but the focus must always be on those to whom they minister. Essex Fire and Rescue Service like all other Government funded agencies are currently having to implement 25% cuts in the budget over the next few years. Inevitably it means that some jobs are being lost. Except that is not just a job. More often than not it is a vocation to work in the Fire Service. Something of whole life lived in the context of work—and fire fighters do that. And if the work is vocational then being made redundant is not just being told you have not got a job. It’s being told that who you are as a person is no longer wanted. The dangers and damage done by a society living by pure economics is deep indeed. Tim Ball