Other News

Nilupul wins Heritage Lottery Fund support

 

Nilupul Foundation, a charity based in the heart of Dundee in Reform St, has received £44,400 from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) for WHA’S DUNDEE.  Led by young people, the Wha’s Dundee project will celebrate and preserve the unique and diverse migratory history of Dundee’s ethnic minority population, investigating just what it means to be Dundonian in 2013.

In collaboration with  other local organisations, (The Shore, Hot Chocolate , DEAP, the Macara Youth group at the Dundee international Women’s Centre (DIWC) and the Yusuf Youth initiative (YYI)), local young people are learning film making, and interview skills to help them gather together these fascinating personal histories which will be at the heart of a new documentary film and digital media archive to be showcased on November 9th at the Hannah Maclure Centre, Abertay University during the  5th NEoN Digital Arts Festival running from 2nd-9th November 2013.

 

The ‘Wha’s Dundee’ project will run throughout the summer and young people interested in getting involved can find out more by contacting Julie on 01382 872020. www.facebook.com/whasdundee.

Change Makers – A brand new social enterprise project in Dundee

 

Change Makers is a brand new Dundee social enterprise project which aims to inspire and empower young people, particularly from the Black & Ethnic Minority background to make a difference to their community through campaigns. The idea is to ‘Think Change. Promote Change and Be Change’. Everyone wants to make a difference and resolve the world’s problems, so Change Makers gives young people an opportunity to be heard and to showcase their views to the community. Along with helping to make a difference, Change Makers helps give confidence to young people through personal development. Change Makers helps young people find the right kind of training, volunteering and employment opportunities.
 

At the moment, Change Makers is promoting the One World Week campaign, which although a global initiative, is hoping to inspire the Dundee community and its residents to make a global difference but at a local level. Change Makers hopes to communicate with various different parts of the Dundee community, whether that is charities, youth groups and community centres to hold a series of events and activities which raise awareness on the issues of local and global poverty, environment and global injustice.  One World Week takes place on the 20^th-27^th Oct this year.

NHS Tayside’s first Community Chaplain in Dundee

 

As of the 3rd of June 2013 NHS Tayside Department of Spiritual Care employed their first community Chaplain for Dundee, Alan Gibbon. In Dundee the Community Chaplain has responsibility for Chaplaincy in Mental Health; Children with Complex Needs; Chaplaincy in GP’s Surgery’s under the “Do You Need To Talk?” programme and developing the service of community Chaplaincy in Dundee.

Alan is keen to get to know community projects in Dundee and would welcome the opportunity to come along and introduce himself and to explore the possibility of how you might work together in partnership and collaboration.  Alan can be reached on alangibbon@nhs.net or by calling 07917183773.

A little background - Alan was born and bred in Dundee and after a time working as a welder and in insurance Alan decided to pursue a career in Ministry.  He spent a year at Dundee College in 1996 before studying Theology at the University of St. Andrews graduating in 2000.  He did further training with the Congregational Federation being recognised on their Roll of Ministry in 2002. 

Alan was ordained into Perth Congregational Church in August 2000 where he ministered for 2 years before moving to Knightswood in Glasgow in September 2002 where he ministered for a further nine years.  As of July 2013 Alan has become a minister of the United Reformed Church. During this time Alan developed a keen interest in Chaplaincy through his work with the schools. 

Alan first worked with NHS Tayside as the part-time Chaplin to Blairgowrie Community Hospital in October 2010 before taking up the full-time post as Chaplain at Rachel House Children’s Hospice in Kinross in July 2011.  He has now returned to NHS Tayside as of June 2013.  In 2013 Alan completed the Postgraduate Certificate in Healthcare Chaplaincy at the University of Glasgow and he is now going on to study for the diploma.

Lord Provost to unveil new Peace Pole for Dundee

 

A weekend of special community activities and events have been planned to celebrate International Peace Day this year. Events will also highlight the success of local community-led initiatives which work to address inequality and suffering in the city. Festivities begin as darkness falls on Saturday 21^st September with a Light Projection in the city square sharing a very unique message of peace.

The highlight of the weekend will be the public unveiling of a new Peace Pole by Dundee’s Lord Provost, Bob Duncan, in the city square at 3 pm on Sunday 22^nd.  The Pole will be a lasting monument to the shared wish for world peace from the people of Dundee. The unveiling will be accompanied by a peaceful reflection led by local Buddhist teacher and interfaith champion Lama Jiga and the celebrations continue with a stunning World Peace Flag Ceremony.   

 

The planting of a Peace Pole in Dundee has long been championed by local Peace Day organisers and community charity, Nilupul Foundation, Dundee Interfaith Association and many other local community organisations and faith groups and the long awaited pole arrives in the city this year with the full support of Dundee City Council. Commenting on this year’s events, Dr Julie Wardrop of Nilupul Foundation said: “We are thrilled to be finally planting a Peace Pole in Dundee and we hope that all of this year’s Peace Day events will be an inspiration.  At a time when Dundee is transforming physically and culturally, these events symbolise fresh hope for the future of the city and its people.  May Peace Prevail On Earth”

IF you would like to volunteer at this year’s event please contact Julie at Nilupul Centre on 01382 872020 or e-mail: info@nilupul.org.

Passage from India and the Priority Areas Committee win EAPN Award

Passage from India and the Priority Areas Committee of the Church of Scotland were one of the three organizations that won the European Anti-Poverty Award (EAPN) 2013 in the NGO category for Transnational Learning & Inspiration. They will be presented the award in a ceremony on September 30, 2013 in Brussels. The Passage from India project started with a visit to India by 13 women from 7 deprived communities from Glasgow where they visited self-reliant groups. Since their return they have formed themselves into Self-Reliant Groups in their home communities.  

Self-reliant groups are autonomous groups based on the principles of self-help, solidarity and collective enterprise. They are usually small groups of women who aspire to change their socio-economic circumstances. They initiate small microfinance schemes to support members of the group. As the groups have grown and extended, a lot of training and mentoring has been part of the approach to develop personal empowerment, self-confidence and economic aspirations of the women. Currently, there are more than 50 such groups across Scotland, involving over 350 women from deprived communities and they have formed an association.

Big Lottery – Support and Connect Fund supports the Council and four local projects in Dundee

There were 59 projects across Scotland funded to the tune of £9M by the Big Lottery Support and Connect Fund recently. 

Dundee City Council has been awarded £339,237, which will be used to address the impacts of Welfare Reform.  In response to growing hardship, the project will create a Task Force of 7 officers, a team of frontline, multi-skilled staff, working in local communities, to address the key issues people face. The aims of the project is to (a) provide early intervention and local support to mitigate impact on existing advice agencies, reducing number of basic enquiries (SNS Level 1) they receive, enabling them to focus on more serious ongoing case work – addressing growing issues of supply not meeting demand and (b) ensure a joined up approach to supporting people through welfare reform, where possible in their communities.

Four other projects in Dundee have also been funded; the detail is as follows -

Transform Community Development - £128,560 - Funded through Support and Connect this group will expand on their current Fareshare project to allow them to deliver food to individuals as they currently only provide to organisations and charities. They will build on relationships with Local Authority Housing and Social Work Departments to ensure they reach hard to reach groups across Dundee.

Dundee North Law Centre - £169,687 - Funded through Support and Connect, with 20 months funding the centre will develop their Fighting for Forgotten Families project, supporting vulnerable families on low incomes affected by welfare reform. Support includes welfare advice, employment tribunals, weekly family support activities and joint working with a range of organisations/agencies. They are talking about supporting over 5,000 families.

Deaf Links - £110, 263 - Funded through Support and Connect this group’s 'Connect Hear Advocacy Project' will provide a dedicated welfare benefit and financial advocacy service to support 100 deaf and deafblind people in the Dundee, Angus and Perth & Kinross local authority areas (Tayside) who are experiencing hardship due to welfare reforms. They will receive specialist support to enable them to have equal access to mainstream support services.

Perth CAB - £288,104 - Funded through Support and Connect this Citizens Advice Bureau will lead a partnership project with Angus and Dundee CABs to expand their welfare advice services, provide outreach clinics and provide home visits. They will also link up with 12 other partner organisations.

Hear about the impact of Welfare cuts through SCVO Welfare Reform Group

 

In recent months, the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO) has been bringing together representatives of a number of different organisations working alongside people experiencing the impact of welfare cuts. The overall picture is, according to many within the Group, ‘pretty grim’. The Group would be very interested in hearing from faith groups working in local neighbourhoods where they are encountering similar or different issues as we try to raise awareness of just how bad things are becoming for some of our very poorest citizens and challenge government – at all levels – to make changes. You can make contact through Martin (e: mjohnstone@cofscotland.org.uk; t 0141 248 2905).