New dates have been added for training in June.

See the training section for more information.

ChangeMakers Meeting October 15^th …

 

Was a BIG success!

 

The wonderful turnout included people who are British, African, Asian, European, Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Unitarian, and those of no particular religious affiliation. The scene was very much set for the promise that ChangeMakers holds in store for all member organisations.

 

After a hearty welcome and brief reflection everyone had the opportunity to spend 10 minutes engaging in “one-to-one” sessions. These one-to-one sessions are as the heartbeat of ChangeMakers. It is a powerful time of engagement, getting some idea of what makes a person tick so that the process of community organising can begin by allowing people’s individual and collective interests to be discerned and met.

 

Next we appointed eight temporary trustees who will steer the organisation until the Annual General Meeting. Thank you and congratulations to our new Trustees:

 

• Rev. Daniel Burton, St John’s and Trinity Church, Cheetham

 

• Tahira Sindu, Trafford Asian Women’s Network

 

• Mansoor Hassan, Exiled Journalist Network

 

• Ben Gilchrist, Network (Greater Manchester Evangelical Alliance) and SPEAK

 

• John Kerkula, SEVA Manchester

 

• Vicky Flynn , Manchester Carers

 

• Erinma Bell,  CARISMA

 

• Azeldin El Sharif,  The British Libyan Solidarity Campaign

 

New ChangeMakers staff were introduced:

 

• Ocia Koranteng – Lead Community Organiser. Ocia will be overseeing work in Manchester Changemakers and working directly in South Manchester.

 

• Liz Firth – Bradford Community Organiser. Liz will be developing ChangeMakers in Bradford with close liaison with the Manchester team.

 

• Lorraine Shaw will be part of the Manchester organising team in North Manchester.

 

• Adam Dickson – a volunteer in the North Manchester organising team and helping with administration.

 

The entire team will be working under the direction of Mark Waters, the National Organiser for the ChangeMakers Project, who himself will be working in the Wythenshawe area.

 

We heard from people who recently completed the leadership training.  It was generally agreed that the challenging nature of this training had enabled them to discern their own unique ambitions, skills, and desires for exactly what it is they wish to achieve within their own communities and become powerful leaders.

Dates for the next training session were announced: 6^th to 8^th of March 2009. Anyone interested should contact Lorraine Shaw: lorraines@church-poverty.org.uk

FOUR organisations officially pledged to ChangeMakers. We are proud to announce that the following are our FOUNDING MEMBERS:

 

 

FIRST CALL TO ACTION:

Dave Smith of the Boaz Trust presented the“City of Sanctuary” project – a movement endeavouring to build and nurture a culture of hospitality, in Manchester, for people seeking sanctuary in the UK.

The aim of the City of Sanctuary project is for local groups to work in building coalitions of organisations from all sectors of society which will commit to welcome refugees, asylum seekers, and other individuals seeking sanctuary. The project is highly relevant to the spirit that ChangeMakers embodies, and may potentially become an integral part of our ongoing community organising work.

The meeting concluded with a firm and energetic call to move forward.

The new staff and Trustees will be focusing on key areas in Manchester and holding hundreds of individual meetings to engage with local community groups and organisations. The purpose of these engagements is to gain a sufficient understanding of people’s concerns within their areas so that they may be fed into the larger strategy of the ChangeMakers project.

Training seminars within these key areas will also take place in order to inform people about ChangeMakers and broad-based organising and how to conduct one-to-one interviews within their own communities. The schedule for these seminars is:

 

 

1^st December: Wythenshawe

2^nd December: North Manchester

3^rd December: South Manchester

6^th December: Central and East Manchester

 

Time:  10:30am and 2:30pm. Venues to be announced.

 

The issues which emerge from these interactions will be brought to the next main ChangeMakers meeting on 28^th January 2009.

 

 

If the general feeling in the room was anything to go by, then it appears the words “It’s time to take action” will soon be ringing very true within the city of Manchester…

 

NEXT MEETING: JANUARY 28, 2009

Watch This Space!!!