July 2010  

"In a gentle way, you can shake the world"
Mohandas Gandhi

Mohandas [Mahatma] Karamchand Gandhi (1869-1948) was a great Indian statesman and spiritual leader.  He was noted for his unusual humanity and selflessness and the following story perfectly epitomises this.  Gandhi was boarding a train one day with a number of companions and followers, when his shoe fell from his foot and disappeared in the gap between the train and platform. Unable to retrieve it, he took off his other shoe and threw it down by the first. Responding to the puzzlement of his fellow travellers, Gandhi explained that a poor person who finds a single shoe is no better off - what's really helpful is finding a pair.

The reason I started this month's blog with my favourite quote from Ghandi is to highlight how long-term change can be possible by no more than a collective vision, passion and desire.  Now it is undeniable that many of us can sense the chilly winds of change this summer (and extended services are not exempt from the economic tourniquet that's increasing its pressure around the neck of Children's Services), but it cannot be denied that the partnership work that has taken place over the past half a decade has not been driven by simply pumping in a large amount of resources.  I have real faith that partnership work and those strong school/community links will be a legacy for the future.  Let's face it, if a timid man like Gandhi could change the mindset of an entire country, what change can we make in our small community if we all work together, supporting one another through these difficult times rather than in silos, competitive protectiveness and jealous resistance?  How often did we use to hear ourselves saying 'our budget', 'our project', 'our school', our 'family' or our 'child'?  Seriously folks, if that is the attitude we wish to adopt again then we should give ourselves a proverbial kick up the backside...we can never be the owner of anything other that ourselves. 

After all, what gets put in our coffin is all that we are, and shall ever be the owner of!

This previous sentence leads me to the very sad news I received during June about the sad death of a wonderful man.   Cllr Jim Murray (pictured left with a hyperlink to the Portsmouth News) was a Liberal Democrat Ward Councillor for many years and also our Chair of Governors at Cams Hill School.  His sense of fun and his 'can do' attitude will be very much missed at the school and also at X-Perience Young Persons' Centre where he often popped in to visit our young people.  On behalf of the Cams and Portchester Partnership, our thoughts go to Jim's wife and family during this difficult time.

It was therefore rather poignant that the first full Fareham Children's Partnership Workshop at the beginning of July took place in the new Jim Murray wing at Cams Hill School.  I like to think Jim would have been very proud to see so many different agencies and professionals working together for the good of Fareham children, young people and families in a building named in his honour last year. 

Sticking at Cams Hill Secondary School there's another news story that has recently come to my attention.  On the final day of term when we were busy winding up business before the end of of the summer term, you may have forgotten to pick up the Portsmouth Evening News on the way home.  However, if you did get the chance to glance through our local paper you may have recognised a certain well-known gentleman who is normally seen sporting a smart jacket and tie, photographed wearing a rather striking T-shirt.  One of our generous-natured Cams Community Club members, Wendy Hemsley, nominated Mr David Wilmot (Head Teacher) for the "We can Do It" Award for his contribution to the community.  Rather than going into full detail about this award please take the chance to read the full article at:

Portsmouth News - 'We Can Do It" Winner

The new timetable for the Cams Community Club has now been set for September 2010.  Please feel free to download an advertising flyer produced by Fareham Borough Council below to display at your organisation: 

Cams Community Club Flyer Autumn 2010

In addition, the article for the magazine Hampshire Now (Special Edition for older people) that I mentioned a few months back, is now finally in circulation.  Many thanks to Hampshire County Council Communications Team for sending me a copy hot-off-the-press.  If you are unable to access a copy, please feel free to download the magazine below and be sure to check out my editorial in the 'Hobby Horse' article on page 16.  There is the delightful picture of our older persons' art class working alongside year 10 Cams Hill pupils in the magazine as displayed below.

Hampshire Now - Special Edition Summer 2010

Just down the road in Portchester during the months of June and July it has been a hive of activity, with lots of community news and events.  Firstly we saw a wonderful turn-out for the Gala this year.  The Portchester Castle grounds were a bustling with activities throughout the day, with many families showing their appreciation for the displays, stalls and lining the procession route.  My proudest achievement in the day was that my collection bucket split from the weight of all the pennies.  It was wonderful to see all of the local primary schools involved in the procession this year and I hope that next year we will get more children, young people and their families involved in making costumes and taking part.  This is an important community event for local people - and unlike Notting Hill - we have our very own castle!  Why not start planning how your group or organisation can take part next year so we can make 2011 the best year ever.  There are lots of ideas for carnival costumes on the Internet (for example try ehow for instructions on how to make extravagant Brazilian sequinned, feathered clothing) and remember that taking part in the Gala is a useful way to get some free advertising for your local group, committee, organisation or business.  And like my youth worker colleague Luke, you may even get lucky and win a coconut!!

A Portchester Junior School who were involved in the Gala were also busy in the school grounds preparing for a prestigious competition in June/July.  I am very proud to announce that the grounds of Northern Junior School in Portchester beat more than 200 other school to the title of best in the South and South East In Bloom.  Please see the gorgeous photographs from the school's web site and the article that appeared in the Portsmouth Evening News below:

Pupils scoop Britain in Bloom Award

I shall never forget my first ever visit to Northern Junior School when I carried out my first introductory visits.  I arrived at the school gates and followed the yellow brick road past a tin-can man and real scarecrow to the main entrance.  If you ever get a chance to visit the school gardens then do take the opportunity.  The work that has gone into them is incredible; I particularly love the greenhouse made out of empty lemonade bottles.  School gardening projects really highlight what can be achieved by partnership work and by encouraging volunteers into schools.   It certainly offer pupils an opportunity to get out of the classroom and learn about the environment, life cycles of living things, patience (things can take a long time to grow when you are only 7 years old) and working as part of a team.  You could even use a gardening project to introduce your own intergenerational programme into your school.

If you head down Portsdown Hill from Northern Junior School, then follow the road past Castle Primary School and round the corner into White Hart Lane you will eventually arrive at Portchester Community School in the centre of the village.  It is a perfect location as the month of July saw the school hosting the first ever International Arts Festival 'Family Fun Day' event.  I used this event to kick-start my walk training ready for facing my mountain in August and so I packed up my rucksack and trekked over Portsdown Hill, reaching the school by midday; a little hot and flustered I must confess, but certainly glad to be able to take my walking boots off, leave my rucksack in the conference room and relax for a while. 

By the time I arrived the school it was already busy with workshops, performances and art displays inside the school, and a BBQ, live music and face painting taking place out in the Quad.  Even the notorious inflatable stage was being put to good use by Clive's Easy Learn Pop Music School.   I joined some of the former year 11 students at the Bollywood Dance Workshop and Street Dance Workshop (carried out primarily in a seated position due to my aching joints) and watched various performances and a family drama workshop before trekking home along the coastal path. 

May I say congratulations to Portchester Community School for such a successful event. It was so encouraging to see so many local families, especially dads, enjoying themselves and getting fully involved.

The following Wednesday evening, rather than hiring an expensive, leaking marquee, Portchester Community School took over Fernham Hall and staged their spectacular annual International Performing Arts Festival.  The early evening performance was delivered by the Primary Schools, then followed later in the evening by the Secondary School performance (and community choir).  As expected from a Performing Arts Specialist School the standard of the performances was outstanding; in particular the internationally acclaimed steel pans and the BTEC dance students choreography/dance performances.   Well done to everyone involved in the planning and final performances. 

That same day I was also invited to attend another celebration event, this time the invite came from the young people at Portchester Community School who had been involved in the Ubuntu Project.  This project is funded by extended services and facilitated by Fareham Youth Services (Jeanette Barker, Full-time Youth Worker, Odyssey Young Persons' Centre), the Safer School Partnership and Hampshire Fire and Rescue Services.  The young people shared what they had learnt from the programme over the year with their special guests and parents/carers.  From the smiles in the photographs it certainly looked as though they had enjoyed the organised trips to Osmington Bay and the Brecon Beacons during the programme.   Congratulations to all of the young people who successfully completed the Ubuntu Project this year and I hope they will treasure their certificates and lovely framed photos presented by Maria Calway-Kennedy, Youth Services Manager for Fareham and Gosport.  To read a little about the second year of this award winning partnership project, please take a look at the Portsmouth News article dated 7 December 2009 below:

Firefighters' drive paves way for kids

This leads me nicely onto a conversation I had with Maria last week at X-Perience Young Persons' Centre (the relocated office for Fareham and Gosport Youth Services) as she was about to take a 'holiday' at a special Guiding Centenary Camp in July.  Now you may not be aware, but one in four eight year old girls in the UK today are Brownie Guides and almost 50% of all British women have been involved with Guiding at some stage of their lives.  Indeed my mother was a Brown Owl for most of my formative years (and she only volunteered as camp cook...but ended up with the whole pack) so I have wonderful memories of Brownie Pack Holidays in various church halls over the years. I am still quite proud that I taught dozens of little girls how to dive into swimming pools headfirst (the early teacher in me emerging) and also how to blow fart noises on blades of grass.  For more information about the validity of girl guiding in the 21st century, please take the opportunity to view the BBC report below:

Girl Guides celebrate centenary

I am delighted that many of our CAPP schools offer facilities to our local Rainbow, Brownie and Guide Packs.  These groups offer a fantastic opportunity for girls and young ladies to participate in safe extended school activities, on their doorstep, and at a very low cost.  I would therefore urge schools to keep room hire costs as low as possible for such charity groups and organisations, as payment for room hire is inevitably passed along to parents and carers.   Please remember the value of offering facilities to such groups will be increasing your extended school core offer, and inevitably impact upon the self-esteem, self-confidence and attainment of the girls who attend.  For instance, going away on a week's camp with the Brownies I learned a great deal of resilience; and I also learnt how to make a decorated pot out of Plaster of Paris, a jewellery tree out of an old branch and a handbag out of a few pieces of felt.  And by golly, this saved me years of buying expensive presents for my poor mum and I'm sure all of that unintentional recycling early in life shaped me into the eco-friendly adult I have become...

...but I do occasionally wonder what she did with all of those 'lovely' home-made things I made!?!

In July we also saw Portchester hosting a Big Lottery funded event for young people aged 11 - 19 years.  This event was organised by Fareham Borough Council and took place on the field adjacent to Portchester Community Centre.  Extended services offered their assistance with conducting the consultation about the event with young people before, and during the event.  In particular, a certain extended services coordinator (clears throat uncomfortably) had a great deal of fun trying out all the inflatable equipment as part of the evaluation process.  But the 'real' work began when I invited young people to tell us what they thought about the event.  They were then asked to write their comments on T-shirts (for positive comments) and Pants (for negative comments) and hang them on my washing line.  It was a wonderful evaluation method suggested by Emma Barrett at Fareham Borough Council and I am happy to say that almost all of the feedback from the event was positive.  I had a washing line almost full of T-shirts at the end of the day.  I just couldn't resist putting in a picture of Tony Hopkins (Childcare Development Officer) riding the bull when the 'grown-ups' had their chance to play at the end of a long day.

Portchester Community Centre also hosted a fantastic afternoon/evening at the Portchester Music Event in June (pictured right) organised and run by young volunteers in Portchester.  The attendance rate was fantastic and it really was a bargain night out for young people at only £1.00 a ticket.  When I finally crawled home at 11.30pm I had blood on my t-shirt and my ear plugs had been put to very good use - but I must say that I actually had a really enjoyable evening.  Well done to all of the young people who were involved in organising and running this event and especially to James Cannons who oversaw the whole process.

Another v-involved community programme at Portchester Community Centre is the new 'Mural Project'.  This community mural has been painted by young people, organised by Hana Moss (pictured left).  Thank you to all of our partnership members who took the opportunity to pop into the community centre to paint a daisy on the mural - the painting is now finished and ready for waterproofing.  I look forward to showing off pictures of the finished painting when it is fixed to the outside of the old building.

Until the Children's Centre are able to access the extended services funded community room at Red Barn Primary School for events, we still need to rely upon the good old British weather and provide outreach services outdoors.  During July the Children's Centre staff and a couple of our youth workers packed up the gazebos, craft equipment, banners and balloons then took ourselves out into the community to the far reaches of the Children's Centre catchment area around Cams Hill.  The professional magician was amazing with the children, although I wasn't so sure of his performance when he squirted me with his water-filled camera, but it was lovely listening to the laughter from the little ones.  It was a very successful, albeit small event and we took the opportunity to fill in some e-start forms for local families.  Well done to Bev and Claire (Children's Centre Coordinators) for all of their hard work - and how clever of you to you to organise the clear sunny skies on the day!

I would like to finish this month's Blog on a high note as I shall shortly be setting off on my fund-raising crazy expedition in the High Atlas Mountains. You can read more about my trip by visiting my June Blog.  I also promise to load some of the photos from my mountain trek on next month's blog for my kind work colleagues who have sponsored me.  While I am away on my blister mission, I wish all of our partners the best of wishes for the remainder of the summer break. I look forward to seeing you all (refreshed and relaxed) again very soon. 

I shall leave you with this final uplifting story about Gandhi's experience of education.  I hope it makes you consider what a gem every child has the potential to eventually become; whatever their circumstances:

"You must be the change you wish to see in the world"

Mohandas Gandhi