Re-siting the regular feeding station

On 29th September and 10th October, there were morning meetings with the HANR outreach team and city centre management at Willcox House, requested by Police Sergeant McNeil, in charge of the city centre. This was to consider the possibilities for re-locating the nightly meal distribution station. Paul Hocking and Keith Kimber attended.

A meeting of SCFRG convened at short notice was held at County Hall on evening of the 10th to report and discuss the outcome. Meeting notes, with an account of both sessions will be found here.

Third Training Evening

The third of the series induction training evenings for Street Carers was held at County Hall this evening, with eighteen volunteers attending.

SCFRG meeting at TAVS

The SCFRG met on this evening, visiting Glenwood's TAVS centre for ministry to the homeless for the first time, welcoming members of Gweini, and Sergeant Karen O'Neill, who is responsible for city centre policing. Notes of the meeting can be found here

SCFRG meeting

The SCFRG met 29.06.10 at County Hall to continue its review of training sessions, and progress in setting up accreditation and Street Carer i/d cards.

Notes of the meeting can be found here
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SCFRG meeting

The SCFRG met 13.04.10 at County Hall to review the second training evening, and preparations for forthcoming additional training modules.

Notes of the meeting can be found here
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Second Training Evening

Last night at County Hall, eleven new volunteers went through the second induction training evening.

Altogether, 25 people were present, apart from the volunteers, there six from the HANR team and six from SCF.
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SCFRG meeting

The SCFRG met again at County Hall on the 2nd March 2010, and welcomed Ceri Davies and Phil Lewis of the HANR team for the first time. Progress on creating i/d cards for registered Street Carers, and new service user information leafelets was reported to the group.

Minutes of the meeting can be downloaded here.
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Food safety training

After tonight's SCFRG meeting, Paul Kirkwood sent the following valuable information on food safety training for publication.

On-line training package, Level 2 Food Safety Training for Caterers:

Cost is £28.75.

Otherwise you can contact the Council for a classroom session

Cost is £55. Details of the training are here, and the programme is here

The certificate is not time-bound, although the Council recommend a refresher course every three years.
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Progress reviewed

Paul Hocking and Keith Kimber met with members of the Council's Hub Team this afternoon, (dealing with homelessness and housing to review the pilot course training, and discuss dates for further training events.

One basic training in each school term is the agreed aim, with several advanced training modules added in. Details to be confirmed at the next SCFRG meeting.

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SCFRG meeting

The SCFRG met on 30.11.09 at Thornhill Church Centre, to review the first training meeting in the light of feedback and sketch plans for further training sessions in the coming year.

Three basic training sessions, one per school term, is the aim for 2010, with three additional in depth sessions also to be arranged on special topics.

Work on producing Street Carer i/d cards for training attendees who have registered and CRB checked is now under way.

The WALLICH'S newly produced Rough Guide to Sleeping Rough in Cardiff was introduced to the meeting, and attention drawn to another new and useful document for those in Street Care work - The Rights Guide for Rough Sleepers, which can be downloaded here

A record of the meeting can be downloaded here

Feedback from the training meeting can be downloaded here
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SCF First Training Session

The first training evening for Cardiff Street Carers took place this evening at County Hall. Present were 75 people, comprising 68 volunteers, 6 members of the City's Housing and Neighbourhood Renewal Team and 1 Salvation Army worker.

Presentations on a variety of aspects of Street Care work were made by five volunteers and five professionals. Details of the programme can be found here.

An edited video of most of the evening's contribution is available here.
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SCFRG briefing for Pastors

At its meeting 13.08.09, the SCFRG decided to invite church leaders and street care team members from across Cardiff to gather and receive a briefing on the work of the group over the past nine months, and plans in hand for training and accreditation of Street Care volunteers, and the formation of a partnership with statutory agencies concerned with housing and social care.

Twenty eight people attended, including pastors from fourteen churches.

The response of the meeting was an encouragement to the SCFRG to continue with plans for the training evening. he date for this is now set for 6th October.

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SCFRG meeting

Tonight's meeting in County Hall, was attended by several members of the Rainbow of Hope Management Committee. The group had previously stated that it no longer wished to be part of the on going initiative of the Street Carers Forum, and attended on this occasion to give an explanation of their reasons for this decision.

The Representative Group accepted this with much regret, and resolved to continue with the plans already agreed, and work towards setting up a formal partnership with the City Council, making use of a common set of standards and an agreed policy of safe working practices.

A record of the meeting can be downloaded here
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SCFRG meeting

Summary notes of the 9th July SCFRG meeting, agreed for publication, can now be downloaded from here

The next SCFRG meeting will take place at County Hall on Thursday 13th August at 7.00pm.

On the agenda for discussion will be a draft paper outlining safe working policy and practices for Street Carers. This can be viewed here
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Progress set back

Our aspiration to mount the pilot training course on 9^th July has fallen short of being able to deliver.

That evening’s pilot training session must be put back to an, as yet, undetermined early autumn date, in order that the SCFRG can meet again for a thorough review of policy established so far, and to strengthen the relational foundation.

The consensus building process of the past nine months has effectively stalled, and has left the SCF unable to speak to the City Council with one voice. What we have achieved so far is not yet fit for purpose.

If you have reserved that evening to attend the training, please note that it will NOT now take place on that date, and please let others know.

Your prayers for the Representative Group meeting on that evening would be greatly appreciated.

Street Carers Initial Training Session

A date and venue are finally confirmed for the pilot training session for Cardiff Street Carers.

County Hall, Atlantic Wharf, Committee Room 1

7.00 - 10.00pm

Thursday July 9th 2009

The agreed outline of the evening's content can be downloaded from here

An email has been circulated to all who have attended a Street Carers' Forum meeting and given a contact address.

Everyone has to register for this event, to help with organisation, and planning for future events.

There's a .doc file of the registration form you can edit, and email back to our brand new email address :-

cardiffstreetcarers@googlemail.com

There is a .pdf of the registration form you can download, print and post to 'SCFRG Scribe', c/o St John the Baptist City Parish Church, St John Street, Cardiff CF10 1GJ

Please do your best to return a form, by one route or another before 2nd July.

Street Carers Forum Representative Group meets again

The SCFRG met tonight at County Hall to review plans for the forthcoming volunteer training session. It's not been possible to set a firm date for the event, due to diary conflicts on the part of several whose contributions are sought. Agreement is being sought on a midweek evening in the second half of June or early July.

An outline plan of the evening is appended to the notes of the meeting, which can be found here

The date of the training will be posted on this site, as soon as it is agreed.
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Easter inspiration

'Rainbow of Hope' founder Elizabeth Perret-Atkins was interviewed by the Reverend Roy Jenkins on the Easter Sunday edition of BBC Radio Wales' programme 'All Things Considered', which reflected on the importance of food in Christian experience.

You can hear an extract from the programme here

The latest 'Rainbow of Hope' newsletter can be downloaded from here
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Forum Representatives meet HANR team

Ten members of the Street Carers Forum Representative Group met tonight with Mike Friel and Paul Whittingham, plus two observers interested in the work.

Working on the basis of the Terms of Reference the discussion focussed on what would be required to realise a formal partnership agreement between the Street Carers Forum and the Council, within the framework of the existing Voluntary Sector Compact framework.

Preparations to lay on a training scheme for team leaders and volunteers, with a pilot evening session for evaluation purposes in June, were discussed, informed by a document prepared for the Representative Group by Louise Thomas. Louise and Paula will liaise on the provision of suitable content and people to deliver it. The Representative Group will meet again at the end of May.

An account of the deliberations of the meeting can be found here
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Representative Group first meeting

The representative group established at the meeting of 28th January last met with all members present for the first time tonight, to review the draft terms of reference and share ideas about the subject matter for a proposed induction / training evening for Street Care volunteers. The group will be known as the Street Carers Forum Representative Group (SCFRG). Whilst it's a bit of a mouthful, the title affirms that its purpose is to represent as far as possible the views of the Street Carer fraternity, both in consensus and diversity, in building a partnership relationship with the City Council and other bodies.

The agreed revised terms of reference can be found here

An account of the deliberations of the meeting can be found here