		The Gloucestershire Churches Together Forum Meeting Hucclecote Methodist Church, Tuesday, 20 October at 7.30p.m. Food at a Global Issue: Speaker, Chris Short, Countryside and Community Research Institute, University of Gloucestershire. ALL WELCOME Alison Evans (County Ecumenical Officer) 01453 824034
		A Quiz Night with Fish and Chip Supper, Friday 23rd October Royal National Lifeboat Institution Cheltenham Branch St Luke’s Church Hall, at 7.00 for 7.30pm Tickets £8 from Fay - 01242 261330 or Frank - 01242 233177 The RNLI is the charity that saves lives at sea
		Women’s World Day of Prayer Cheltenham Study Day - Friday 20th November, the Friends Meeting House, Warwick Place Theme: “Let everything that has breath praise God” arranged by the Christian women of Cameroon 10.00am for coffee, until 3.00pm. Bring your own lunch. There will be a charge of £2 to cover expenses The day will include some familiar aspects, such as the slides of Cameroon and a Bible Study to be led by the Rev Rachel Rosborough, Curate at Holy Apostles Church, Charlton Kings. However, be prepared for some new things too! Please bring a headscarf or piece of material at least 18” or 46 cms square as brightly coloured as you can find. Gloucester Seminar Thursday 8th October at the Elim Christian Centre, Park End Road, Gloucester, from 10.00am to 3.00pm
		Cheltenham Street Pastors Street Pastors is an inter-denominational Church response to urban problems, engaging with people by caring, listening and talking. Street Pastors are nonjudgmental and will give time and love to anyone. They are not about preaching but about helping people - the gospel is at the heart of what they do and why they do it but not at the forefront of what they say. Cheltenham Street Pastors will offer support, practical help and a visible presence ministry from the Christian churches to those who are out in the town late at night. They will reassure folk who may feel vulnerable, help reduce the fear of crime and be a listening ear and offer genuine, non-judgmental pastoral support to those who need help. Cheltenham Street Pastors will operate in the centre of town in shifts of groups of four from 10.00pm to 4.00am initially on a Saturday night. Volunteers will be expected to work a minimum of one night per month. A Street Pastor must be over 18, attend a local church, have a positive reference from the leader of the church of which they have been a member for at least one year and receive a satisfactory enhanced CRB check. Street Pastors will be provided with a uniform and full training. They will be expected to commit to a 12 sessions training course spread over a number of Saturdays/weekday evenings. The training course includes subjects such as roles and responsibilities, street safety, first aid, counseling skills, drug awareness, and sociology The cost of putting a Street Pastor on the streets is about £300 and at present no funding is available for this. Each Street Pastor is therefore being asked to help by finding this money which will be used to offset the cost of mandatory training and uniforms. It is possible that churches or supporters may help volunteers in raising this money. REQUIREMENTS FOR A STREET PASTOR In deciding whether a volunteer will be accepted as a Street Pastor the following requirements will be taken into account. This is not an exhaustive list and is included as a basis for discussion. Volunteers will be expected to demonstrate the following: * a commitment to the ethos of Street Pastors, including a commitment to service of others in the name of Jesus. * a commitment to the training process, making efforts to be present and participate fully. * an ability to work as part of a team, following the directions of the Senior Street Pastor. * a sufficient 'street understanding' to be aware of danger and not be easily offended. * a non-judgmental attitude. * a sense of understanding of the need to be dependent on God's Holy Spirit and an awareness of spiritual issues. * a sufficient physical fitness to be able to withstand the demands of the ministry without compromising the safety of the team. * a commitment to a Christian lifestyle, including no use of illegal drugs, no excessive use of alcohol and no problems with gambling. FURTHER INFORMATION ABOUT STREET PASTORS Further information about the work of Street Pastors can be found on their website - www.streetpastors.co.uk The website contains a number of videos from different locations under the “Current Locations” section of the website including particularly videos from Lincoln (Midlands) and Aberdeen (Scotland). APPOINTMENT OF STREET PASTORS The Street Pastors Agreement states that "Volunteers must be the right people – we don’t just take anyone who offers, but carefully select based on talent, skill, experience and motivation". A prospective Street Pastor is asked to fill out an application form. They will then have an interview with the Local Co-ordinator and members of the Management Committee following which the decision concerning the acceptance of the volunteer will be communicated.
		Want to make a real difference? Cotswold Care Hospice volunteers needed Just a few hours of your time could make all the difference. Cotswold Care Hospice supports hundreds of people in our county with life-limiting illnesses. We need volunteers to help with customer service and on the till at our charity shop in Bath Road, Leckhampton Contact Clare Eccles on 01242 574101 or email clare.eccles@cotswoldcare.org.uk
		Gloucestershire College Chaplaincy There is a need to establish a chaplaincy team at the Cheltenham Campus of Gloucester College as a regular presence, probably on a Wednesday lunch time around 12.30-1.30. This needs volunteers who feel secure in their faith and would be able to commit to a regular slot (during term time) where they would be a visible presence in the common areas of the college, chatting to students, playing pool, building friendships, answering queries or sign posting them to other departments. An interest in contemporary culture or youth work experience would help as we have a high percentage of 17 - 25 year olds. Ideally the team would be multi faith in time, so this is a factor that volunteers need to feel comfortable with. It would require an enhanced CRB check by the College too. Please take some time to consider this and contact susan.carter@gloscol.ac.uk if you would like to explore this further.
		Set the the Breast Cancer site as your home page The Breast Cancer Site is having trouble getting enough people to click on their site daily to meet their quota of donating at least one free mammogram a day to an underprivileged woman. It takes less than a minute to go to their site and click on 'donating a mammogram' for free (pink window in the middle). This doesn't cost you a thing. Their corporate sponsors/advertisers use the number of daily visits to donate mammogram in exchange for advertising. Here's the web site! Pass it along to people you know. http://www.thebreastcancersite.com/
		Leckhampton Court Hospice - Drivers Needed We need volunteer drivers to assist with the transport of patients to and from our Day Hospice service on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. This will extend to Mondays and Wednesdays in the near future. If you are able to offer us some time as a volunteer driver please contact the Volunteer Service Team at Leckhampton Court on 01242 246272 or email Amabel.mortimer@suerydercare.org
		From: Bethlehem Bible College Subject: Gaza Appeal Dear Friends and Prayer Partners, Thank you for your prayers and concern for the Gaza people. At BBC we have five students from the Gaza Strip and we have some refugees from Gaza that are staying in Bethlehem and are visiting us at BBC. We have also been in direct touch with friends and relatives in Gaza. What they tell us is all the same: they have no food, no water, no electricity and they are afraid for their lives. Once the war is over we will find more about the amount of destruction and the loss of life. The news agencies do not have enough access to the Gaza Strip due to Israeli prohibitions. Therefore it is difficult to find out exactly what is going on. I suspect things are much worse in the Gaza Strip than what we are seeing on our TV screens. From our direct contacts with the folks in Gaza we have learned that people are in need of security, food, fresh water, electric power, fuel for cooking, clothing and blankets. BBC, through the arm of the Shepherd Society, is working with local churches here to try to raise funds for Gaza. Attached is a letter of appeal for this purpose. Sincerely, Bishara Awad Download PDF letter
		Gloucestershire Drug & Alcohol Service (GDAS) - Volunteers Needed We are looking to develop new channels for attracting Volunteers, currently in the areas of Alcohol and Mental Health, who can spare a few regular hours each week helping us offer services to clients. Further information posters can be downloaded as PDFs Alcohol Mental health
		Catholic Mass at Delancey Hospital Conference Room of Delancey Hospital on the First Friday of each month at 11.15am. Also, the Sacrament of the Sick given to those who wish to be anointed.
		Cotswold Celtic Fellowship We are a small group of Christians drawn from various church backgrounds who for a number of years have been exploring Celtic Christian Spirituality as an expression of faith in contemporary society where a large majority of the population today have no significant association with Church. The idea for Cotswold Celtic Fellowship was originally conceived as a means to reach out into the parishes surrounding the village of Elkstone in the Cotswolds near to Cirencester. This was founded on an already established work of supporting the incumbent rector through the parish church and also through a home based ministry of a couple in the village. For several years we met on a Sunday evening once a month at the 5 Mile House pub near Cirencester as a means of connecting with people who might not have come to church, but who would find the atmosphere and environment of the pub non-threatening and could relate to the music and the Christian message in such a setting. This came to a close at the end of December 2006. Our vision now as a team which we believe God has given us, is to provide opportunities through leading alternative Church services, for people to experience His love, presence and power through the means of Celtic music, spoken word and contemplation using prayer spaces. To find out more about us Please contact either: Andy and Barbara Hall Tel No: 01242 584711 Email: andyandbarbara.hall@virgin.net Richard and Bobbie Johns Tel No: 01242 863317 Email: bobbiejohns@yahoo.co.uk