Winter Night Shelter During Christmas Week

This is week five of the 18 weeks that Brighton & Hove Churches operate their winter night shelter for 15 homeless men and women. We offer our guests shelter, warmth, safety, a hot dinner, books, newspapers and games, conversation and companionship, a comfortable bed, a nourishing breakfast, and as much tea or coffee and biscuits as they can consume.

In return, they offer us a tangible opportunity to meet Christ in the guise of the hungry, homeless, addicted and disturbed. Occasionally the encounter is rich and even blossoms into genuine friendship, usually it is transient - and sometimes it is disquieting. We know that we give the crumbs from our table, in return they offer us something valuable, a practical opportunity to care and to serve.

This is the Christmas Week of the shelter and we have a strategy for dinner tonight. While the other six churches in Brighton & Hove will likely be serving traditional Christmas fare, heavy on turkey and the trimmings, we will prepare a self-service buffet with a variety of foods. Importantly, we will push the boat out tonight, with decorations and fine food, to try and give our guests a memorable experience in this most important of weeks.

To start, we found an elderly and forgotten Christmas tree in one of the storerooms and Georges, backbone of the volunteers and master chef, made it look respectable once more.

At one end of our parish room we erected the guests' collapsible beds and put their bags by the beds. Seventeen beds and bags travel round the churches in a mustard-yellow van, 'Carol'. Each morning they are loaded into the van and driven to the next night's church where they are unloaded. The bags contain the guest's bed linen, duvets, pillows and wash bags.

In the kitchen Cassie is hard at work, preparing the starters. There are roast chicken legs, cooked prawns, cold cuts of salami, German sausage and ham, tuna fish rice, quiche, green salads and potato salad...and more.

There are a dozen volunteers on hand tonight - the Evening Shift is very popular, especially over the Christmas Week. After our team meeting and prayer, we scatter to finalise last-minute preparations. Chef Georges poses for a souvenir photo by the buffet tables, which now included the main courses, of which the highlights are poached salmon, turkey in tomato sauce and gammon ham in mushroom sauce, accompanied by a cheese board.

In the final minute before the doors open for the guests, the volunteers and Fr. Kevin Dring pose for a Christmas photo at the decorated tables.

Thirteen men and one woman sit down with the dozen volunteers for dinner. After grace, Fr. Kevin has a surprise gift; a parishioner has donated rosaries and prayer cards for each of the guests. Fr. Kevin has blessed the rosaries and, when he offers them, the majority of the guests ask for them. The conversation is light and the food given proper attention. Queues form for second helpings and most of the food vanishes. The dessert table has a selection of richly decorated cakes, mince pies and chocolates - but tempts few of the guests. Instead, Imelda's home-made trifle is deservedly popular and one guest has several helpings of the Tiramisu.

After dinner some guests go outside for a final cigarette. Others, exhausted by a day spent walking around in the cold and occasional rain, are ready for bed. By ten thirty the guests are fast asleep, the tidying up is done and the Overnight Shift has arrived to relieve the Evening Shift who, tired but happy, depart.

By six-thirty in the morning, the guests are stirring. The Morning Shift has been busy for half an hour, the bacon and fried eggs are sizzling in the pan, the baked beans bubbling, a smell of hot toast and coffee is in the air. Unusually - because it's Christmas week of course - kippers are on the menu. Harry has brought in a few of the morning papers and the football pages  are being studied closely, one topic of discussion is that local football team Brighton & Hove Albion's Manager, Sami Hyypia, has resigned after the football team won only one game of the last 18.

As the men are leaving, one of them turns to a volunteer and tells her that he is really looking forward to coming back next week, in fact, he would prefer to stay in the Sacred Heart Church's Parish Room for the entire week. Surprisingly, it was not particularly the food that impressed him, it was the people who made it, served it, sat and talked with him, watched as he slept and accompanied him for smoking breaks - a timely reminder that hunger comes in different forms.

Baptism at Advent time

There is always something special and happy about baptism during the season of Advent.

Today's Mass readings were particularly appropriate for the five families bringing their children to baptism. Isaiah spoke of exulting for joy in the Lord while the extract from Paul's Letter to the Thessalonians began 'Be happy at all times...' The Gospel reading was from John and - of course - it was about John the Baptist.

During the Baptism preparation class, the parents are asked what they want for their children. The answers often include reference to 'happiness,' 'protection,' 'right living,' 'knowing God,' 'doing right,' 'going to Heaven,' 'joining the Church family,' 'peace' and so on. Baptism is indeed the doorway that gives entrée to all these and more.

It was clearly a multinational gathering today. The five sets of parents together with their guests came from Poland, Hungary, Brazil, Russia, Belarus, Slovakia, Italy, Ireland, Switzerland and the four constituent countries of the United Kingdom.

Fr. Kevin made the point that, through baptism, the children were now joining a much larger family, the family of Catholic Christians worldwide who number 1.2 billion, and is itself a part of the family of Christians worldwide, a family that is not defined by race, language or national origin, but by unity of faith.

  

Brighton Goes Gospel

 

Singing carols is a Christmas tradition. Last night the Brighton Goes Gospel (GGG) community choir performed at the Hove Town hall to an enthusiastic audience of about 400. When I say ‘enthusiastic’ I mean that both choir and audience sang, stamped, clapped, hollered and swayed - it was quite an evening!

Founded in the year 2000, the BGG is ‘a non-religious (all religions and none) community gospel choir run by volunteers.’ In fact, the BGG is really two choirs; the Workshop Choir of up to 100 learners, and the Performance Choir, limited to 50 more experienced and able performers.

 Last night’s program included gospel classics, traditional carols and recent compositions. Both choirs acquitted themselves well with quite a variety of material. Very much in charge was the new choir director, Daniel Thomas, himself a hugely capable singer and songwriter who has worked with music legends like James Brown and Luther Vandross.

In fact, Daniel Thomas was as much a star as the choir. His whole body was a conductor’s baton; jerking, twitching, straining, stamping, thrusting, every sinew resonating with the music until the last quivering note, when he would slumped back and mop his brow. More, his vocal range and dexterity was astonishing and the concert concluded with a friendly verbal joust with several singers that was spectacular, the accelerating tempo rising to a dizzying crescendo.

Waiting in the sub-zero temperature for a lift home, I wondered if it was possible to truly engage with gospel music, as performer or audience, while remaining untouched by the lyrics. Certainly, carols are even more unambiguous works of praise, like the old favourites we sang, including these words from ‘Away in a Manger’:

 I love thee Lord Jesus
Look down from the sky
And stay by my side:  
‘Til morning is nigh.

 Caution: gospel singing may affect your transcendental balance.

Procession of Reparation

Temperatures - never more than five degrees Celsius during the day - had fallen to two degrees by the time the small procession left St. Mary Magdalene’s Church, shortly after six this evening.

This was the annual Procession of Reparation in honour of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It was led by four men bearing on their shoulders a wooden throne on which sat a statue of the Blessed Virgin, garlanded and surrounded by small lamps. They were followed by about 80 people, led by the Parish Priest, Fr. Ray Blake (whose blog is at  http://marymagdalen.blogspot.co.uk/ ).

Stopping frequently to pray the Rosary, the procession made its way along the quiet and dark Upper North Street, then turned right and entered the brightly-lit Western Road, one of the main shopping streets. Bag-laden evening shoppers paused momentarily to gaze in puzzlement, faces peered down from passing busses, and one or two Starbucks’ customers looked up briefly before resuming their steamy coffees - this is Brighton, quirky, tolerant and ultra-liberal where the unusual is a momentary distraction.

The procession’s destination was the Clock Tower, a landmark structure in the centre of Brighton, built in 1888 to celebrate Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee. It is the primary crossroad of the city where roads from the railway station, the seafront, the Steine and the shopping areas converge. Usually busy, it was quite subdued this evening, the chill weather had sent people home early and the few remaining shoppers, tourists and early diners were rushing along with heads down and collars turned up.

The marchers gathered around the statue of Mary and for 15 minutes the centre of Brighton echoed with melodious praise to the Blessed Mother of God, the voices at times drowned by the roar of passing traffic. Then it was all over for another year and the procession broke into chattering groups and dispersed.

Did it make a difference? The witness, praise and prayer seemed almost overwhelmed by the indifference, single-minded consumerism and self-indulgence of onlookers on this chilly winter night. It may be a fancy but the bright full moon above Brighton this evening reminded me of ‘a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon was under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars.’ I imagine the procession made her very happy.

Sacred Heart Church's Winter Night Shelter Opens

The Sacred Heart Church's Winter Night Shelter opened last night and we had 14 guests, including one lady (we admitted female guests for the first time this year).

I was struck by the variety of nationalities involved this year. Talking with Fr Kevin afterwards, we reckoned that we spoke with people from 8-9 different countries; Eastern Europe was well represented as usual, with guests from Poland, Romania, Lithuania, Estonia and other countries – and our first Swiss guest!

Sadly, in many cases the guests are with us because of broken dreams. The dream of getting a job in the UK and being able to afford housing remains a dream. The reality is jobs that have fallen through, jobs that were advertised but never existed and jobs that were lost for unknown reasons. The reality is that savings are used up, housing is no longer affordable, and nights are spent outside trying to shelter from the wind, endless rain and bitter cold.

That’s where the shelter comes in. We provide warmth, safety, comfort, good food – Thai chicken curry from Maestro Georges last night – and companionship.

We also have fun doing it. As evidence, here is a photo of last night’s Evening Team - together with the famous beds and bags.     

Miracle (?) Berries

Elder son, a true foodie, had a novelty pill for us to experiment with last night. It was produced by a Taiwanese company, Sen Yuh, and marketed under the label 'miracle berry.'  The idea is that, by placing a tablet - derived from natural products - on the tongue and letting it dissolve in the mouth, it will bind to the taste receptors and any bitter or acidic food eaten in the next hour will 'miraculously' taste sweet.

...Mmmmh, sounds a bit like snake oil to me.   

Anyway, we assembled a plate of citrus fruits, including lemon, lime and grapefruit and set about the experiment.

Well, yes, the grapefruit, lemon and lime tasted weirdly sweet, the tart bitterness of the normal acidic taste overwhelmed by a cloying sweetness. For some fruits the sweetness was overpowering, for others the bitterness and sweetness seemed to be engaging in a slogging match, neither one overcoming the other so that the fruit tasted both acid and sweet at the same time.  

Another interesting finding was that we differed in our reactions. Some of us had an overwhelmingly 'sweet' experience, other found particular fruits caused a battle of sweet and tart flavours in the mouth that caused us to pucker up. 

Interesting experiment? yes.

Repeat it? no thanks.

Congratulations to Deacon Robin Farrow

Yesterday we had a very special service at the Church of the Sacred Heart. Bishop John Hine, Auxiliary of Southwark, presided at the ceremony for the 'Ordination to the Sacred Order of Deacons' when Robin Farrow, formerly an Anglican priest, was received into the Catholic Church's Holy Orders. Concelebrating with the Bishop were the Parish Priest Rev Kevin Dring and several senior clerics, plus 15 other priests, mainly from Brighton & Hove Deanery.

Robin is a familiar and well-loved figure, living next door to the Church with his wife Caroline and his daughters. In recent years he has been a familiar figure at Mass, usually with one or more infant daughters in tow. Anyone sitting near him can testify that he has the most melodious and sweet singing voice!

Here are four of the photos that I took of the ceremony.

Preparing for the Winter Homeless Night Shelter

This year the Sacred Heart Church will again be acting as a Tuesday-night host for nine of the 18 weeks that the Winter Homeless Night Shelter will be running.

Eleven churches in Brighton and Hove are participating; five Anglican, two Baptist, two Evangelical Protestant and two Catholic (including Sacred Heart). The Shelter opened on 22^nd November and runs until 27^th March 2015 with a nightly capacity of up to 15 homeless men and women. Three of the largest churches will host all 18 weeks while smaller ones, like Sacred Heart will host nine weeks.  

This the fourth time that we have participated in the Shelter and it has been a huge success, providing warmth, security and good food to the guests, while engendering a wonderful spirit of selflessness and spirit de corps among the volunteers. I’m not particularly psychic but I’m convinced that we have one extra guest each night – the Holy Spirit!  

As Church Coordinators for the Shelter, my wife and I have been very busy over the last two weeks - hence no blogging! – therefore I thought I would make a record of what needed to be done.

·         Early September there arrives the initial email from the Overall Church Coordinator with details of the upcoming shelter, new policies etc.

·         Shortly after, I email all the previous winter’s volunteers to see if they will volunteer again, and I also start putting out feelers in the community for more volunteers.

·         Then, it’s time to review all old and new Brighton & Hove Central Churches policies governing the running of the Shelters, as well as the Volunteer Handbook that is the primary guide for the volunteers.

·         Early November there is a planning meeting with Parish Priest followed by formal weekly status reports during November. There is also a planning meeting with all seven Church Coordinators who are working during the first nine weeks. Patrick, who will lead one of our two teams, is back from holiday in France so we meet to go over plans and draft schedules.  

·         By this time, the emails are fairly busy with traffic from old and new volunteers.

·         Printing takes up some time. There are guides and various forms to be printed, plus 60 copies of the Volunteer Sign-up form, 50 copies of the volunteer handbook (850 pages of printing!). Volunteer forms are then set out in the church porch and the first of several notices prepared for the church newsletter.

·         By now the spreadsheet of volunteer details has started to grow and a very rough schedule of assignments can be prepared. Regular update emails have to be sent to volunteers advising them of progress.

·         By mid-November it’s time to carry out the annual Health & safety Review of the church’s Parish Room where the Shelter will be located. There is a fairly extensive checklist that includes verifying boiler, lighting and fire alarm systems servicing, inspecting fire extinguishers, checking first aid boxes, testing smoke alarms, reviewing fire test logs, etc.

·         Since we will host female guests for the first time, we have to re-write procedures and purchase room dividers to provide segregated male and female sleeping quarters.

·         It’s time to think about general purchases so we carry out an inventory of material left over from last year, then update the list of things like plastic plates and cutlery, general foodstuffs, cleaning and disinfectant supplies, gloves, tinfoil etc. Mrs R will do the shopping later. We also need to acquire two sets of keys to various rooms.

·         The number of volunteers is slightly down on last year and, as usual, there are few volunteers for the Overnight Shift (10.30pm to 6.30am). Frantic scurrying around ensues!

·         St John Ambulance is offering a Front Line Workers First Aid course again this year so I need to look for applicants among the volunteers.

·         The Training Evening will happen soon, one week before the Shelter opens, so it must be prepared for; materials will need updating and printing, speakers and volunteers have to be invited, refreshments bought, presentations prepared.

·         All the Brighton and Hove churches involved in the Winter Homeless Night Shelter assembled on 14^th November for a launch evening at One Church in central Brighton. We had prayers, songs and speeches. Two former guests who have transformed their lives and found accommodation were there to speak of their experience of being hosted by the Shelter. It is a moving tale of gratitude for the love, care and attention they received, quite emotional. Indeed, as I arrived, they were waiting outside the venue and each gave me a rib-cracking bear hug.

·         By now we have about 50 volunteers, enough to staff two teams but the Overnight Shift (two men and two women volunteers) still has some gaps.

·         Our Training Evening on 18^th November is a great success. About 35 volunteers turn up for an evening of training, information-sharing, refreshments and laughter. As Fr Kevin noted, there was a great atmosphere - quite a buzz - which bodes well for our Shelter.

·         The Winter Night Shelter formally opened on Saturday 23^rd November at St Peter’s Anglican Church in central Brighton. There were 13 guests including one woman and all went well.

We will open the Sacred Heart Shelter in two days time. Think of us and say a prayer for the success of the Shelter.       

The Catholaity Fair 2014

 

Brighton and Hove’s premier Catholic charity event, the 56^th annual Catholaity Fair, took place today – for the last time - in Hove Town Hall.

Due to renovations of the Town Hall, future Fairs will be held elsewhere, with next year’s Fair rumoured to be located at the Brighton Racecourse.

Normally, I do my bit for the Fair, helping construct and staff the Saint Vincent de Paul (SVP) stall, selling mainly books and bric a bac. This year, due to a dodgy back and arm, plus family commitments, I couldn’t help out.

 

However, I was able to offer some stock for sale. After a long-overdue cleanout of my music CDs, I was able to provide about 450 CDs for sale. My taste is quite eclectic and there was a varied selection of classical, jazz, spiritual (especially early black gospel), bluegrass and other country, popular and mainstream. The CDs (below) were offered at only 50p each and seemed to be selling well when I popped in for five minutes to take some pictures.

There were 40 stalls and, as usual, dozens of keen shoppers queued in the chilly morning for the 10.30am opening.  The stalls were set up by seven parishes, a variety of Catholic charity groups including HCPT, Mary’s Meals, the Breast Cancer Support Group, and one of my favourites, the Arundel & Brighton Deaf Service, where the smiling faces and busy hands convey a big ‘welcome’ to approaching shoppers (below).         

There were books, DVDs, games, bric a brac, tombola, plants, Christmas cards, bottles, cakes, clothing, shoes, handbags, wooden gifts, groceries, lucky dips, sweets and candy floss. Parishioner Gerard Eaton from Sacred Heart Church’s bottle stall was delighted with the day’s results. “We sold all our bottles” he beamed. Knowing that Gerard and Imelda started the day with several dozen bottles, I felt happy for them.  

 

The Fair raises money for worthy causes, showcases the good work that caring people do, provides an opportunity for meeting and networking, and is evidence for a city-wide community of believers who also reach out to others. 

All Souls Day at Hove Cemerery

Today, 2^nd November, is All Souls Day and for the first time I attended the Blessing of the Graves at Hove Cemetery. There were four Catholic priests in attendance; Fr Kevin Dring and Fr Francis, Sacred Heart; Fr Jerry O’Brien, St Peter’s and Fr Alistair Simmons, St Theresa’s with St George’s and the Mass Centre.

 

For Western Christianity – and particularly for Catholics - All Souls Day commemorates the faithful departed. According to Catholic doctrine, the souls of those faithful who, at death, have not yet attained full sanctification and moral perfection may be helped to attain the beatific vision in heaven through prayers and the sacrifice of the Mass. Indeed, prayer for the dead has roots in Judaism and early Christianity, prayer for both named individuals and classes of deceased, while the memorial feast itself originated in the 11^th century.

This occasion is popularly known as the Feast of All Souls in the UK, but has different names overseas - for Spanish speakers it is El Dia de los Muertos ‘the Day of the Dead’ – and there are varying national traditions and beliefs. For example, many believe the souls from Purgatory are allowed to return to earth on All Souls Day: Austrians believe they wander the forests, praying for release; Poles hold that the dead visit their parish church at midnight and then visit their families ( - so a door or window is left open for them and sometimes an extra place is set at the table!).

Throughout November we remember the Faithful Departed. At Sacred Heart Church we celebrate a special Mass for all deceased parishioners, a book of remembrance is kept by the altar and, as individuals, we pray for our deceased relatives and friends (and for those with no one else to pray for them), and may take advantage of indulgences particular to this time.

And, of course, we also visit the graves of our deceased, spruce them up, sprinkle some holy water, leave a votive candle or two and some flowers - especially chrysanthemums and marigolds that symbolise the beauty of the paradise that we lost and can now regain through the sacrifice of Jesus.  

Another Great Idea

Brighton Railway Station is a suitably impressive entrance to the town. Opened in 1840, it did its bit to cater for the crowds of Londoners who turned Brighton into a popular seaside resort. Now Grade II listed, the Station has in recent years benefitted from a couple of million pounds spent on renovations, to the delight of Brightonians using it.

Sometimes the best ideas are simple ones. Someone placed a piano on the concourse and, as you can see, it's popular.

London to Brighton Veteran Car Run

Today was the 118th London to Brighton Veteran Car Run.

The Run commemorates a law that was passed in November 1896 that permitted motor vehicles to operate without requiring a man to walk in front of them. It also increased the allowable speed from 4mph to 14mph. (The requirement for the man walking in front to carry a red flag had already been dropped in an Act passed in 1878).



So, up to 500 ancient cars manufactured before 1905 set out from Hyde Park in central London this morning to drive the 60 miles to Brighton seafront.

It was a cold morning with a strong breeze coming in off the Channel and leaden clouds threatening to dump rain. Most of the old cars were open-topped and the passengers were wrapped in warm and waterproof clothing, like the folks below..

Many seemed to be enjoying the experience, like the lady in this yellow car..

And, although they weren't going terribly fast, this lady was hanging on to her hat...

I was thinking to myself that these put-putting cars are so old and fragile, they could hardly be accused of breaking the speed limit. Then I saw the police pull over one of them (below) - surely it wasn't for speeding? "But officer, I can't do more than 30mph, even with a following breeze - honest!"

To be sure, even cyclists were overtaking the cars...

Mind you, some of the cycles were rather high-tech, including this one sporting a Welsh red dragon flag.

There was one car carrying a full complement of passengers. It looked like Mum was driving and there were four or five kids in the car - plus a dog.

 And still the cars came...

It was starting to rain now, in a rather determined manner, an increasing splatter of large drops, so, shielding my camera lens, I headed down to the seafront, the official end point of the race. The wind was getting up, long lines of dirty grey rollers were breaking on the beach and a sudden squall meant the visibility dropped to a few hundred meters.

The occasional car squelched past the Palace Pier, past the Brighton Eye, the streets glistening under grey clouds.

At the official end point in Madeira Drive there were welcoming marshals in yellow tops, video and still photographers (their long lens shielded in plastic bags), a loudspeaker announcement of the details of the arriving cars, and clumps of damp spectators. Each driver was briefly interviewed before they were waved on to parking.

It was now after midday, and with the rain still falling and everywhere sodden, more cars began to arrive, the passengers probably desperate for a hot drink and a change into warm clothing.

I must admit my own thoughts were also turning to dry clothes. I'd forgotten a brolly or hat and my head was soaked, my wet jeans stuck to my legs and trickles of cold water were working their way down from the neck. Time to go home.

Street Art - Brighton Style

Recently I noticed that street art had spread from brash Brighton town to the refined streets of 'Hove Actually' and I thought that, in this post, I would share some of the street art of Brighton.

First, what is graffiti and what is street art?

I suspect this tag is graffiti:

And this is street art:

 Then there is the ubiquitous Cassette Lord, a street artist who transforms the green BT junction boxes into...well, cassettes.

Although he has competition, as this brightly illustrated junction box testifies.

Some of the street art is large, representational and beautifully painted; here's a couple from the city centre.

Right in the city centre, adjoining the Churchill Square Shopping Centre, is this advertising sign for pies parachuting down. Sadly, the last time I looked, the Pie Society shop had closed.

However, the Bluer Dragon Tattoo Shop still seems to be in business, one of many such parlours in the city; Brighton folk love their body art.

Sometimes the art has a political message, as with this one promoting a recent conference in the city.



Some of the street art is spectacular in terms of scale. Entire ends of houses are covered, whole buildings are transformed, bare fences become the artists' canvas.

One recurring theme is 'creatures of the imagination' whether they are from outer space, ancient legends or fertile imaginations...

 

 

Some of my favourites are the swirling 'word art' pieces and the hypnotically-complex and incredibly detailed abstract pieces. Check these out:

(Standing close to it, you can't make out the message; distance lends understanding).

Finally, a mixed selection to conclude. I hope you enjoyed this little introduction to the  the street art of Brighton!