Worshipful Master Steve Tector with Chris Doolan and Laura Kemp

The local Freemasons Lodge of Happiness kindly invited our Chair of the Board, Chris Doolan, and Fundraising Officer, Laura Kemp, to join them at their Ladies Dinner Event.
The event was held at the Freemasons Lodge in Edgbaston and saw members of the Lodge invite their partners and wives along to join them for an evening of dining.
We were privileged to be a part of the event, and to represent Birmingham Settlement. Worshipful Master of the Lodge, Steve Tector, previously owned a printing business through which he came to know of the Settlement. We were delighted to be able to take the floor for a few minutes to tell everyone a little about our work and our history in the city, and everyone responded by donating a very generous £352.00 towards our work.

The Warwickshire Masonic Charitable Association has been supporting the work of Birmingham Settlement since 2007 and to date have donated almost £2,000.
We’re delighted to have such a great relationship with the group and hope it continues for many years to come.

For further information please see the attached role description below. If you’re interested in applying please complete the application form and return it by post or email to:

Rob Netherway
Birmingham Settlement
Units 4-7
Alma House
Newtown Shopping Centre
Newtown
Birmingham
B19 2AB
Email: robert.netherway@bsettlement.org.uk

Please be aware that this is an unpaid position.

Download role description | Download application form

If you’re looking for work and want to refine your CV, develop great interview skills or want to find out how the Internet and digital technology can support your job search come along to find out more. Our netWORK sessions will look specifically at using social media and digital tools to portray a positive image of yourself and help you to connect with potential employers in new ways.

If you’ve got skills you would like to share then we’re also looking for volunteers to support the delivery of Job Club sessions. We’re particular looking for people who have some experience in IT, but anybody who has some knowledge they would like to share can help out.

The Job Club runs every Tuesday from 1pm-3pm at the Centre for the Aston Family.

For further information about the Job Club please contact Sourour Trevelyan on 0121 250 0771 or sourour.trevelyan@bsettlement.org.uk

The Universal Credit debate is hotting up as we move closer to the full implementation of this new system. The Children’s Society have raised concerns that the changes made to eligibility to “Free School Meals” will actually counter the ethos of the new system. Universal Credit is designed to streamline benefits and make working “always” the better option for people. BBC Radio 4 aired these concerns and presented the Society’s claim that an income gap will occur and that some families who enter the job market will actually be worse off. The loss of free school meals will mean that working actually “doesn’t pay” and that some children will go without their only hot meal of the day. As advisers at Birmingham Settlement we’ve always factored in “Free School Meals” and the cost of travel to and from work when we assess benefits for our clients. You can see the full article here.

Maureen is a 67 year old woman who is retired and lives alone. After retirement Maureen found it difficult because she did not know what to do with her time and felt isolated and alone. To alleviate this, she began volunteering at one of Birmingham Settlement’s charity shops. Since then Maureen has made many friends and feels that she has built a new support network from these relationships. Working in the shop has helped her get to know customers and other volunteers living nearby and enjoys seeing the same people every week for a chat and catch up. Maureen says that volunteering has made her feel useful again and has encouraged her friends to become volunteers too due to her positive experiences. The impact on Maureen’s health and wellbeing has been fantastic as the shop activities keep her physically and mentally active; Maureen challenges herself without overdoing it!

Image thanks to Niall Kennedy.

Capacity-building for smaller organisations…

Image thanks to Adopt a Negotiator.

Aston and the surrounding inner city areas…

Image thanks to Elliot Brown.

Digital inclusion and how technology and social media can benefit our work…

Image thanks to Michael Surran.

Localism and how to strengthen local networks, culture and identity…

Image thanks to Nick Booth.

People and how they can make the most of their community.

Image thanks to Matthew Kenwrick.

Please see each vacancy page for further information:

• Development Manager: http://birminghamsettlement.org.uk/vacancy/development-manager/
• Development Officer: http://birminghamsettlement.org.uk/vacancy/development-officer/
• Development Assistant: http://birminghamsettlement.org.uk/vacancy/development-assistant/

This September staff at Zurich Community Trust will be cycling from Land’s End to John O’Groats, and they need your support! If you are interested in taking part as a cyclist they would welcome your involvement, but if not then making a donation to the cause would be very much appreciated! Income raised during the event will be split between a group of charities that Zurich are supporting, and Birmingham Settlement are proud to be one of these. For more information please see their website: http://www.z1000m.com.

Zurich Community Trust is working in partnership with Birmingham Settlement’s Ageing Well programme for the next three years, and will be providing funding, as well being involved in the programme’s activities and events.

We’re looking for some volunteer mystery shoppers. We need you and / or your family and friends to go along to any one of our shops to have a look and see what you think.

Our shops are based in: Boldmere, Erdington, Harborne, Newtown, Shirley, Sutton Coldfield and Wylde Green. If you live near to any of these, perhaps you could pop in and feedback to us.

We would like to get feedback from at least three people per shop and would appreciate any help you can give.

If you or anyone else you know are interested, could you please contact me and I will provide you with relevant information and a short questionnaire for you to complete and return after your visit.

Di Hickey
T: 0121 250 3010
E: di.hickey@bsettlement.org.uk

Thanking you in anticipation.

This week Birmingham Settlement was proud to unveil a new art project at the Centre for the Aston Family called Dreaming of Summer Rain. The project was inspired by ideas shared through a series of workshops with members of the local community and includes the hopes and dreams of the community, a sense of belonging, and a celebration of different cultures. The piece contains a wide variety of colours and patterns that represent the many different people who live in the local community. The piece was designed to brighten up the atrium of the Centre for the Aston Family and lift the spirits of those who visit us there. Dreaming of Summer Rain was designed by Melanie Tomlinson with the contribution of Birmingham Settlement’s service users.

Birmingham Settlement was delighted to hear the news that the Government had re-thought part of its Welfare to Work Programme, and no longer intends to stop benefits for those people on placements who don’t complete the full term.

However, as one of Birmingham’s oldest charities, with debt advice and the welfare of the vulnerable at its heart, we feel there is still a long way to go.

Under the work experience scheme, which is voluntary, young people are placed with an employer for between two and eight weeks.

They receive benefits during this placement, but before the Government did a U-turn they risked losing their Jobseeker’s Allowance for a period of time if they failed to show up after their first week.

While we appreciate and understand the need for a good work ethic, the individual to be placed has very little say in where they end up.

When you consider organisations providing placements are paid for their provision, the potential for negative or inappropriate placements becomes clear.

Our vision is to help people to lead happy fulfilling lives and we don’t see how forcing them into unpaid placements or have their benefits stopped aligns itself with creating opportunity and choice.

Last week charities including Marie Curie, Shelter and Scope announced they were pulling out of the programme and would no longer accept placements, and we at Birmingham Settlement followed suit.

Whilst we are fundamentally supportive of programmes that help people into employment, our concern with the Welfare to Work Programme is the way in which this is done. We acknowledge that a change has been made, but the emphasis still seems to be placed on outputs and financial gain, rather than on the needs of each individual.

This is particularly worrying where vulnerable people are concerned, as they can be incorrectly placed without receiving any of the specialist support they need – which could have a serious long term impact on their confidence to work.

Furthermore pressure is placed on organisations delivering the programme as they move away from work centred around people towards box-ticking and a focus on outputs.

One great example is a work placement we had recently – a young man who was out of work, but volunteering with us. He’d cherry-picked the Settlement because he had a degree in criminal justice, and was interested in our work with offenders.

Obviously he was of huge value to us and we to him, but the sub-contracting agency, who had no in-depth knowledge of his skills, personality and ambitions just saw him as a box to be ticked, and attempted to move him away to work in a supermarket. A great example of how, by ticking boxes, a human being could be taken away from a mutually beneficial environment, and placed somewhere they would be unhappy and unfulfilled – just to reach targets.

So it was with great relief to see the pressure to change the policy, which has come equally from both the public, private and third sector, has had an impact and forced them to re-think the way people are supported into work.

As a final note, I’d like to add that although the Settlement has declined to participate in this scheme, along with a growing list of businesses and charities, we’d like to emphasise that anyone already on a placement with us will be encouraged to continue as a volunteer outside of the programme, and that we are fully-supportive of helping people to get back into work.

For further information please see the attached application pack below.

Download application pack

Our seven shops across the city are desperate for new item donations. If you have any unwanted clothes, books, toys, etc lying around your house, please come and drop them into us! In particular, our shops in Erdington and Newtown need additional donations as soon as possible. If you’re having a house clearance and have a lot of items to donate we can arrange for the items to be collected for you. We also have a constant need for carrier bags for use in our shops, so please give your spares to us as well! If you are interested in donating items please contact the shop closest to you directly – see our shops page for details. If you’re a UK taxpayer (pay income tax or capital gains tax) be sure to ask for your items to be Gift Aided – this means we can claim the tax back  and earn an extra 25% on your donation at no cost to you!