tEAm news #58 | 22.09.21
Another lovely day in the Autumn sunshine we hope this week’s issue finds you enjoying the weather in some shape or form.
We are busy getting back into routine and shaping some of the things we are have been thinking about during lockdown. It’s great to be back and there is lots happening to look forward to.
“Keep your thoughts positive because your thoughts become your words.
Keep your words positive because your words become your behaviour.
Keep your behaviour positive because your behaviour become your habits.
Keep your habits positive because your habits become your values.
Keep your values positive because your values become your destiny. ”
Dates
Mondays, 9 - 915 (on Zoom) - Moment of Prayer: a moment to pause, prayer, light candles for our work & team. All welcome!
Link here (Meeting ID: 708 452 7633 Passcode: empathy)27th Sept (eve) - EA Board meeting
13th October: Eli & The Golem, Strangeface’s (our partner) new piece on displacement - excerpts will feature in our school sessions (Trinity Arts Centre, TW). Here’s a little more info about the play:
1938. In the smoke, noise and steam of Liverpool St Station an anxious father awaits the arrival of his daughter as part of the Kindertransport. As he waits, he relives the terrifying and bizarre events that drove him to flee his family and home in Prague and wonders if he may in fact be a ghost.
After last festival’s sell out show ‘The Hit’, Strangeface return with another virtuoso piece of Bunraku style puppetry. The performance will be followed by a 30 minute Q&A. (Age 10+))
Wed 20 – Fri 22 Oct, Mon 8 – Wed 10 Nov & Fri 12 Nov: Tunbridge Wells Puppetry Festival workshops with Strange Face - Empathy Exercises. (Here’s their flyer)
25th October - Warehouse move date! From Tonbridge to Penshurst. 6 People required. Richard is orchestrating
‘COP 26’ - some of the focus for the Autumn will be around the UN Climate Change ‘Conference of Parties’ (aka ‘COP’) 26th gathering in Glasgow (31st October - 12th November). We are hoping to promote The High Life and take up of this new workshop around this time.
Christmas campaign on The Empathy Store - involving a few new products!
Future programmes/Working on
Some of the events that we are working on behind the scenes
The High Life (THL) workshops (TBC) to help people ‘just interested’ to use this new immersive workshop at their school or group.
Developing a DJ Lite (or 2 Tent version) that we can start to deliver again but with fewer people.
Finding more people! Particularly to help with some of the core operations.
A handicrafts campaign for Sept (with a focus to additionally fundraise for Afghanistan families relocating in the area & a Syrian student who is just starting university)
Christmas campaign for handicraft sales. Last year we did a campaign that Sandy orchestrated called “For You Because”… we’re looking for ideas for this year to bring a little empathy to the Christmas spirit.
News updates
It’s been great having people back in the office again!
The Barn move in is about to happen! After months of prep - Richard is orchestrating a move of gear. The date we’re looking at is 25th Oct - please let Richard know if you are able to help.
The need for new people to help rebuild EA.
We’d love to build up our team again, but until then we are fairly limited in what we can offer. If you know people who would like to help a small charity (and have the time to give) out to be regulars or even train to be facilitators of sims - we’d love to hear from them.Unfortunately, Royal Victoria Place is not available for us to use this time. If you know of a place to set up our two tents and run some trials for a while (c ideally at least 4-6 weeks) - we’d love to hear!
We’ve been lining up some meetings with a few other groups and Empathy practitioners including Dr Claire Yorke (The Empathy Doctor) & Activate Learning (about student placements), OM (re a new Human Trafficking simulation that they are trialling), St Johns Primary School (about their school council supporting us) and Linklaters law firm (who we’ve worked with in the past).
A possible TWWR Volunteer? We’re in discussion with a person (who moved from Zimbabwe to the UK) who Tunbridge Wells Welcomes Refugees has put us in touch with about helping with some schools work (with the Puppetry festival), but also in our sims work. We’re looking forward to meeting with him.
The Moon is coming to Calverley Grounds (as part of the TW Puppetry Festival) from the 15th October. The launch is at 6pm. There’s a few of us going - please join us!
Can you help?
Know any…
teachers that you can share The High Life with? If so please forward them to them this page. Thank you!
others to send THL to? Businesses, House groups, charities or more… we’d love to use our team to help the sending this new resource around the world… particularly ahead of the UK COP event next month. Thank you!
Social Media help to get things to trend. Can you share and pass on some of our social media posts (Facebook, Twitter & Instagram) to help them trend. We’re particularly looking ahead to October with The High Life promotion. Thank you!
19th October (day): 1-2 people needed for Little Amal associated workshop with Strange Face in Folkestone. Contact Ben
A room for Vanya (a future volunteer - there’s a short video from her beneath) between c7th Jan - 11th March, 2022. We’re on the look out for somewhere local (ideally in TW, but also open to other opportunities) for Vanya to stay whilst volunteering with us early next year. She says she’d love to stay with someone and be part of their family over this period and get a flavour of the country… and loves to cook!
Regular volunteers. We will need some hands to help us do some of the day-to-days bits and pieces. Can you spare a morning or day (or more a week) to help with some of the operations (admin, handicrafts, event planning, sims work, social media, comms and more) -OR do you know someone who we could speak to about this? We need to build up some regular people that we can count upon to do more.
Coming Soon! EA latest Christmas product made by our friends who made the Rainbows and unicorns from South Africa.