tEAm news #75 | 3.3.22
Compassion is a heavy burden because it’s an unfixable pain. Sometimes, other people’s pain is harder than our own, and it’s love that makes it this way.
God gives us burden, but also shoulders.
“For there is nothing heavier than compassion. Not even one’s own pain weighs so heavy as the pain one feels with someone, for someone, a pain intensified by the imagination and prolonged by a hundred echoes.”
Dates
MOMENT OF PRAYER - Mondays 9-9:15: a moment to pause and pray for our work & team. All welcome!
NOTE: This will be Vanya’s last one with us leading (thank you Vanya!)
Link here (Meeting ID: 708 452 7633 Passcode: empathy)Desperate Journey (DJ): 4th March we will run a 2-Room version with a small team with Trevor and Vanya, and aim to develop it to a 2-tent simulation that can be staged in the near future. We’ll be running more trials over the coming months (a great opportunity to send any prospective volunteers our way as we can showcase what we do and have a cuppa 'n’ chat)
Experimental Refugee Workshop: 6th March Sunday 4-5:30 pm at TWCF Church (South Site). This immersive and interactive drama workshop (written and presented by Vanya Chung) aims to engage the participants by playing a role in a displacement journey that may occur to a refugee. The improvising elements show how vulnerable they are in destiny and how precious a graceful action is taken to reach their destination. Last minute booking!
March - Women’s Day campaign is about to launch! Check out at The Empathy Store next week and find out more beneath.
VOLUNTEER HELP NEEDED FOR:
26-27th June: Wally Hall, Sevenoaks The Poverty Trap (TPT) day programme (also 0.5 day of Empathy Exercises)
28-29th June: Canford School, Wimbourne TPT (overnight)
30th June: Empathy Exercises, Sevenoaks School
30th June - 2nd July: Desperate Journeys (2 room version), Sevenoaks School
IF YOU ARE AVAILABLE - PLEASE LET US KNOW. Sign Sheets will be live in the coming weeks but an early indication would be (very!) gratefully appreciated! We’re looking to assemble 3 delivery teams.
OTHER
St Johns Primary School: Empathy Exercises (TBC)
Sept 2022: TPT: Activate Learning (TBC)
Michaelmas Term: Sevenoaks School, TPT for Year 8s (TBC)
Peace Day (around 21st Sept) Handicrafts campaign
Climate Justice Week (Nov, TBC)
EA Board Meeting (28th Feb, 2022)
At the Board meeting the following interim operating policy for the Livelihood Development Plan was agreed:
Empathy Action is currently operating in extraordinary times and its usual grant making through its ‘Livelihood Development Fund’ is not running until regular income resumes. If the situations are of an emergency nature, subject to appropriate due diligence, such requests will be considered on a case by case basis by the Senior Management Team (SMT) for up to £250. In extraordinary circumstances, sums in excess of this amount may be approved by the trustees, subject to the prior recommendation of the SMT.
Provisional management accounts for 2021 and draft budget figures for 2022 show that EA broke near enough even in 2021 and is projected to do so again in 2022. This is very encouraging in such a difficult operating period and means that our reserves are only slightly lower than in 2020. We are grateful to our landlords for their generosity, which has made a major contribution to this outcome. The trustees were also delighted that Chris Hix has once again volunteered to prepare the accounts for submission to the independent examiner.
Finally the trustees are deeply grateful to Vanya for the contribution that she has made to Empathy Action in the time she has been with us.
Paul Williams, EA Chairman
Pancake Day Team Gathering
After the long pandemic lockdown and the pause of meeting up, we finally have a Team Gathering at the Pancake Day!
We are grateful to have Paul & Heather, Richard & Sue, Ben, Catherine, Cam, Vanya, our landlord also good friends joining us. What a lovely time!
Thank you for coming and the wonderful fellowship.
UKRAINE SUPPORT: The March Campaign to celebrate women will also support emergency efforts in Ukraine
Over March we’re going to focus on women, gender equality & empowerment, Sustainable Development Goal no 5 (aka SDG5) but most importantly celebrating women. Celebrating courage, bravery, facing adversity.
With the events in Ukraine at the forefront of our minds we’ve felt that it would be right, at this time, to support the emergency aid work in the region.
We’re in touch with our friends at RefugEase and looking to use a part of the sales of this campaign to assist the women & children entering the neighbouring countries of Hungary and Poland (men are not allowed to leave the country). They are looking to fund locally sourced aid packs and a lorry to assist with the distribution.
You can help by sharing our social media posts and encouraging people to take part in the campaign over the month. Also we’ll need your help on answering some questions -more to come.
Other Updates
Fuzzy, Vanya, Janet have been busy counting up the stock for a year end stocktake. Vital work - thank you!
Ben was supporting People International by playing a role in their underground church simulation last week in Salisbury.
Vanya will be entering her final week with us and we’re grateful for her being part of the team over the past 8 weeks, upon leaving she leaves us with a host of new connections. Next week she introduces us to All Nations Christian College and Ben & Vanya will be meeting with OM about a human trafficking simulation - Thanks Vanya, we have been truly blessed by you!
We’ve sold our first wedding dress! Woo-hoo!
Help needed
If you know anyone interested, please point them our way as we would love to start training and preparing people. We really need help with this and your introductions will be crucial to build a new simulations delivery team(s).
We’re happy to have a cuppa or phonecall with anyone who is willing to give their time and skills. Thank you!
OTHER NEWS
‘This is why we need to increase both awareness and empathy on climate injustice.‘ Alison D says so when sharing an article about some African countries are being forced to cope with the climate crisis that is not of their making.
It shows the deep injustice that rich countries who are the chief cause of climate change must respond to these issues and continues to bear a disproportionate share of the impact.
We need urgent, scaled-up, long-term support from the world-leading climate polluters.
