Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from Bristol Noise!

December 2021

Thank you for your support this year and we send you and your loved ones very warm greetings as you take time to celebrate Christmas and the start of a new year over the next couple of weeks!

While we've always had a focus of inspiring and mobilising Christians around our city to be showing God's love in practical ways throughout the year, it's been over the last 2 years that we've taken this to a new level as we worked with others to respond to the Covid-19 pandemic and launched Noise 365 at the start of 2021. Here's a quick round up of some of the things that we've been doing throughout 2021...

Stories from around our city We have loved meeting up with people from different churches over this year and hearing their stories of how they show God's love in their community, to their neighbours. It's been truly inspiring! We'll be back in 2022 with more stories, but in the meantime, here's a link to the stories you might have missed: click here

Supporting young people We've been working with friends at Christian Action Bristol and various charities over the last year to mobilise people in the different ways they can support young people in our city. This has included:

9 churches across the city becoming laptop donation points for DigiLocal who have repurposed 1200 second-hand laptops for young people in Bristol to stay connected with education and social support.
conversations with churches and the council about running Kintsugi Hope youth wellbeing groups in secondary schools and TLG early intervention coaching programmes in primary schools
raising the profile of volunteering opportunities across the city
responses from people in 18 different churches to the emergency foster carer appeal from Home For Good, with 13 foster carers approved, and at least 17 prospective foster carers currently in the assessment process. Many who were approved as emergency foster carers have since gone on to mainstream fostering, and those who could only foster briefly are considering how they can continue to do so.

The Noise 2021

In May 2021, with Covid-19 restrictions preventing large gatherings, The Noise 2021 focused on providing spaces for reconnection, both for the volunteers who took part as well as within the neighbourhoods where churches held activities to bring neighbours together. There were over 420 volunteers from 34 churches and groups across Bristol taking part in The Noise 2021. Teams of volunteers hosted:

5 Pop-up takeaway cafés plus a family craft session
4 Treasure hunts
Cream tea deliveries to over 500 senior citizens!

Inspiring social action among youth people Earlier this month, we joined with 135 young people and youth leaders from different Bristol churches at The Mix. As well as celebrating Christmas together, we invited those attending to join in with our quiz about Christmas food and the challenges faced by people in our city to access food over the last year. Have a go at our quiz and read some of the ideas we gave on the night for how we might show God’s love in practical ways to those facing food poverty this Christmas and in the next year… click here

Resources for you! We've started a collection of resources, with how-to guides, ideas and more, to inspire and equip you as you continue to show God's love in practical ways to others. Check them out on our website: www.thenoise.org.uk/resourcebank

Share the love this Christmas Since the start of December, we've been following a 'reverse advent calendar' with daily ideas for showing God's love in practical ways to other people in the countdown to Christmas. Did you join in too? We'd love to hear how you got on! Get in touch...

Upcoming Training

On our website, you will find a variety of training opportunities and materials to equip you and your church with skills to enhance how you connect with your community and continue to show God’s love in practical ways. Here are the latest training opportunities we've listed...

CONNECTING IN NEIGHBOURHOODS - BISHOPSWORTH Mondays 10th & 24th January 2022, 12:30-3pm (Zion Bristol, Bishopsworth) Live, work or volunteer in Bishopsworth? Then this free training is for you! Come along and find out more about connecting in the neighbourhood. This is a two part workshop - Please ensure you can attend both dates before signing up.

Make connections
Find people with skills, interests & passions
Connect people with shared interests
Support people to take action

CONNECTING IN NEIGHBOURHOODS - HARTCLIFFE & WITHYWOOD Friday 21st January, 9:30am-3pm (Mowcroft Methodist Church, Hartcliffe) Fun, free and informative workshop from Bristol City Council community development team, outlining the principles of Asset-Based Community Development, for residents, workers and community activists in Hartcliffe and Withywood, including how to:

Make connections
Find people with skills, interests & passions
Connect people with shared interests
Support people to take action

MENTORME TRAINING WITH SIXTY-ONE Starting on Saturday 22nd January 2022, 9:30am-3:30pm Would you be willing to support someone to change their life? In January, we'll be holding another training course for people who wish to explore if mentoring is the right thing for them. These sessions will give you a much greater understanding of what it means to be a mentor without committing yourself to this role. You will also learn a lot about yourself, and it's great fun.

For more details about the training above, visit our website

Volunteer Opportunities

There are loads of different churches, charities and organisations across the city who are often on the look out for extra help in all different forms. Whether you're available on a regular basis, or every now and again, there are opportunities to get stuck in! Visit our website for up to date volunteer roles we've seen, or follow our Noise 365 Twitter account. Here are the latest volunteer opportunities we've seen across the city...

ESOL VOLUNTEER St Mungos Click here

STROKE SUPPORT GROUP VOLUNTEER Bristol After Stroke Click here

HELP PREPARE FOR A NEW TERM AT BISC Bristol International Student Centre Click here

VOLUNTEER TELEFRIENDER West of England Centre for Inclusive Living (WECIL) Click here

Share with us...

Do you have a story or idea to share? Perhaps you know of some training that others would benefit from or know of a volunteer opportunity. We'd love to hear from you! Get in touch with Rachel using the links in the footer. We'll be back again next month, but in the meantime, check out more resources and stories on our website: click here

_{Posted: January 2022}