George Musgrave: Journeys of St Paul

St Paul Comes to Ilford is an exhibition and events based around 25 paintings of the life and journeys of St Paul, painted by the artist George Musgrave. They will be on display at Vine Church from Tuesday 20th February until Sunday 18th March. A special preview day will be held on Wednesday 21st February from 9 am to 3.00pm with guided tours of the paintings at 11.00 am and 1.30 pm. Stay for light lunch, refreshments and informal discussions and reflective activities from 12.-1.30. Open for anyone interested to attend. 

On 5 Tuesday evenings at 7.30 pm during Lent, starting Tuesday 20th February, there will also be a bible study series based on the life of St Paul, making use of the paintings. You are also welcome to attend any of these bible studies. It may be helpful to let the organisers know if you are coming. For more information you can contact: Petermusgrave1950@gmail.com; tel: 079986988 /02070417194. The venue will be Vine URC, Riches Road entrance, Ilford IG1 1JH There is limited car parking (available in special cases) – contact Dulcie on 0208 514 2478. 

This selection of paintings are about the life and journeys of St Paul. They show aspects of Paul’s life from his birth in Tarsus, his persecution of Christians in Jerusalem, his conversion on the road to Damascus and his subsequent life experiences as a missionary in Asia and Europe, including imprisonments , floggings, preaching, appearing before governors, baptising people, being shipwrecked and his final execution in Rome. 

The artist George Musgrave (1915 - 2012) painted these pictures over a 20 year period from the 1980’s onwards and displayed them in his museum in Eastbourne until his death. He researched the paintings thoroughly through his travels in the Mediterranean. He trained in an art school in the 1930s, became a congregational minister and missionary before becoming a toy manufacturer. Now two of his sons have decided it’s time that St Paul comes to London for a visit. You can see a preview of the paintings on this link, which also show how they were used in Eastbourne last October - https://petermusgrave.wordpress.com/2017/10/23/the-journeys-of-st-paul. 

Then the paintings will be displayed in Central London, at the Meditatio Centre, St Marks, Middleton Square, which is 15 minutes walk from Kings Cross and near Angel Islington from about 22nd March until end of April. There will be a special preview of the paintings there on Saturday 24th March in Islington. If you look at the Link to the 2018 Meditatio Programme, you will see that page 4 advertises the preview event on Saturday 24th March from 5-7 pm -  http://meditatiocentrelondon.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/The-Meditatio-Centre-Programme-2018.pdf.

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Pierce Pettis - St Paul's Song.

Update: Sophia Hub Redbridge

Ros Southern writes:

Your invitation to our Timebank party Monday 19 December 6-9.30

The Sophia Hubs Timebank Christmas Spirit party special - kids welcome. A fabulous programme of fun and learning, or both. Take a look, come along, bring kids and family. Bollywood dancing, cooking, painting and some interesting and serious stuff. More details and the programme is here
And see the video of our great Ilford Green Pop up Market, Mayor's visit and Santa ride last Saturday.

Hope to see you there,

Best wishes,

Ros Southern
Coordinator, Sophia Hubs

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Deacon Blue - The Believers.

Update: Sophia Hub Redbridge

Ros Southern writes:

'Coming up this week

• Tomorrow Saturday 10th - Ilford Green Pop Up Christmas market 11-3 with stalls, activities and a lovely cafe info here
• Tomorrow Saturday 10th - launch of Ilford independent Street food market- only halal one in UK, start-up pitches Info here
• Tuesday 13th Entrepreneurs' club 1-2.30 at Enterprise Desk - Amal Simothy with an accountant's business tips. info here
• Tuesday 13th evening. Redbridge Chamber Christmas bash. Info here

The following week/s

• Thurs 15 December - building a stronger Redbridge economy run by FPComms. Info here
• Timebank Christmas Spirit Skills Swap - an event for residents, businesses and community groups to give and take. Monday 19th December 6-9.30, Ilford info here.

Other great news

• Organic Ilord has bounced back, older, wiser, better. A guest blog by Toni Lotter here

Some of our social media posts this week

• Public speaking tips by Usha Chudasama of Healing Feeling - from hard earned experience
• Retweeted East London Radio's tweet about The Hospice bloggers
• Janice and Weininger Irwin of recent BBC 2 Programme are running an event at Ilford Sports Club on Saturday
• Nesta research - what works for Corporate/start-up collaborations? 
• World Economic Forum - What happy and successful people focus on

And thanks so much to Jay Bhatt for a really helpful entrepreneurs' club this week on financial and wealth management and how his start-up is doing.

Have a great weekend,

Best wishes,

Ros Southern
Coordinator, Sophia Hubs'

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King Crimson - 21st Century Schizoid Man.

Enterprise Exchange data

The Seven Kings Sophia Hub played a key role in supporting the delivery of the Enterprise Exchange project recently delivered by London Borough of Redbridge and Vision. We promoted the project widely and offered more intensive support to residents who were at the earliest stages of looking to start a business or social enterprise. Our team were always hugely enthusiastic and passionate about the work they did which fostered a really interesting and dynamic environment for delivering our Enterprise Club in the Enterprise Exchange Hub. Wherever necessary they would always refer residents on to additional support if required but had good working knowledge of what is already available and being offered within the borough.

Through analysing their data, Work Redbridge and Vision found that the majority of Enterprise Exchange members were female and most were aged between 25 and 50. This shows how many people are interested in taking control of their careers at this point of their life. Also, a significant number of members - 41% - were currently trading and 62% come from Redbridge therefore showing that the pop-up hub has been of use to the area as well.

They also asked what type of support people would like to receive from Enterprise Exchange and their data shows that 74% of members would like to receive more networking opportunities. This was closely followed by providing more resources on business support, as well as 1-1 advice.

As a result they plan to hold networking events at Redbridge Central Library - the first date for your diary is Thursday 29th January 2015 at 6pm. This will provide an opportunity to find out more about resources available both at the library and online.

If you have any ideas or suggestions for future events, please email them at businesshub@redbridge.gov.uk and don't forget to also follow them on Twitter @redbridgehub.

On the last day of the pop-up business hub, East London Radio prepared a small segment on Enterprise Exchange in their ‘All In My Business’ radio show. Please take a listen to what the public thought of Enterprise Exchange and you may also notice that some of the members also feature in the show!

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Delirious? - Find Me In The River.

Dedication of RBL Memorial Boards

Following the closure of the building belonging to the Ilford Branch of the Royal British Legion, the branch had no home to display its Memorial Boards. These boards, which record the names of past Legion members, have recently been given a new home in the Chapel Room at St John's Seven Kings. Following yesterday's evening Service of Remembrance at St John's, we dedicated the Memorial Boards using the following prayer:

God of the living and the dead, help us to honour the life and hope and courage of those who have served in our armed forces and those who have made the ultimate sacrifice. Remembering past times, and our relationships with them, we honour the lives of those named on these boards as we tell and retell their stories. In the faith of Jesus Christ we dedicate these memorial boards, that they may be a sign of our duty to God, in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Click here for a report of yesterday's Civic Service of Remembrance held at the Ilford War Memorial in Newbury Park.

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Westminster Abbey - Oh God Our Help in Ages Past.

Sophia Hub update

Ros Southern writes:

"Firstly there is a fabulous pilot business hub on the top floor of the Exchange in Ilford in the month of October and Sophia Hubs, Seven Kings, is a partner. This has been spearheaded by Work Redbridge and Vision with other partners including Chamber of Commerce, Redbridge Insitute, Redbridge College and the Volunteer Centre. Tuesday is Sophia Hubs day! We will run our lunch time enterprise club there plus offer a range of taster sessions and promotinal opportunities for our start-ups. More information here.

Our first anniversary celebration event on Tuesday 30th September is also an important date for your diaries. We will bring together the start-ups we have been working with, the business community and speakers that have been supporting us and community/faith groups. There will be rich conversation, important networking and a time to reflect on the needs of the community. 5.45 - 8.30. Flyer here - please pass on.

Our enterprise club speaker on Tuesday next week (16th September) will be Keith Young of Ilford Recycles. This is a project that brings in most income through trading but also relies on grant funding. Keith will share his knowledge gained from 1 year of operation, his problems of getting organised with paper work and finding premises. Photo and more info here.

Thanks so much to our speaker this week - Atacan Mercer - whose advice was to keep a beginners mind. A very successful design start-up which was inspiring to hear about and helpful. Followed by networking as always and more deals were brokered! Photo and info here

Timebank update: There are 40 people registered and lots of interest. 17 hours have been officially traded but it is taking a while to sort out quick and effective registration and following up of references. It will be a vibrant economy very soon. Thank you for your patience and interest.

And finally, the first big delivery of re-used paint has gone to .... Parkside Community Association. This is part of a partnership with Forest Recycling Project in Waltham Forest to promote recycling and kick start green businesses in Redbridge. There's lots more free paint going. Please contact me or or find out more information here."

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Jon Foreman - Broken From The Start.

Enterprise Club

Here's the latest message from Ros Southern about the Sophia Hub Enterprise Club:

"We had a great time last week with Geoff Hill and Bev Stratton.  Here's a very brief report: http://sophiahubs7k.wordpress.com/2014/03/21/thanks-to-geoff-from-the-chambers-and-bev-from-the-town-centres/. 

This Tuesday will be led by Kabir Ahmed of Work Rest and Play.  He has extensive business experience and his new Ilford based company Work Rest and Play is a social enterprise supporting youth work.  Here is more information on the blog: http://sophiahubs7k.wordpress.com/2014/03/21/kabir-ahmed-is-speaking-on-keeping-your-drive-despite-the-typical-set-backs/. 

The enterprise club is open to anyone who has a business idea that you want support with.  We are particularly interested in businesses that meet local and social need but we like to support all entrepreneurs.

Anytime from 1 onwards with the main programme from 1.45 - 3.30.  Plenty of networking opportunities and people on hand to help your business. Please forward this to others so that this local network can expand!

Hope to see you on Tuesday."

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Bob Dylan - When The Deal Goes Down.

When God Was a Rabbit

I've just read Sarah Winman's When God Was a Rabbit which was of interest on several levels. One of Winman's favourite authors is Tim Winton and the book she would most like to have written is his magnum opus Cloudstreet.

While When God Was a Rabbit is not as substantial a novel as Cloudstreet, the two books do share some characteristics. Both authors use a significant amount of biographical material in their novels and, as Winman hails from Redbridge, this is of particular interest for those of us in the borough because she sets the early part of her story in Ilford.

Both also use elements of magic realism within their stories. Winman has said: "I believe in mystery, whatever form it comes in. I like to think that the inexplicable exists in our world, that somehow there is room for a kind of magic, whatever that might be."

Winton's novel has "twin themes of social consensus and spiritual transcendence" with "ordinary family life … seen as sacred and devotional." Similarly, Winman's novel "is the story of a fabulous but flawed family and the slew of ordinary and extraordinary incidents that shape their everyday lives." Several of the younger characters in the novel are intrigued by religion. Winman has explained this theme in the following terms:
 "I look at it that all the characters are haunted - have ghosts - and are searching in some ways to put these ghosts to rest. When that happens, they gain a certain amount of freedom - spiritual, emotional - but most of all they gain themselves. Do I think about this? Yes, I suppose. How to balance loss, acceptance, attain some kind of redemption ... I write about these themes, maybe because they're mine."

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Midnight Oil - Dreamworld.

Sophia Hubs pilot

The Sophia Hub pilot at St John's Seven Kings has got off  to an excellent start with the group on the first Sophia Course developing an interesting set of project/enterprise ideas. Tomorrow we are publicising the service at the Jobs and Training Fair to be held at Ilford Town Hall, while on Monday we will be running an Induction session with our Business Mentors.

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Lauryn Hill - Piece Of Mind.

Government's proposed relaxation of planning laws

The Ilford Recorder reports that councillors from all parties in the London Borough of Redbridge have united to oppose the government’s proposed relaxation of planning laws:


'Members at Thursday’s meeting of the full council in Redbridge Town Hall, High Road, Ilford, voted unanimously to resist the proposed changes.

Cllr Shoaib Patel, cabinet member for planning, said: “Planning permission is not in place to reduce workers, it is in place to protect people from unwanted development.

“It’s a myth to think that planning laws hold back development or the economy.”

In September, the coalition government announced plans to allow people to build larger house extensions and make shop and office expansions and housing developments easier.

A consultation is now underway and several local authorities, including the Greater London Authority, have already voiced their opposition to relaxing planning regulations.'

If you share the significant concerns held by members of the Seven Kings & Newbury Park Resident’s Association at the Government’s proposal for a three-year relaxation of planning rules on extending homes and business premises, we encourage you to register your views as part of the current Government consultation. Click here to register your views before 24 December 2012.

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The Clash - I Fought The Law.
 

New church community garden

St Andrews on The Drive in Ilford has created an excellent new community garden which will be officially opened by the Mayor of Redbridge on Saturday 22nd September. I hope that this church-based community garden will be as well used as has been the case for the community garden created at St John's Seven Kings.

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Eric Bibb - Shingle By Shingle.

Windows on the world (203)

Ilford, 2012

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The Jayhawks (Mark Olson & Gary Louris w/ Victoria Williams) - Lights.

Prayer for Armed Forces Day 2012

As Padre to the Ilford branch of the Royal British Legion, I led prayers for those on active service as part of an event held for Armed Forces Day outside Ilford Town Hall today.

As I understand it, Armed Forces Day is an opportunity to do two things. Firstly, to raise public awareness of the contribution made to our country by those who serve and have served in Her Majesty's Armed Forces, Secondly, it gives us, as a nation, an opportunity to show our support for the men and women who make up the Armed Forces community: from currently serving troops to Service families and from veterans to cadets.

For those who are Christians wanting to show their support, the most natural thing for us to do is to pray for those on active service. For that reason, I was very happy to have this opportunity to lead prayers as part of the Ilford event. I mainly used suggestions for prayer and prayers which can be found at http://www.pray4ourforces.org.uk/, a website provided by the Armed Forces Christian Union:

We pray for safety, health and well-being for our servicemen and women whilst they are away. For military leaders of all ranks who are given responsibility for leading men and women on operations and who have to make life-or-death and welfare decisions on a regular basis. For the safety of all soldiers leading patrols, often with metal detection equipment; and for the safety of all field vehicle recovery teams often working in very dangerous conditions. For safety of our aircrews as they operate helicopters and fast jets in hostile environments, including retrieving injured personnel from operational areas, frequently under fire. For the ground crews who maintain the aircraft. For Royal Navy and Royal Marines personnel on board ship in various hostile situations, including anti-terrorism and anti-drugs operations. For chaplains serving with and ministering to deployed personnel, including taking repatriation services and ministering to the injured, the bereaved and those suffering from combat stress. For medical staff: doctors, nurses, medical assistants, physiotherapists, radiographers, etc. We pray for skill, wisdom, stamina and insight as they treat the injured, and thank God for the many lives saved as a result of the quality of care they give to the injured. For all who have been wounded especially those whose lives have been changed forever. For those feeling lonely and afraid in a foreign country far from family, friends and familiar surroundings. For all dependants under stress and not coping well with separation. We pray that our Government will make funding available for our deployed servicemen and women to be resourced with the best equipment and that honourable, peaceful and just solutions will be found to problems in countries where our troops are currently deployed.

Resolute God, we thank you for the men and women of our Armed Forces and for all their families and friends whose support enables them to serve our country. We pray that in all circumstances they will be able to keep their eyes on the common goal and ultimately win the prize for which you have called us. We thank you for the opportunity to be able to hold this event for Armed Forces Day and ask that we continue to pray every day for the life of the world and those who exercise power, asking that they find ways to work together for justice and peace so that war is rejected and we can all live peacefully as members of the human family. Merciful Father, we ask that you hear and accept all our prayers through your Son, our Saviour, Jesus Christ, Amen

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The Soldiers - He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother.

Windows on the world (202)

Ilford, 2012

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Michael Kiwanuka - I'll Get Along.

Windows on the world (201)

Ilford, 2012

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Curtis Mayfield & Lauryn Hill - Here But I'm Gone.

Windows on the world (199)

Ilford, 2012

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Tom Waits - Jersey Girl.

Windows on the world (196)

Ilford, 2012

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Lifehouse - Hanging By A Moment.

Windows on the world (190)

Ilford, 2012

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George Harrison - All Things Must Pass.

Windows on the world (175)

Ilford, 2011

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Al Green - Feels Like Christmas.

Windows on the world (174)

Ilford, 2011

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Chagall Guevara - I Need Somebody.