The chips are up!

Food and birthdays

Today, Scott (our admin and IT guru) celebrated adding another ring to the bark of his tree. I'm not saying how old he is...let's just say his car insurance (if he could drive) would have gone done a lot!!

It's easy in our busy lives to forget the important things around us so the community cafe created Scott's favourite meal for him...Don't forget that our pop up cafe is every Friday 12-2 at the Hub - the volunteers cook up some lovely home treats :)

Scott's favourite meal. Dug fresh from the KIM garden.

Afterwork celebration with Andy, Scott, Dave and Amy (she was away from the table when we took the pic!)

Planning is a walk in the park (well, nature reserve)

Rhuddlan Nature Reserve

Today I had the pleasure of attending a planning away day with Amy and Annie in Rhuddlan. I regaled them with tales of databases and advertisement packs. I've never had a more enthralled audience. They asked lots of interesting questions and left full of wizardry joys. Or not! 

Seriously, it was good to take some time out and reflect on where we are at as individuals and a group. It's easy for life to overtake us, making time can be missed. When is the last time you took time to reflect?

Annie showed us the local nature reserve after our meeting, it was great to see a new part of Wales. I love finding new things - it's a really nice walk if you are nearby. I've put the link at the top of the page. 

Annie and Amy at the reserve.

There once was an ugly duckling...

This part of the reserve is great for dog walking!

Apart from 'thistle' we didn't know what this plant was called. Any budding David Bellamys out there?

Food, food, glorious food!

Start of the new Men's 10 week block of groups

2 cooks and 1 hinderer

Food is always a good way to bring people together. To start the new block of groups the men decided to have a working breakfast at the Hub.

Fate was trying to conspire against us as the two members of staff that were supposed to be cooking went off sick! Luckily, we adapted and overcame with Chef Jon and his willing deputy Shane stepping up to take over cooking duties.

As ever, a wonderful meal was produced and all the group enjoyed the full English experience. Unsurprisingly, the waft of bacon drew other team members from their office slumber into eating and chatting.

Dished up with the delicacy of a School Dinner Worker

Tuck in!

Welsh Culture visit to Conwy Castle

View from the top!

As part of the accreditation for the Welsh Language and Culture group we visited Conwy Castle. 

The group look happy :)

 The group enjoyed the visit welcoming the opportunity to explore the castle seeped in history.

Built in 1283 by Edward 1 Conwy Castle form part of an ‘iron ring’ of castles which were designed to quell Welsh uprisings. 

Today the castle is one of the best preserved castles in the whole of North Wales.

first aid training at the hub

first aid training at the hub 

ste on the left from st johns and three dummys 

Today we had are first aid training with ste from st johns ambulance showing the group different technics on saving a persons life . Everyone who attended really enjoyed the training and we are looking forward to ste coming back again soon to do the baby and toddler training course

There was a couple of people feeling a bit anxious when they first turned up but by the end of the course there mental wellbeing had improved .

Look what we all recieved 

Oh the weather outside is.....

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow....

Here we are again. Nearly a month later than I would have liked to have seen the snow for a white Christmas.

For the second Wednesday running the surrounding conditions have meant we have cancelled groups for safety reasons.

As ever, it's about taking the positives and finding new answers to the new questions. Fun :)

What ideas can you think of? Photography if snowy scenes. snowball 'fights'. sledging, warm fires, hot chocolate, knitting a cosy scarf....the list goes on.

This picture made me chuckle (it's also very sadly true for me!)

Be safe out there!

First Week Back

Hello 2019!

KIM staff enjoying the sticky pudding.

First week back is always hard when you have had a couple of weeks off. The thought of coming back to 200 emails and getting up early in the mornings again is not appealing!

After trying to get back in the spirit of working again, and trying to get organised for the groups starting back next week, we decided to have a team meal today. Arianne and Paul volunteered to cook for the staff. They made chilli, chips, rice, guacamole, tortilla chips and for dessert they made sticky toffee pudding. We were very surprised that Paul could cook and we are hoping that he cooks every week for us! 

It's always good to find new skills about people - have you got any skills that you have not shared with other people before? Maybe talk about these to friends, family or in KIM groups. We would love to hear about everybody's skills, hobbies and interests, please feel free to post your thoughts below.

Please check our website for all the latest groups. We are looking forward to seeing you all again soon.

Armed Forces Covenant Conference, Cardiff

I sit on the Flintshire Armed Forces Covenant group to provide my experience as a veteran and update the committee on what I'm observing with veterans at our third sector level. Flintshire suggested to Welsh Government that I would be an ideal candidate to present my 'transition story' (transition is the term used when leaving the military to become a civilian) to a conference that included cabinet members from UK and Welsh Government. As ever, we at KIM Inspire get involved in many levels of social justice within Wales as a means of promoting the voice of individuals and to promote thinking within policy making forums. It is time-consuming, and not easy to prepare speeches/presentations/workshops at large conferences - yet we do, as we believe passionately  in the work we do alongside individuals and the importance of having those voices heard.

So this was my story to be heard - me as me, not as Andy from KIM. Can you really separate things out cleanly? Not really. I could of indulged myself and gave a 15 minute speech about me - of course I included my context and how the military supported me to transition back into civilian life (my story is below as part of a research project I took part in). However, I was able to get over messages of how the veterans community could be supported and the lessons I identified from my own journey. Our work at KIM is always about encouraging others to consider issues in their own context and the wider societal view.

Raising questions at the conference.

Forces In Mind - Equipped for Life Gallery

Article in the Evening Leader

Exhibition at Ty Pawb, Wrexham

Invisible juggling.

Portrait taken for the exhibition.

“I enjoy the camaraderie of the people I work with and I enjoy being settled, having a house and not having to pack your bags all the time is brilliant, things like putting in plants and watching them grow rather than leaving them behind has made a big difference.”

I had worked for 10 years as a civilian in retail but I wanted to do something for my country, so having looked at the other Services I decided to join the RAF in 1999 as an assistant air traffic controller. I served 14 years before coming out.  During my career I was promoted to sergeant and I had responsibility for flight operations which involved making sure it was safe for aircraft to take off and land. I also worked in the embassy in United Emirates where I had to make sure all aircraft were given diplomatic clearance over their air space, it was a really important role.

My decision to leave was nothing to do with not liking my job, I had intended to stay until 55yrs but after taking up the role of instructor and I was spending increasing amounts of time responding to the welfare needs of the younger students, I realised, after looking out for one these students who was sent to me for guidance, that I could see myself doing more in an advocating role. I spoke to a social worker at one of the bases and he persuaded me that I could go to University and that it would be worth taking the big financial hit to become a student and then a social worker.

When I was going through transition, although my primary aim was to go to University, I didn’t know I would be selected, so my fall back option was to address the two reasons I might not be selected. The first was my lack of academic qualifications and the other was not having the right experience. What I did before I left was work through the Open University to gain a level 4 certificate in Health and Social Care and I did some volunteer work with the NSPCC and the RAF also allowed me to do voluntary work in the community. This meant I was confident I would achieve my goal.

Moving Forward

Although the English Social Work board weren’t particularly interested in my military experience and did not see it as relevant, the Care Council in Wales were really supportive and valued the skills I could bring to social work as an ex-military person. Being a student was a really positive time and I went from having 2 GCSEs to achieving a first class honours degree and an award for the most achieving student.

Since leaving the University, I started working for a third sector charity which needed some organisation and although they only took me on for one day a week initially, I have been promoted twice and I am now their director of operations. I am able to use the skills I gained in the military to my current job which is to make a difference for the people the charity supports.

Change of Pace

At the University, the majority were mature students and while they had some insight into what the military is, there was an assumption of people being ‘armified’ with barking sergeant majors, being extremely organised and well structured. Of course the style of leadership in the RAF is nothing like that so it was overcoming prejudices and helping them understand that the ways the Army, the RAF and the Navy go about their training is completely different even though they might have the same objective.

Putting down roots

I enjoy the camaraderie of the people I work with and I enjoy being settled, having a house and not having to pack your bags all the time is brilliant, things like putting in plants and watching them grow rather than having to leave them behind has made a big difference. When I left, my eldest son was 11yrs and he had been to 11 different schools. Being in the same house has meant he and my daughter are doing well academically. My decision to leave I think was the right one because I am the first person in the history of my family to get a degree, so seeing me study has given them the confidence to know that they too can go to University.

So having taken a risk 5 years ago when leaving the military, everything I have learnt has paid off beautifully. I think my transition from one role to another has been seamless because I took control of what I wanted to do and did not rely on the military to do it for me.

KIM at the Steve Morgan Foundation Conference

STEVE MORGAN FOUNDATION CONFERENCE

Our blog looks at all aspects of what KIM gets up to - here's a peek behind the curtain of how Annie, Amy and Andy worked with a key funder to continue our ongoing excellent relationship.

KIM were honoured this year to be invited by Steve's fantastic team to deliver a 15 minute presentation and a 50 minute workshop at the inaugural Steve Morgan Foundation Conference at Carden Park. You can find more out about the difference Steve is making here.  The foundation supports our volunteer programme - you can read more about eVOLution on Twitter.

Anxiety can touch everyone.......

Annie looking, er, 'pensive' before the conference. She was off her sick bed to!

I'm going to throw this out there. We are not robots - well Amy and Annie are not, my mum tells me she had me tested (Big Bang Theory fans). Attending a conference and speaking in front of a large crowd is nerve wracking. Annie feels anxious leading up to events and is a bag of nerves....until she starts to speak - then her charisma and passions oozes out. Amy brings her infectious laissez faire mask to hide behind. Sergeant Matthews comes over as mr organised and on a mission. Together we are stronger, together we have overcome many hurdles, together we have lifted the profile of third sector work, together we laugh, together we can achieve more. At KIM, it is always about the strength of our overall team...otherwise, Annie would still be anxious and would not attend workshops, Amy would be on a deck chair and Andy would be talking to airplanes.

We have some fantastic team members, volunteers and individuals at the KIM Hub...hopefully you will view the stories they share and see how we all work together.

15 minutes can feel like.....

Annie and Amy produced a wonderful presentation to the conference

No escaping for Andy, he was 'voluntold' to go on for the feedback session and rhyme the comments !

Workshop

We had a fantastic workshop in the lovingly named 'Shooting Lodge'.

Thank you to everyone that took part, some great conversations but, as ever, not enough time to unpick everything. As promised, I've posted our flip charts below and would welcome any comments you would like to add to this blog. We are really keen to get out and see as many of you as we can - there is some amazing work going on. Likewise, you are always welcome to call in to see is if you are ever cruising up the North Wales coast!

Sheet 1. 

Getting started on the 'why' people volunteer.

 Sheet 2

Some interesting topics emerging.

Sheet 3.

I wonder if we could craft a statement? I did my best to improvise at the feedback.

And finally.....

The smiles afterwards. Annie had gone back to her sick bed whilst Andy and Amy took part in a liquid debrief.

KIM Together @ Loggerheads

Loggerheads Walk

The staff at KIM INSPIRE were asked by the Men’s Service Manager to plan an outing for the all the groups (KIM 4 Him Flintshire and KIM 4 Her Flintshire/Wrexham). We discussed the ideas with the groups and supported them organise it as individual group and the larger consortium. This gave everybody the chance to have a voice without anything feeling too big.

We had to come up with ideas to where people would like to go and to be on a bus route. We looked into Moel Fammau, but there was no bus route close to it. We decided to go to Loggerheads so they could either go for a walk, or they could relax.

The men’s (and other groups) representation for the community day out was extremely positive with ten individuals attending. Everybody who came today really enjoyed getting out and not being stuck in on a lovely day. 

Outcomes: A client completed the three mile walk, this was challenging but was determined to complete with the team.

Bringing all projects together gave opportunities for people to get to know each other and create the feeling of solidarity and team work bringing cross county and cross projects together as one total entity of KIM.

People sharing food with strangers (from other KIM groups) and also people who hadn’t brought food felt comfortable in accepting the gesture of sharing which can sometimes present hurdles.

Getting to know interests and sharing information created conversations about common likes and interests.

The point of doing this was to get all the groups together, so they could meet people who they haven’t met before and getting them out of there comfort zone, which took a lot for some people to do.

At the end of it, they all said that they enjoyed the outing, and are looking forward to the next one.

Article from April Professional Social Work Magazine

Link to Professional Social Work Magazine