Recent Developments

A major impetus for LEAF has been the tenancy of St Katherines which we acquired less than a year ago. Since then, we have created offices that are used daily, and the Youth Drop in meets twice a week in the building. We have secured funding for underfloor heating that will be installed in due course and are through to the final round of applications for a Community Space Grant. If successful, we would receive somewhere in the region of £250,000 and this would allow us to develop additional room spaces. We are fully cognisant of the fact that the acquisition of such a unique building located as it is in the centre of the town provides a real platform on which we can roll out a breadth of projects into the community.

 

Interest in the LEAF project continues to grow both within and outside the town. Peter, the chair of trustees and Tony have had joint meetings with members of the county council and the diocese in their bid to understand what underpins the effectiveness of LEAF’s work and how it might be a template for other areas within the county.

 

This report would not be complete without mentioning that this June the prayer initiative 7/12/7 reaches a significant milestone as it will be ten years since this ecumenical initiative was established. With all the practical elements of LEAF’s work and its outreach into the community, it is easy to lose sight of the fact that at its inception the call of God was for the churches to come together and proclaim the good news of Christ through a deeper sense of unity. For those of us who have lived through the last ten years it is evident that the prayer and the consequent relationships developed through many of the joint projects we have undertaken, have allowed us to fulfil Jesus’ command that “all of them may be one” and that therefore we are increasingly seeing “the world believing that you have sent me” (both quotes are from John 17). There is little doubt in the minds of many of us that the corporate prayer lies at the foundation of everything else we do, and we would encourage as many people as possible to join with us at St Michaels in the morning and lunchtime, or at Wellspring with Cathy and Joe each Thursday evening.

 

Physical Well-being

CAP continues to provide much support for many in the community in terms of debt counselling working alongside a dedicated group of befrienders. In addition to their ongoing work, Denise will be running a Money Management Course at the Food Bank throughout April on Thursday evenings and Wednesday mornings.

 

The Knitting and Crochet social group meets every week at the Methodist Church and good relationships are being developed through those who attend.

 

Emotional Well-being

The Listening and Guidance team have had over 420 referrals since the project began and the waiting list remains full for much of the time. Like most things in life, there is a requirement to demonstrate impact for funders but suffice to say the well-being scores prior to attending compared with those after show an increase well above the national expectation for the time spent.

 

The counselling strand continues to provide support for many in the community. Last month 23 adult clients were seen alongside counselling offered to some of the pupils in Ledbury and Eastnor Primary schools. This provision will expand in the next few months with the integration of two counsellors using LEAF for their college placement work.

 

LEAF continues to deliver a mentoring programme into the primary school. Alongside this work with boys in the upper part of the school, two ladies support children with emotional development in the reception class. They listen to them read, play games and through various activities teach social and emotional skills to the children in a very low key, but effective way.

 

Since Christmas we have been able to extend the mentoring programme into John Masefield. These sessions are picking up the children that were on the original programme two years ago in the primary school and the mentors that worked with them have had the opportunity to rekindle relationships with the boys. The time is proving profitable as they work alongside the students.

 

Kintsugi Hope will be starting its 8th course this year. Each course has attracted around a dozen participants and the programme has been very well received by those attending. Good friendships are made and many of the groups still meet up informally to support each other relationally.

 

Spiritual Well-being

A new alpha course will start in late spring. The previous courses have all led to people affirming or finding faith and many are now settled into congregations across the town. The Monday night fellowship, although not large in terms of numbers continues to provide an ecumenical focus for the churches in the town, along with the joint services which are held across the year.

 

Children’s Work

The Spring Forest Fun session was held on 15th March and children ranging in age from 10 months to 10 years old participated, a good time was had by all. The “Mum’s the word” event which takes place on the day before Mother’s Day was also well attended with 36 children joining for games, crafts and refreshments. The Experience Easter trail saw children from Ledbury and Eastnor schools visiting with their teachers. There was also an Egg Hunt Quiz on the Saturday of Easter weekend which ran out of St Michaels.

 

The “Open the Book” teams continue to visit the Ledbury and Eastnor schools on a weekly basis, sharing the stories from the bible and bringing them to life through drama.

 

Youth

The Youth Hub has been running for 6 months now and meets on a Tuesday and Thursday evening. The numbers attending have been rising throughout that time. These have been run by Sloe, our full-time youth worker and we are exceptionally grateful to the band of volunteers that support her each week in these events.

In addition to these weekly events, we have other one-off projects. The Movie Nights were held both at John Masefield and at the Primary School. LEAF was also able to secure funding for a project whereby the youth were encouraged to provide food for the community and on a Thursday the young people prepare jacket potatoes and take them to share at the Food Bank.

Family Support

The Family Support worker, Lydia Williamson, works closely alongside Kate Mason the deputy head of Ledbury Primary school to provide support where needed. The Mother and Tots group started last year has grown in number and is well received by those who attend.

Lydia has just finished running her second parenting course which many who attended found incredibly helpful. One attendee said in her feedback “I was made to feel very comfortable and relaxed enough to express my feelings. It was all very helpful; mind-blowing some of the stuff I have learned. I would recommend to other people.” There are plans to run similar workshops on a variety of themes from Sensory Needs, a Sensory Circuits Day (for children and parents) and a short Parenting course on ASD or ADHD. There will also be a workshop on Attachment and Peer Relationships.

 

Alternative Provision

Jonathan Catley continues to work with four boys at the Primary school each week. They are working on a project to design and build an outdoor classroom, which is now almost complete and will be used as a working centre within the school for any further ongoing provision. The boys love the project, are highly engaged and are developing good relationships with Jonathan as he works alongside them.

 

Plans are afoot to expand this work appreciably and offer a more ongoing alternative provision across the week for a wider variety of children. Meetings have started with various members of the LEAF community and senior leaders at the Primary School looking at options. Martyn, the process and funding manager, is lining up a funding bid to financially underpin the initial year of the work. Watch this space!

 

Behind the scenes

It is worth mentioning the work of many people who work behind the scenes to ensure that LEAF operates effectively and efficiently. Tara works five mornings a week as Tony’s PA along with Martyn Kyle who has spent much time this year pulling together policies and ensuring that the administrative elements of the charity run seamlessly. He has also worked on many of the grant funding bids alongside Chris Daws who is the treasurer of the charity and works tirelessly in this regard. As a charity the trustees play an important role but above all else the “behind the scenes” team of volunteers who give of their time on a weekly basis to support the many projects being undertaken should not go unnoticed. There are of course too many to mention here but you know who you are, and we are extremely grateful for all you do.

 

 

 

Giving

If you wish to donate, then please head to the website https://www.leafledbury.com/ where you will find a donation button on the home page or make a bank transfer to LEAF using the details below:  
CAF Bank
Sort Code                           40-52-40
Account Number             00034459

We also are interested in hearing from you if you feel you could contribute your time and expertise to one of the areas we currently offer. LEAF provides an ideal forum for those from various churches to come together as one and enrich the provision of the services we offer to the community in which we worship and live.

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