West Sussex Mediation Service
External Newsletter
Summer what summer ?!
Issue No: 43
Summer Solstice
2012
External Edition
This edition is
published for the
Funders and
Supporters of the West
Sussex Mediation
Service.
Inside this issue:
Summer Solstice
1
Dinner 4 Good
1
In the Pink
2
Vivace!
2
Referrals
3
Kids Kicked Out
3
Chance to win
4
Snippets
4
Would you believe that 21st June sees the summer solstice
arrive — the longest day of the year. A solstice occurs when the
sun is at its greatest distance from the equator. The word
derives from two Latin words — sol meaning sun and sistere
meaning to cause to stand still. Solstices occur twice a year.
The summer solstice marks the first day of summer. Hopefully
that will be reflected in some sunny weather soon, after all the
miserable weather we have suffered so far this year.
Traditionally the workload of WSMS increases over the months
of June, July and August. We can normally put that down to
more outdoor living and use of gardens, increased levels of
noise through open windows and possibly due to school
holidays and children spending more time at home.
As a service, we have to contend with the fact that these peak
months coincide with the scheduled holidays of many of our
volunteer mediators. Many families still have to book their
summer holidays to match the end of the school summer term,
whether that is with their children or grandchildren for the older
generation. All that means our two Caseworkers will be
particularly busy matching mediators with clients and venues.
Our mediators will be encouraged to arrange their own cases
during this peak period (and beyond if they care to), to help prevent any delays.
Dinner 4 Good
WSMS recently signed up with Dinner4Good, which is an easy
way of raising money for our charity, whilst enjoying dinner with
friends. Beats running marathons or jumping from planes!
More details via:
www.dinner4good.com/wsms
Issue No: 43
Page 2
No longer ‘in the Pink’
The scaffolding is down and Alphacom House now enjoys a new lick of paint on the
brickwork and front doors. Out goes the pink and in comes a shade of grey!
OLD
NEW
Alphacom House is now under the control of the YMCA, who have made quite a few
improvements to the building. The front entrance now has an intercom system but
this does not extend to our office. Access to our office remains via the side door to
the left hand side of the building, where we have a basic door bell. Anyone is more
than welcome to visit, during normal office hours, to see how the office operates.
Vivace Concert
A good time was had by all who attended our first charity event at the Brighton Road
Baptist Church on Saturday 9th June.
The choir, Vivace!, surprised the audience with a wide
variety of music styles and managed to incorporated
musical instruments including saxophone, recorders, piano
and percussion. We received very positive feedback from
the paying public. The choir appreciated the quality of the
venue and facilities. They are normally used to being
squeezed onto small stages, but on this occasion had
plenty of room to move around as the every changing elements of their routine
unfolded.
In total £426 was raised for the charity. As well as ticket sales, a raffle was held on
the night, which helped to boost the final total. The only real
overhead we had was the performing rights fee. Even the
teas and coffee was donated — thanks to the Co-op store in
Roffey, Horsham.
Nick is hoping to organise a variety of events in the future. If
anyone has any ideas, or is willing to muck in, do let the
office know.
Page 3
West Sussex Mediation Service
External Newsletter
Referrals
So far, June has not been as busy as it normally is at this time of year. By 19th June
we had taken 14 referrals. Most of these were self referrals, with the Citizens Advice
Bureaux being the signposting agency in many of them. There has been a very
diverse mixture of referral topics from hedges, rent deposit, will, access for building
work, workmanship, intergenerational, noise, verbal abuse and family issues.
Maybe all the bad weather has meant that there is less outdoor living taking place
and therefore less noise nuisance going on. (Domestic violence is known to increase
during football tournaments, such as the current Euro 2012 championship).
Not long now to the Olympics! That may keep people happy.
We currently have 17 mediators assigned to cases on the board. Five new case are
ready for allocation.
Kids Kicked Out
BBC3 recently featured a programme called ‘Kids
Kicked Out’. It followed the stories of four young
people whose relationships with their parents
have become so bad that they risk being kicked
out for good. Enter the mediators, intent on
helping these families resolve their problems
before it was too late.
Charlotte, 16, was kicked out by her dad after she threw a party which turned out to
be the final straw. Tyler, 14. was taken away by social services at his mum’s request,
She insisted that she will do it again if his behaviour does not change. Sisters
Viviana, 15, and Stephanie, 14, cannot go a day without a fight and risk being taken
into foster care.
The mediators step in to unearth what the real issues are beneath the petty
squabbles over housework and manners, and restore harmony between the
teenagers and their parents. But will their efforts come in time to keep these young
families together? NB THIS IS A SERVICE THAT WSMS PROVIDES.
You can catch up on the documentary by going to the BBC iPlayer website via this
link: http://ow.ly/bFGUq
The programme does contain strong language.
Page 4
West Sussex Mediation Service
External Newsletter
Chance to win £1,000
One of our responsibilities at WSMS is to be open to new methods of fundraising
which we believe will both benefit the charity and be acceptable to our supporters. To
that end, we have just formed a relationship with SureAid whereby WSMS will receive
6% of the annual premium paid by a supporter when they purchase their home
insurance via SureAid. We are always sensitive to the wishes of our supporters and
realise that this scheme will not be of interest to everyone.
Anyone applying for a no obligation quote, prior to 30th June, will be automatically
entered into a prize draw for £1,000. The draw will take place on 2nd July 2012.
For your chance to win go to our weblink: http://ow.ly/bG4Ep
Snippets
> A number Trustees, together with Nick, met up on Tuesday evening with someone
who expressed an interest in our vacancy for a new Chairperson. This shows great
dedication to duty as it coincided with England’s game against Ukraine!
> The next meeting of the Management Committee is being held on Tuesday 10th
July 2012 at the Capitol Theatre meeting room, Horsham, starting at 10.30am. If
anyone would like to attend to observe, first hand, how business is done, please drop
an email to the trustees at [email protected] Limited space will be available!
> We have just been chosen by Waitrose in Chichester to be one of their charities of
the month in their ‘Community Matters’ scheme. If you are shopping in their store
and see us featured, please be sure to put your green token in the WSMS tank. We
previously featured in the Horsham store and managed to raise £261.
Remember you can nominate us in other stores that have yet to adopt us. They
include Worthing, Littlehampton, East Grinstead & Burgess Hill. Asda have recently
introduced a similar charity scheme, with green tokens also, so if you happen to be in
one of their stores locally, pick up a nomination form and put our name on it. All these
various schemes can help us boost our bank balance and increase our profile. The
more people that can put the word out the better.