Christmas Giving?

A post popped up on facebook about Operation Christmas Child which operates in our schools. It is ran by the Evangelist Billy Graham. The article states that the religious converting motivations of the project should be kept from people in Britain. The article can be read here:
http://humanistlife.org.uk/2015/10/14/why-parents-shouldnt-support-operation-christmas-child/

It got me thinking about the idea of gift and it seemed relevant to post my response in this blog.

"I have no issue with religion and the spark it gives to do good. I just think that we should try to be as transparent as we can in our motivations. Of course that is a constant personal effort when working with people whether you are religious or not. Am I saying one thing and expecting something else. Am I promising one thing and giving something else? To give something and say in return I would like this to happen is probably the core of reciprocation, a corner stone of our human society. If its explicit perhaps that is ok. Example of mixed messages was when the pilgrims went to The Americas and were given peace pipes. They took them and put them in their museums. The tribes who gave the pipes had a strict structure with the pipe. At a gathering it was smoked and given to a guest, they would then invite everybody for a do at there's pipe smoked and past on. In this way the pipe was a shared asset kept circulating within the community. The pilgrims took the gift in their own cultural spirit, an asset which they could keep and do what they wanted with. Hench the phrase Indian giver, one who gives a thing but then expects it back. The different cultures felt that the rules of gift were so clear that there was no need to converse about them (or they deliberately misunderstood if you are being cynical about it). Perhaps it is better to make the terms of a gift explicit at the off especially when operating within other peoples cultures. The idea of gift is a much more complex one than we at first think. The reason this article shocked me was because operation Christmas child were marketing savvy enough to realise that in an increasingly secular or religiously diverse Britain the truth of the religious backbone should be deliberately hidden in order to make parents give to them. That's pretty cynical. If they had kept to the same policy given in America, where evangelism is more accepted, each parent could make a choice about if this was the best way for them to give to others this Christmas."

 What are our unwritten rules when we give a gift? What would the rules of Christmas giving look like if we tried to write them down for an alien from outer space? That might be an interesting exercise.

The Unexpected Gift

Today I met with a group from Street Soccer and Mark from the Manchester Anglican Diocese. We chatted about the difference between physical courage, (rescuing somebody from a burning building) easy perhaps and moral courage, (being open to new relationships and having the strength to heal old ones) harder perhaps.

We talked about asking for help.How its hard when you don't have family around you or you've burnt some bridges. Hard when you have been rejected or the people who should be part of your solution (family and friends)are actually part of your problem.  Simple things like finding a baby sitter become tricky. Home isn't all its cracked up to be perhaps and places like St Aidan's become important as a place to seek refuge and reflection, a support network.

One story shone through as a symbol of what we are talking about when we consider the wider power of a gift. Two group members were having a tough time with each other. One decided to build bridges and brought in a cookbook the other liked. Given as a gift from one to the other a new bond was formed around a simple gift and a thought. We talked about how unexpected gifts with a meaning for the giver and the receiver where better than the ones we are obliged to give.  Flowers bought hurriedly from the garage when you forget an anniversary can be an insult but the same flowers bought just because you needed cheering up can mean a lot.

The group talked about their sadness when people leave the group under tricky circumstances. How they would like to see them again or tell them that they still think about them. And at the other end how do they welcome new people? Those who are wondering what the expect and we might be wondering about. We talked about words sent hurriedly over facebook and how slowing down what we want to send makes a difference. Illuminated texts likes monks created, text etched into wood, melted into glass, edited stories or poems or words sewn give us time to consider what we want to say and its meaning. When given gifts of words poured over can mean more.

We are hoping to keep chatting about ideas around the title "The Unexpected Gift" and perhaps we will create something profound together.

Innovative Ideas

At the start of Project Shed the group of 10 Salford parents and their children sat down with myself (Artist Beth Barlow) and developed a series of ideas which they thought they might like to explore. Some were directly related to the idea of giving and others were related to growing and work on the allotment. So that we could see them more clearly these ideas were put into two spider diagrams.We have been meeting twice a week to practically work through the ideas. For me these have been like sketches, allowing us to test ideas ans see which resonate most strongly. Which provide the opportunity for transformation of us as individuals or the socirty we live in. This led to the usual mess one gets when one sets off on an artistic exploration. Periods of uncertainty when we were unsure which way things were going. But we pushed on and on reflection several of the ideas seem strong to me. To give us all the opportunity to reflect I developed blank template review sheets. Given to individuals to take away they seem to have fell on arid ground. Sat and completed in tandom with myself they bare more fruit. Reflection is a tedious and ugly, uneccessary thing to do sometimes but its almost always useful. If we don't understand where we have been how can we ascertain where to go next. The review sheets we have created so far are below. They give you an idea of the things we have tried and perhaps where we are going next. Click on each image to see it bigger.

Exchange visits

As part of the project we are organising some exhange visits to similar but different projects in the Nortwest. The partners we hook up with will also visit us on our plot. We will share ideas, success stories and aim to learn from each others low points.

Both Tom and myself have set ourselves the task of finding two places each to propose visiting.

My short list so far are:

Growzone in Northwich  more info here http://www.grozone.org.uk/
 They do theraputic growing sessions and art in their yurt. They are supported by Groundwork and manage to get a good amount of funding each year. They are tied into doctors surgeries who refer people to work with them. Its hard to get people involved in things in Northwich sometimes as its such a spead out community. LKYPG is good at this and could provide some tips perhaps.

Bridge Farms in Elsmere port more info here http://www.bridgecommunityfarms.co.uk/Our-farms--i11.html
They are a much bigger scale to us but could give us some ideas about how to support people into employment and how to gain experts who can help out and grow the things to do.   They focus on the farming side of things and perhaps we could spark some creative ideas for them.

Odsall Hall Heritage Allotment
 http://www.salfordcommunityleisure.co.uk/latest-news/2014/07/breaking-new-ground-project-ordsall-hall


An outsider is this place in manchester. Its a bar but they grow things inside and the theme is allotments. Are there bits of our allotment and project which could inspire or link into what they are doing? Could our shed be a dry bar for a night?
http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/whats-on/music-nightlife-news/new-northern-quarter-bar-allotment-7554955

I also found this on my travels which some of you might want to get involved in
http://cityco.com/project/dig-the-city-2013/

Tom is looking into Tindall Street Allotments and needs to find one more, any suggestions anybody?
http://www.incredibleediblesalford.org.uk/ies-given-space-to-grow-at-eccles-allotment/

Reflections on activities

Seed Bombs and Superheros

Seed Bombs
We need to consider how best to document this. I think its like a sketch. If this is so it should go in the sketch book and be there as inspiration for further works. It doesn't necessarily stand as a resolved piece of work. Print off a few pictures.  

Superheros VS Goodness Spies
There are so many instances of kindness, giving and supportive networks in Kersal and the group are really friendly towards each other. They are already living by the ethos of superheros, helping those in need. The question seems not to be how do we get people we are working with to be more generous but how we give voice  to and report on that generosity. I like the idea of "Goodness Spies" in this respect. Sending a few young people out each week to note stories of goodness and kindness which occur in their day to day life.  What do we give to them to remind them that they are the Goodness spy for that week? What are they looking out for? Chat to the Williams family about this on Tuesday.
Update on Goodness Spies 
We have had 3 sets of spies to date. they note their findings in a note book and we record their stories each week. We need to listen to the recordings to see if they are capturing anything significant or creating a picture. 
 

Our Weekly Diary

Week 1

Day 1 with our new family groups

Getting to know each others name with the animal name game

Gathering ideas for how the shed can be converted

Tom does a tour of the allotment

Us

Week 2

 

...

Week 3 

This week we worked with the Williams family and set in motion some of our ideas. Sam has been set the artistic brief to illustrate some kindness stories in lego and photograph. Sophia and Rachel are "Goodness Spies" for the week.Tom hs given them pads to note their findings and remind them that they are spies. The Cusioned idea is left in the shed for others to pick up and an art first aid box is there for art emergencies. the family re-potted some plants and learnt why this is necessary. We mused on  what works best all being together or working with a few famalies at a time. The group enjoy all being together but its a bit hectic. Put in place to rectify this: each peson will be put in a team and given a volunteer and set tasks. They need to stay with this volunteer  when on the allotment. This will give us a bit of structure and allow us to have everyone on together and keep us all safe. 

Week 4

I was on my holidays but work carried on. People updating the sketch book with ideas, two types of sewing sewing and sowing. 
 
 
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Week 5 

Returned from holidays to find lots more ideas in the groups sketch books and spent a while collecting my thoughts. A walk around the wider allotment with Tom and Tommy B gave birth to the project "Rhubarb, Rhubarb Rhubarb". Full blog on the idea to follow but for now a few pics.

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Week 6

 

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