New Lead Chaplain announcement

The Trustees are very pleased to announce that David Scourfield will be the new Lead Chaplain starting at the beginning of July.

David introduces himself:

It is a privilege to be able to introduce myself as the next ‘Lead Chaplain’ for Watford Town Centre Chaplaincy, having been involved with the Chaplaincy for the best part of the last 11 years. I am looking forward to both renewing the many friendships I made with volunteers and supporters during this time and also to meeting all those that are currently involved in Chaplaincy/Street Angel work.

My professional career of 32 years has been as a Chartered Town Planner (somebody has to do it!) working in local government, the last 20 years as a senior manager. In fact my career started with Watford Council’s Planning team and then saw me move into a corporate regeneration team that coordinated community involvement in the central ward and town centre. So, once again I will find myself working with and alongside those in Watford’s Town Centre. How life comes full circle.

I am not actually a Watford lad. I was born and bred in Paddington and to this day my wife, Juliet, notices that I get ‘twitchy’ if I don’t regularly get into central London! My Roman Catholic upbringing sort of lapsed in my later teen years but I never lost a faith in God. I married Juliet (an early years teacher) 23 years ago at Leavesden Road Baptist church and was blessed with three wonderful children, who are now young adults. My son Toby (28) is a sales manager and with his wife Laura have given us three gorgeous Grandchildren – Niamh (11), Darcey (8) and Beau (4). My daughters Verity (22) and Orlagh (21) moved out of the family home last autumn and share a flat in Hendon so I guess that makes us ‘empty nesters’ but ones that are nevertheless content with life. Verity is a Registered Paediatric nurse at Great Ormond Street Hospital and Orlagh is in the first year of a teach training degree. I should also say there are two dogs in the wider family and that, for some reason, my daughters think it appropriate to call me ‘Grand Doggy Dave’ whenever these four legged creatures are present!

To say I am looking forward to taking on the responsibility of Lead Chaplain is an understatement. It comes at another big change in my life. Back in March this year, in the space of 24 hours not only did I accept Tony’s offer of the Lead Chaplain position but I also found out that I had been approved by Bishop Alan for part time training as an ordinand in the Church of England, with ordination in May 2023, God willing. God’s timing never ceases to amaze me. At 55 I start the next phase of my life, this time well and truly focused on God and Kingdom work.

For those that know me, I am very much about ‘church without walls’ and bringing Jesus to people wherever they are found in need: the cafes and pubs, the nightclubs, our shops and the Atria centre, the High Street, bus stops and doorways. And of course our Churches. I join Watford Town Centre Chaplaincy to help Lead the organisation forward but in doing so will focus my time on energy on serving: it’s staff and volunteers, it’s Trustees and partners, the community of Watford, and most importantly to me, Jesus.

As Lead Chaplain I offer a prayer based on Aaron’s blessing

May the Lord make his face shine upon all those working with and for the Chaplaincy and may the Lord turn his face towards all of those living, working and visiting Watford, so to give us all his peace.

David

New Lead Chaplain

The Trustees have short-listed, interviewed and appointed a new Lead Chaplain subject to references and other checks. An announcement will be made soon.

Appointing a new Lead Chaplain

The Trustees have spent the last couple of months discussing the way forward for the Chaplaincy following the departure of the Lead Chaplain in November. They will be advertising for a new Lead Chaplain very soon - watch this space!

We are still operating!

Yes, it’s been a difficult year for all of us - and for our volunteers trying to keep contact with shops and businesses via emails, mobiles and Zoom has not always been easy. But they are trying their best and are always ready and willing to support whenever they can. And they are staying in touch with each other and encouraging each other. They will be ready to be out and about again to help, listen to and support as soon as it’s safe to do so.

Lead Chaplain vacant

We are still operating without a Lead Chaplain! The Chaplains are working remotely again due to the new lock-down and making contact via email and phone. Unfortunately the Street Angels are not able to go out but are ready and waiting to do so as soon as it is possible again.

Our Lead Chaplain is moving on ...

... We congratulate our Lead Chaplain Frances Novillo on her appointment as Multifaith Chaplaincy Lead for Surrey and Sussex Police.  Her last day working with us in Watford will be Monday 2nd November.  Our volunteers continue to offer chaplaincy support across the town centre, supporting staff and customers in the daytime and night-time economy.  If you would like to join the team, please take a look at our Volunteer page, where you can find the application forms.

We're back!

Our Chaplains have started visiting town centre businesses again, including Costa, Starbucks, and Pret; Moon under Water and Colombia Press; the market; Artisan, HeadHunters, and Toni & Guy; intu, and independent retailers including Situl's Gifts.  

Our Street Chaplains set out at the start of June, available across the town centre on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday afternoons to anyone - staff, shoppers, visitors - in town as more retailers and other businesses reopened.  You may see one of our duty Chaplains still available on the streets - feel free to approach them for a chat if you want to talk.

Our Street Angels have been out and about overnight on Saturdays since SuperSaturday, 4th July, supporting the hospitality industry as it reopened, listening to its staff and helping out any customers who need assistance to enjoy Watford's night-life safely, or get home safely at the end of the night.

We are operating within strict safety precautions, including limiting the time spent in proximity to people, observing social distancing, regularly cleaning our hands, wearing face coverings indoors, and distributing fewer items (although we still have slippers, tissues, water, wet wipes to give out if necessary).  

If you want a Chaplain to visit your staff in your town centre business, please contact Frances, our Lead Chaplain, on frances@watfordtcc.org[mailto:frances@watfordtcc.org] 07483 178582

How you can join us ...

This week the Chaplaincy diary is full. Have a look at what we're up to, and perhaps you'd like to join us?

We're providing training to Watford businesses on The Trauma of Loss: supporting a work colleague through bereavement, and supporting your team through the loss of a colleague. If you missed booking for this but would have liked to attend, do let us know your interest and we'll consider running it again in future.  Remember you can always be in touch with our volunteers to get bereavement support for your staff through frances@watfordtcc.org[mailto:frances@watfordtcc.org] and 07483 178582

It's Watford Wellness week, with the open monthly meeting on Wednesday 27th May from 5-6pm, with guest speakers Jolel Miah from Our Minds Matter speaking about respecting diversity in workplace wellbeing culture, and a representative from Widowed and Young and The Good Grief Trust sharing her experience of coping with bereavement.  Meetings are open to representatives from any Watford business, small or large.  Booking through Watford & West Herts Chamber of Commerce  https://zoom.us/j/97902901945?pwd=cTJwQXAwcDFsc1NXZGJWWXQzQmRJZz09[https://zoom.us/j/97902901945?pwd=cTJwQXAwcDFsc1NXZGJWWXQzQmRJZz09] 

This Thursday 28th May, our Lead Chaplain is the guest practitioner in conversation with Councillor Rabi Martins at the Watford Wellness mental wellbeing webinars.  Frances will be talking about coping with grief and loss in the workplace.  Join in at 4pm on the Watford & West Herts Chamber of Commerce Facebook page @watfordchamber

And on Friday 29th May, you can see our Lead Chaplain interviewed again, with Watford's Elected Mayor Peter Taylor at his weekly Q&A live on Facebook.  That's at 2pm and Frances will be answering questions about mental health, loneliness, and isolation, through the Mayor's Facebook page @mayorpetertaylor

Watford Wellness

Watford Wellness is a forum where Watford's employers can find out about wellness services available to support their staff.  Our next open monthly meeting online is on Wednesday 27th May from 5-6pm and you can book through this link:  https://zoom.us/j/97902901945?pwd=cTJwQXAwcDFsc1NXZGJWWXQzQmRJZz09 Organised in conjunction with Watford Chamber of Commerce and Watford Borough Council, our Lead Chaplain is always at the monthly Watford Wellness meetings, along with a neuro-success therapist and a suicide prevention, recovery and growth coach.  This month's guest speakers are Jolel Miah from Our Minds Matter, speaking about respecting diversity in developing your workplace wellness culture, and Pherenice Worsley-Buck, sharing her story of discovering bereavement charities Widowed and Young and the Good Grief Trust.  Representatives from all of Watford's businesses, large and small, from self-employed sole traders through SMEs to large corporates, are very welcome to attend.

Bereavement Support

We are available to support anyone who is bereaved at this time, as part of our support service available to anyone who usually works in Watford town centre, wherever you are now, through which you can talk to us about anything that's troubling you (07483 178582 frances@watfordtcc.org).  If someone you love has died, our hearts go out to you, our volunteers are ready to listen and understand how grief is particularly painful, complicated and difficult under the present circumstances.  Please contact us to talk about how you're feeling, and share your memories of the one you love who has died.  Our bereavement support is particularly helpful in the early stages, days and weeks after death, including companionship (by phone, email, or video conference) on the day of the funeral if you are unable to attend.  We are linked together with specialist bereavement support services and can signpost you to their help if you would like.  Whatever is worrying you, we have time for you to talk, we are ready to listen, we are here to hear.

Support the Chaplaincy via Easy Fundraising

Did you know that whenever you buy anything online – from your weekly shop to your annual holiday – you could be raising free donations for Watford Town Centre Chaplaincy with easyfundraising?

There are over 4,000 shops and sites on board ready to make a donation – including eBay, Argos, John Lewis, ASOS, Booking.com and M&S – and it won’t cost you a penny extra to help us raise funds. All you need to do is:

1. Go to https://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/watfordtcc/?utm_campaign=raise-more and join for free.

2. Every time you shop online, go to easyfundraising first to find the site you want and start shopping.

3. After you’ve checked out, the retailer will make a donation to Watford Town Centre Chaplaincy at no extra cost to you whatsoever!

There are no catches or hidden charges and Watford Town Centre Chaplaincy will be really grateful for your donations.

Thank you for your support.

Dying Matters Awareness Week

This week is Dying Matters Awareness Week (dyingmatters.org) which starts with a day encouraging us to talk about traumatic and sudden death, a topic which we're all hearing more about during this pandemic, and tragically which may have affected us directly through the loss of a family member, friend, or work colleague.  This year, Dying Matters is focusing on how we respond when someone wants to discuss death, grief, their will, or funeral plans with us. 

Dying Matters says: "It's too easy to dodge that conversation with a joke or a "maybe later".  But we know it's hard for people to talk about death and the practical aspects of getting ready for it.  So when someone wants to talk about death, we owe it to them to be the other half of that conversation.  If they want to talk, we need to listen."

All our Chaplains and Street Angels are trained to listen if you want to talk about anything, even the most difficult topics.  They won't judge you, interrupt you, rush you, nor try to tell you what to do, but they can signpost you to relevant specialist sources of support and advice if you need that.

And if you and your work team right here in Watford town centre would like some basic training in how to respond supportively to someone who's been through a traumatic experience, experiencing the death of someone they loved, then please contact us to arrange that training (which can be delivered online).  Previous participants in our training course have told us:

"I found the whole course so informative and it was good to find out about all the help available for bereavement (the websites etc.).  Also the different effects of a traumatic death and an unexpected death and how it can affect people differently"

"Being able to explore a very difficult topic in such a safe and sensitive way - I felt secure and in a safe pair of hands and this has empowered me to take what I have learned and use it" 

"Even during the course I was talking to people on the phone in very sad and traumatic situations in their lives and I was able to see more clearly how to be a good listener especially as it's impossible to be there to hold them close" 

"Thank you for the training which we thoroughly enjoyed if we can say that with such a delicate subject".

MP's Podcast

Our Lead Chaplain, Frances Novillo, recorded a podcast with Dean Russell MP explaining our usual service supporting workplace wellbeing in Watford town centre, and everyone who visits our night-time economy, and our current service of remote support available to anyone who usually works in Watford town centre.  We've used this opportunity to let people know about our expanded bereavement support service, which provides trained volunteers available to listen to anyone who has been recently bereaved, and provide remote companionship, including on the day of the funeral for those who are unable to attend.  It's good for the Chaplaincy to be part of Dean's priority of developing mental health support across Watford, and the two of them chat about that initiative, too:  https://open.spotify.com/episode/4ThSt2ZGj8tyUK4heFUOa1

Clips from the podcast are available on social media through Twitter @Dean4Watford and Facebook

We have extended our Training Programme

The Chaplaincy has extended its current training programme beyond our volunteers (Chaplains and Street Angels) to Chaplains, Street Angels, Street Pastors, Rail Pastors, School Pastors, YMCA Chaplains and Late Night Listeners across the country, who gathered together online this past week to cover traumatic bereavement training with our Lead Chaplain, Frances Novillo.  Over 40 people booked to attend the training course.  It's based on training delivered to Chaplains from across Hertfordshire organised by the Public Health department of Hertfordshire County Council in February and led by Professor Stephen Regel of the Centre for Trauma, Resilience, and Growth.  We adapted it for the particular context of projects similar to ours, and updated it in the light of the particular demands of the COVID-19 crisis, and are pleased to be resourcing volunteers around the country motivated by faith, like us, to serve their local communities and help people in many towns and cities cope through the crisis, return and recover when the restrictions are over.

Watford Wellness

The next Watford Wellness meeting is this Wednesday 22nd April, 5-6pm.  Register here:  https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJwtdOqprj8oo1mGkIma0DeQ0LSxB1-krA [https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJwtdOqprj8oo1mGkIma0DeQ0LSxB1-krA]

Did you know?  The Chaplaincy is the driving force behind Watford Wellness, a collaborative project with Watford and West Herts Chamber of Commerce, Watford Council, and individual wellness practitioners.  Representatives from Watford's businesses - sole traders, self-employed, SMEs, retailers, banks, large corporates, hospitality industry - come along to find out how to support their colleagues and staff wellbeing.  Previous speakers have covered Mental Health First Aid, Samaritans, embedding wellness in employment contracts (VWV), volunteering (Small Acts of Kindness), physical fitness and wellbeing (Fitness4Less) … and this month, we're hearing from COVID Herts Counselling, and renowned international choreographer Kate Flatt OBE speaking about dance and wellness during isolation.  If you usually work in Watford, you are welcome to attend and find out more about mental and physical wellbeing during this crisis and as we look forward to the future together. 

Bereavement Support

We are available to support anyone who is bereaved at this time, as part of our support service available to anyone who usually works in Watford town centre, wherever you are now, through which you can talk to us about anything that's troubling you (07483 178582 frances@watfordtcc.org).  If someone you love has died, our hearts go out to you, our volunteers are ready to listen and understand how grief is particularly painful, complicated and difficult under the present circumstances.  Please contact us to talk about how you're feeling, and share your memories of the one you love who has died.  Our bereavement support is particularly helpful in the early stages, days and weeks after death, including companionship (by phone, email, or video conference) on the day of the funeral if you are unable to attend.  We are linked together with specialist bereavement support services and can signpost you to their help if you would like.  Whatever is worrying you, we have time for you to talk, we are ready to listen, we are here to hear.

We are here to hear ...

Watford Town Centre Chaplaincy is available to support anyone who usually works in Watford town centre (even if you are currently self-isolating or working from home elsewhere). We appreciate the unprecedented pressure on everyone at this time. So we are increasing our available phone and email support; you can contact our Lead Chaplain, Frances, on 07483 178582 or frances@watfordtcc.org  to discuss anything which is worrying you. We are a listening service, and we cannot give advice, but we can signpost you to specialist sources of support as necessary. The service is free (apart from the cost of the phone call) and freely available to everyone. If you need to talk about what's troubling you, we're here to hear.

Serving our town ...

We are glad to continue serving our town, and all who usually work here, during these challenging times.

Our Lead Chaplain is part of Watford's Cultural Leaders group, drawn together by Mayor Peter Taylor, and including representatives from Watford Palace Theatre, Vibe radio station, Watford FC's Community Support Trust, Warner Brothers Studios, Pump House Theatre, Electric Umbrella, and many more.

You can find out what they're up to online all in one place, the new #WatfordTogether website www.watfordtogether.co.uk[http://www.watford]

with information about exciting cultural events happening now and in the coming weeks which you can enjoy from the comfort of your own home, whether on your own or with family.  

Watford Town Centre Chaplaincy has helped to build the Wellness page at www.watfordtogether.co.uk/wellness[http://www.watfordtogether.co.uk/wellness], providing details of our current support along with all the information from our signposting leaflet detailing specialist sources of support for families, young people, older people, those with disabilities, or dementia, anyone in need of prayer, or struggling with bereavement, or having been victims of crime.  Take a look!

We've also listed there our Watford Wellness project, in conjunction with Watford Chamber of Commerce and the Council, which is continuing with its regular monthly meetings on the 4th Wednesday of every month.  

Thank you ...

Thank you to wise policy makers, and people gifted in making good policy quickly.  We've been consulting with a few of these exceptional people in recent weeks, and are very grateful for their work and assistance.

Updating listening skills training

Frances, Lead Chaplain says: It was lovely to 'see' a team of my volunteers together again (online) updating their listening skills training last week so we can provide phone and email support during COVID-19 to anyone who usually works in Watford town centre (call 07483 178582 to speak to someone).