A huge thank you to all those who took part in the event.

Finally, to mark the Volunteers Week 2011, we would like to take the opportunity to express a special and heartfelt thanks to all our loyal and committed volunteers both old and current who volunteer selflessly during the week to help SIFA Fireside deliver a better service to those who are socially excluded and marginalised within our community and address social isolation by lending an empathetic ear and encouragement to move forward positively to supporting clients with basic needs, i.e. providing clothes, warm food and food parcels. Once again, many thanks, your contribution has been very much appreciated and valued.

To find out more about SIFA Fireside volunteering opportunities, please go to: www.sifafireside.co.uk, Or you can contact Syeda Akhtar (Volunteer Organiser) for an informal chat on 0121 666 7023.

Donation of Drum Kit

SIFA fireside runs a musical workshop once a week for vulnerable clients to express themselves freely and unleash their creative talent.

An appeal was made recently by the group for a much needed drum kit. Much to our surprise, a donor came forward and delivered the drum kit. Tom who was volunteering as a one off volunteer for a day realised the importance of such needed resources and the difference it makes on one’s lives and kindly donated the drum kit in June.

The kit has already made a difference to the lives of our clients and has been used for a recent musical event. Words cannot express our appreciation and gratitude for such a large gift and we would like to say a heartfelt thanks to Tom for making this happen.

Bargains galore

Once again SIFA Fireside staff and volunteers have had a successful day at the one off bric-a-brac sale held on Sunday 19th June at SIFA Fireside, Pershore Street. There was a high level of synergy amongst the team and they all kick started the day off in high spirits and full of energy.

The event was open to the general public and sold anything from designer labels to household goods at a bargain price. The grand total raised was just over £400.

Syeda Akhtar (Volunteer Organiser) who co-ordinated this event quoted the following:

‘The volunteers were keen to fundraise for a while but I needed to ensure we had the right resources (i.e. staffing and items) pooled in for the day to make it a success. Thankfully, the volunteers sourced didn’t need much persuading to take part, and the weather was on our side which help tremendously. The team were absolutely superb and supportive and were natural born ‘dell boys and girls’ on the day!’

Thanks due to the following people for taking part:

• Tony - for bringing his energy, enthusiasm and charisma on the day
• Darren - for his dedication and energy throughout the day
• Simon and Mohammed - for shaking their tins and encouraging people to enter the building for bargains galore; every little helps!
• Gedson - for looking out for the safety of all
• Jacek and Richard- for being excellent with replenishing stock and goods
• Finally Louise- for being a fantastic trooper on the day and delivering excellent service with a smile.

Finally, a huge thank you and appreciation goes out to all the customers who seized a bargain and those who donated generously in kind. All proceeds will be injected back into SIFA Fireside to purchase must needed resources for the disadvantaged and homeless people within our community.

SIFA Fireside Gala Dinner

SIFA Fireside will be holding a Fundraising Gala Dinner, on Friday 23rd March 2012, at the Lord Knights Suite at Tally Ho Conference and Banqueting Centre, Birmingham. The evening will include a three course dinner, entertainment and dancing and a guest speaker. More details to come, tickets will be on sale in September, watch this space.

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SIFA Fireside plans to mark International Rememberance Day

Earlier in the year we organised a memorial service for some of our service users who were known to have died during the previous year.

We received very good feedback on this event; both staff and service users felt it provided an appropriate space in which to grieve and remember those they had lost.

21st July 2011 is the international day of remembrance for those who have died directly or indirectly from alcohol or substance misuse.

SIFA Fireside will be organising an event to mark this day and we hope that other agencies will want to be involved with this. We are holding a meeting on Friday 13th May at 10am to discuss ideas. If you would like to be involved with this please contact Julie Ashford-Martin on 0121 666 7023 or email: office@sifafireside.co.uk.

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SIFA Fireside expands resettlement services with new "Engage and Sustain" project

Last month SIFA Fireside launched a new project entitled “Engage and Sustain”, led by Senior Project Worker Kim Bourne this project aims to help single, homelsss people secure good quality accommodation in the Private Rented Sector. The project concentrates on those who have a long-term history of homelessness or are in danger of returning to it, with higher support needs, including drug and alcohol misuse. In partnership with other agencies, Engage and Sustain offers a range of intensive and flexible support services to both landlords and tennants to help create sustainable tenancies.

This project is the result of a grant of £40,000 from the Crisis Private Rented Access Development Programme backed by the Department of Communities and Local Government and is supported by Crisis Skylight Birmingham, Anawim in Handsworth, St. Anne’s Hostel and Birmingham City Council's Private Rented Access Scheme.

For more information please contact Kim Bourne on 0121 666 7023 or email privaterentedsector@sifafireside.co.uk.

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SIFA Fireside screens Royal wedding

With most of the local residents looking to make the most of the Bank Holiday, SIFA Fireside’s Drop In service was open as usual on 29th April for its homeless service users and as an added bonus were able to watch the Royal Wedding. With support from Central Presentations based in Kenilworth who provided the organisation with a 42” plasma television and stand, SIFA Fireside’s homeless service users were able to watch our future King and Queen walk down the aisle.

Food and entertainment were provided through out the day with the drop in centre decorated in Union Jacks to mark the occasion. Service users were also able to have their pictures taken along side the happy couple.

Cath Gilliver, Chief Executive of SIFA Fireside said, “It’s a great opportunity for our staff, volunteers and service users to get together to share an important day for the nation”.

Download the full press release here.

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April 2011

We are on the move!

Since the merger in 2007 SIFA Fireside has been operating from two separate sites. After much consideration and consultation it was decided that SIFA Fireside should seek a new property to move to, so that all staff, volunteers and services are under one roof, meaning we can provide all our current services and plan for bigger and better ones too.

We can now announce that due to a £400k capital grant from the Social Enterprise Investment Fund, we have successfully secured a property in Allcock Street, Digbeth. We have planning permission and a building firm lined up to make alterations to the building. It is hoped that these will be completed by late summer 2011 so that we can move in September.

The area that we will be moving to has several other front-line homelessness services within the vicinity including St. Basils Link so we hope that this will be a convenient location for our service users and also mean that we can forge stronger partnerships with other agencies in the local area.

We will be organising trips for staff, volunteers and service users to visit the new building so everyone will have the opportunity to feedback on our plans.

Map to show new location (B)

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Coleman & Co raised £1473.81 for SIFA Fireside through Zumba event

Karen Woodward from Coleman & Co presents cheque for £1473.81 raised through their Sponsored Zumba event 3 weeks ago

Jump to: Full Story | Download press release

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New activities programme confirmed

Aimed at improving the social, mental and physical well being of our service users, SIFA Fireside hosts an ambitious range of activities. Some of these are provided in partnership with Crisis Skylight who have now confirmed their new timetable for the summer term starting from Monday 11th April 2011. New activities include T-shirt design on a Monday morning and a Creative Writing group on a Thursday morning. Crisis Skylight are not hosting a drama group at SIFA Fireside this term, instead the CAT Theatre group will be hosting this group, incorporating dance and poetry as well. This will be held on Thursday afternoons 2-4pm starting from 7th April 2011.

Download Activities Timetable

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Fire Service to host training for SIFA Fireside Service Users

West Midlands Fire Service who have been regular attenders of our bi-monthly Service User Forums have confirmed they will be hosting First Aid training for a small group of Service Users on 21st April 2011, after this was raised as an issue of concern by several members of the forum. They will also be arranging Fire Safety training for a later date.

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Sainsbury's pledge regular donation to SIFA Fireside

Sainsbury's supermarket are now donating workclothes and hard wearing boots to SIFA Fireside on a regular basis. Since December 2010, Sainsbury's have donated over 50 pairs of boots, 30 fleece jackets, 40 pairs of trousers, 10 pairs of gloves and 20 padded chill suits.

Clothes are handed out to SIFA Fireside service users, many of whom are homeless or in vulnerable circumstances, every Tuesday and Friday morning and hard wearing clothes are in particular demand. Cath Gilliver, Chief Executive said "We are very grateful to Sainsbury's for making this a regular donation".

Download Sainsbury's press release

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A tribute to Sr. Marie Howley

It is with great sadness that we have to announce the passing of Sr. Marie Howley, who has died peacefully at the age of 94. Sr. Marie was one of the originators of the Fireside Day Centre and was instrumental in setting up the service at Pershore Street in 1993. Throughout her life, she was a dedicated champion of the poor and disadvantaged, campaigning tirelessly on their behalf right up to the end. The funeral service will take place at St. Paul’s Convent, Selly Park on Tuesday 5th April at 11am.

Documentary to feature SIFA Fireside
success story

Four young people from the Birmingham based Social Action Group 'Uplifting', part of the Young Foundation's 'Uprising Leadership' programme, have approached SIFA Fireside for help with their Social Action Project which aims to explore the link between alcohol, substance misuse and homelessness and raise awareness of this link with young people aged 12-13 years of age.

Uplifting have already completed a research project exploring the issues involved and are now planning to make a short documentary to feature on YouTube and to show to young people in schools. One member of Uplifting, Adam Rainford, is an experienced filmmaker and has his own Production company; Rainford Studios.

As part of this documentary, Uplifting will be interviewing Colin Wilkinson who first accessed our services 5 years ago, when he came to recognise that he had a problem with alcohol. Since then he has turned his life around and has now secured permanent employment with our catering social enterprise ChangeKitchen.

SIFA Fireside Chief Executive Cath Gilliver will be mentoring Uplifting throughout their project. She said; ‘I’m very pleased to be Uplifting’s mentor as they’ve got a strong message to get over to young people about the causes of homelessness and I’m impressed by their commitment and leadership potential'.

As part of their documentary they are also looking to interview young men and women aged 16-25 who have experienced both homelessness and addiction issues. Please see their blog for more information: http://brumuplifting.wordpress.com/

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March 2011

Coleman & Co. raise £1478 for SIFA Fireside through Zumba fundraiser

On Saturday 19th March 2011, Birmingham based Demolition contractors Coleman & Company Ltd organised a 2 hour sponsored Zumba/ Salsa dancing session to raise money for SIFA Fireside as part of their Corporate Responsibility programme. This was held at the David Lloyd centre in Great Barr and was led by a qualified instructor. Both of these services were provided free of charge.

When asked why they had chosen to support SIFA Fireside, Karen Woodward from Colman & Co said: "We had noticed that there are still a lot of homeless individuals and families in our community, so we wanted to support SIFA Fireside in order to help these people back on their feet with food and clothing and into settled accommodation, work and training".

Commenting on the event, Karen said; "It was a brilliant turn-out and I am so proud of everyone, as they all worked so hard and it was a great fun packed day...We have managed to raise at least £1200."

SIFA Fireside Chief Executive, Cath Gilliver said; “We are very pleased that this one-off event has raised as much as £1200. We are very grateful to Colman & Co for choosing to support our vital services. Especially in the current economic climate when many businesses are struggling. We would like to thank Colman & Co for showing such compassion for the people in their community.

Coleman & Co are coming to SIFA Fireside at 2pm on Thursday 7th April to present a cheque for the actual grand total of £1448.81.

Collage of photos from Coleman & Co's Zumba/Dance fundraising event

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SIFA Fireside volunteers shortlisted for award

Nominated volunteers: Kitty Reilly and Chris Swann

Long serving SIFA Fireside volunteers Kitty Reilly and Chris Swann have been shortlisted in the Volunteer Awards 2011 for the 'Innovation in Fundraising' Award.

Kitty Reilly has assisted Senior volunteer Sr Sabina MBE (herself the recipient of several awards) in various fundraising events including dances, raffles and sponsored walks which has raised tens of thousands of pounds. She has also visited local schools which has helped procure donations of long life food, essential for the Drop-in service we provide.

Chris Swann, last Autumn, volunteered to undertake a sponsored bike ride from Birmingham to Spain. This was his idea and he did it unassisted, carrying his camping equipment with him. He raised £2,500 in sponsorship money. In previous years he has run in the Birmingham Half Marathon and raised several hundred pounds for us.

The winners will be announced at a prestigious Awards ceremony on 31st March 2011.

If you would like to volunteer your time to help with fundraising, please call our Volunteer Organiser Syeda Akhtar on 0121 666 7023.

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SIFA Fireside raises awareness of TB

Thursday 24th March 2011 was world TB day. TB is a bacterial infection which primarily affects the lungs and is on the increase in Britain with 500 new cases confirmed every year. In partnership with nurses from the Health Xchange and Birmingham Chest clinic, we held an advice and screening session during our morning drop-in for our homeless service users. We also gave out information and leaflets from the charity 'The Truth About TB' which were translated into other languages.

We were particularly concerned that our service users gain awareness of the symptoms of TB because a weaker immune system and poor nutrition means that homeless people are at greater risk from TB, and most rough sleepers are not registered with a GP.

This animation is from www.thetruthabouttb.org and aims to raise awareness of the symptoms of TB. Please share it with those who you think might be at risk:

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Pampering event helps SIFA Fireside reach out to female service users

In honour of International Women's Day on 8th March 2011 we hosted a free women's pampering session in partnership with W.A.I.T.S and the The Body Shop in Birmingham. These sessions were for women only and were aimed at those who were already accessing our services or who wanted to access our services.

We organised this event in response to issues that were highlighted at our Service Users Forum where we were told that women can sometimes feel intimidated when trying to access male dominated services.

The aim of the event was to create a welcoming and friendly environment in which those attending would feel relaxed and comfortable talking to female staff about what they like about our services and what could be improved.

All the feedback on the day was very positive and everyone seemed to really enjoy the event. When asked what SIFA Fireside already does well, four of those in attendance commented that SIFA Fireside provides them with great support. Another three service users commented that SIFA Fireside is good at building confidence and self-esteem.

When asked what issues they would like to see discussed at our new monthly Women's group, several service users suggested interview techniques, cooking and happier parenting. Wellbeing issues such as sexual health advice, healthy eating and help to stop smoking were also sugggested.

SIFA Fireside will be looking to implement some of these ideas, inviting in external agencies where necessary, in order to help address these issues in the coming months.

Our Women's group is held at 1.30pm at our Lower Essex Street site on the last Monday of every month. For more information please contact Julie Ashford-Martin on 0121 666 7023.

Female service users feedback to staff on International Women's Day

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February 2011

New Careers Advice sessions for Service Users

From Wednesday 23rd February 2011 SIFA Fireside will be hosting a weekly careers advice session in partnership with Michael Ngum from Pheonix Training which will take place every Wednesday morning from 9 - 11am.

Michael will also be on hand to offer advice and referrals to some of the free courses which Pheonix run including:

• Emergency First Aid
• Paediatric First Aid
• Food and Hygiene
• Confidence and Motivational Skills
• Health and Safety
• Manual Handling
• CSCS Card*
• SIA Security*
• FLT Forklift*

*You must be over 18 and unemployed to acccess these courses

Anyone interested in accessing these sessions should register their interest at the drop-in desk on the day.

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New 'Music Taster' sessions for service users

In partnership with students from the University of Birmingham's Conservatoire, SIFA Fireside will be holding taster music sessions every Wednesday from 2-4pm at our Pershore St site. The aim of the sessions will be to learn a new song every week and perform it using voice, piano, guitars and percussion. The sessions will also include demonstrations from the Conservatoire's students of brass and wind instruments.

Music Taster Sessions Flyer

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January 2011

SIFA Fireside holds Memorial Service

On Wednesday 26th January SIFA Fireside held a memorial service to remember 26 Service Users who died during 2010. Well attended by Service Users, friends and SIFA Fireside staff, the Humanist service included poems, music and a time to reflect. A book of remembrance was also available for people to sign.

The Birmingham Post had this report: Memorial service to Birmingham's homeless

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New year, 3 new services

SIFA Fireside has 3 new services aimed at helping those in need move forward with their lives.

In partnership with Friendship, Care and Housing, we will be operating an Advocacy Clinic during our Drop-in service every Friday morning from 14th January 2011 between 9 and 10.30am. This will be run by Voice Advocacy.

Working alongside the Birmingham Employment Skills and Training (BEST) Network, we now have a specialist project worker who will be supporting service users back to work by helping them to break down a variety of barriers to employment such as self confidence and helping them with job search skills, CV writing, completing application forms and also, where appropriate, work experience and referral to other agencies.

Finally, after more dedicated services for women were requested during our Service User Forum, we are setting up a Women Only Group, which will take place on the last Monday of every month between 1.30pm and 3pm, starting from 31st January 2011. The group aims to provide a safe space in which female service users can discuss any problems or concerns.

For further information on any of these new services please phone us on 0121 666 7023 or email.

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Crisis New Term Timetable

Our partners Crisis Skylight who host various activities for people who are homeless at different venues around the city centre have a new timetable for 2011. The new timetable includes IT, Interior Design and Drama and Life Skills classes which will take place on a weekly basis at SIFA Fireside until the Easter break.

For more information please download the new timetable here:
Crisis Skylight Spring Term Activities Programme 2011

Crisis will also be holding an induction session at SIFA Fireside on Wednesday 12th January from 2-3.30pm to discuss activities with service users who are potentially interested.

SIFA Fireside hosts other activities including a photography class on Monday afternoons, which will be starting again soon. The new timetable will be confirmed next week.

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News Archive

December 2010

Christmas Party for Service Users

On Wednesday 22nd December we will be holding our Annual "Big Breakfast" Christmas celebration for our service users at our Lower Essex Street site. The drop-in will be open from 9am until 1pm and include both breakfast and a festive lunch. There will also be live music and other activities.

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SIFA Fireside is named in BVSC study of good practice

SIFA Fireside's Volunteer Development Programme has been named as an example of good practice in the case studies section of BVSC's Community Cohesion report.

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Good Health Day a success

On 24th November SIFA Fireside hosted a Health event in partnership with Heart of Birmingham Primary Care Trust and Birmingham City Council. The aim of the day was to enable homeless people to access the help and advice they need on health issues, as an audit carried out by Homeless Link had shown that there are often barriers to them accessing mainstream services.

The day was launched by Cllr Sue Anderson and included various activities such as a demonstration from ChangeKitchen on how to cook a healthy meal, a discussion and feedback forum, a quiz from Crisis Skylight and a choir from the Irish Welfare Centre (IWIC). We also launched a weatherproof health pack which was given away to the homeless people who attended the event, many of them rough sleepers. The pack included essentials such as plasters, toothbrushes, cereal bars, a directory of local health services and a laminated map.

Clockwise from top left: a nurse performs a blood pressure test, the contents of one of the health packs, IWIC's choir perform.

Stalls offering advice and further information on general health, counselling, substance misuse, healthy eating and mental health were hosted by local health providers and other charities including The LINk, Care First, Addaction, SMART Skills, ChangeKitchen and Crisis Skylight. Free blood pressure tests were also available from the nurses from the Health Xchange.

The event was attended by over 80 homeless people, around 40 health packs were given out to rough sleepers and the feedback on the day was very positive.

Probation report praises SIFA Fireside

A National Probation service report which addresses how the Big Society could help tackle drug crime in Birmingham has praised SIFA Fireside's Probation team for their approach in delivering programmes to offenders.

SIFA Fireside and the SWM probation treatment manager John Bolton have tried to make programmes more interactive and have been flexible about when programmes can run increasing the number of successful completions. SIFA Fireside have helped encourage a more attendee centred approach by asking offenders to design their own self monitoring forms, written exercises and leaflets.

Feedback from those attending the programmes has been very positive; "Before I started the course, I didn't want to come, but it's been really good."

Read the full report here >>>
Click on the following link to find out more about: Programmes

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November 2010

Sponsored walk total

Thank you to all those who took part in the SIFA Fireside sponsored walk back in May. We can now confirm that including Gift Aid donations, the walk raised a staggering £47,500.

SIFA Fireside would like to thank senior volunteers Sr Sabina Staff and Kitty O'Reilly for organising this event.

Senior SIFA Fireside volunteer given
"local heroes" award

Sister Sabina Staff MBE who co-founded Fireside and remains a senior volunteer has been recognised in the Birmingham Mail's "local heroes" awards: http://www.birminghammail.net

Sr Sabina was invited to attend an award's ceremony on Thursday 4th November.

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Streetsmart supports SIFA Fireside with Restaurant fundraiser

Restaurants and their customers in Birmingham will be showing their philanthropic side by taking part in the annual StreetSmart fundraising programme which starts today and runs until 31 December. Restaurateurs at participating venues will make a voluntary addition of £1 to their bills which will then be used by charities, St. Basils and SIFA Fireside to help homeless causes around the city in Birmingham. The campaign has many celebrity backers including Stephen Fry, authors Irvine Welsh and Ian Rankin and Chef Gordon Ramsey. Now in its 13th year, StreetSmart raised £455,000 during the 2009 campaign and is operational in around 600 restaurants, providing funds to 95 homeless charities across 18 cities.

The Vaults, in Newhall Hill in the Jewellery Quarter, is also hosting a special evening on 12 November by loaning its private booths for free in exchange for donations. For more details please download this briefing. For more information on Streetsmart please visit streetsmart.org.uk.

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SIFA Fireside Christmas Raffle.

SIFA Fireside are holding a Christmas raffle on Friday 17th December 2010. Prizes include:

• £30 of Nando’s Vouchers
• £20 of Argos vouchers
• £10 of Co-Op vouchers
• £5 of Co-Op vouchers
• £5 of High Street vouchers
• Lindt DeLuxe Selection Chocolates
• Large Tin of Thornton’s Special Toffee Selection

And many more!!

Tickets are £1 each. If you would like to enter please call us on 0121 666 7023.

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SIFA Fireside EXCLUSIVE;
see the film "The Insatiable Moon" here first

"The Insatiable Moon" is a film about homelessness and mental health issues. It will be out on general release in the UK from January 2011, rated 15. However Blue Hippo Media who made the film have given SIFA Fireside permission to show the film ahead of its release. We will be showing the film at the Mac Theatre in Edgbaston on Sunday 28th November at 2pm to raise money for SIFA Fireside. The producers will be on hand to introduce the film and do a Question and Answer session afterwards. Tickets cost £10 and can be booked by ringing The Mac Theatre's booking line on 0121 446 3232 and quoting the password "Blue Hippo". If you would like to sponsor a ticket so a homeless person can attend in your place please say so upon booking.

You can view the trailer below as long as you have an up to date Flash player installed on your machine. To download this for free please visit The Adobe website: http://www.adobe.com/products/flashplayer/

You can read a review of the full film here:
The Insatiable Moon film review by The Pavement magazine

Please help us advertise this event; download the poster here:
Insatiable Moon Poster

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Health Packs for Homeless People

SIFA Fireside, in partnership with Birmingham City Council and Heart of Birmingham Primary Care Trust, has been awarded a grant by Homeless Link to develop Health Packs for homeless people and to launch them at a Health Day on November 24th. This follows on from a Homeless Link Health Audit which highlighted the health challenges faced by homeless people and the barriers which stop them accessing mainstream services. Download the event flier here

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October 2010

Happy Hallowe’en!

Once again we would like to say a huge THANK YOU to everyone who donated food to us during Harvest Festival. The fresh vegetables have been made into soup for the drop in by the Change Kitchen Team, and the tinned goods will be used throughout the year for food parcels and to supplement our drop in meals wherever possible. We decided to make a display with these lovely pumpkins that were also donated, they will also be destined for the pot once Hallowe’en is over!

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SIFA Fireside gets grant to deliver Mental Health Advice and Activities Project

On 22nd October SIFA Fireside was presented with a cheque for £6700 from the Heart of Birmingham Teaching PCT and the Digbeth Trust, to set up and deliver a Mental Health Advice and Activities Project.

This will mean that we can target people with mental health problems that use our drop-in and other services, and engage them in activity sessions based on their suggestions and designed for their peer group.

Research has shown that people with mental health problems are least likely to take part in activities and miss out on many mainstream services. This Project aims to encourage them to get involved and will include advice on health issues.

It is then hoped that they will consider mainstream sessions and activities, having gained the confidence to overcome any stigma attached to mental health. We are very grateful to the Heart of Birmingham Teaching PCT and the Digbeth Trust for this grant.

Lee Harris receives cheque on behalf of SIFA Fireside

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Alcohol Awareness Week

This week (18th to 22nd October) is Alcohol Awareness week. We have organised a number of activities for our service users this week to raise awareness of this issue, including an Alcohol quiz. SIFA Fireside Staff are also handing out leaflets to raise awareness of Alcohol units at key points around the city, including Tesco in Aston on Tuesday afternoon, Brindley Place on Wednesday and Thursday afternoon and Handsworth Leisure Centre on Friday morning.

Representatives from the Outreach team raise awareness at Tesco

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September 2010

Wates show their support for SIFA Fireside

Wates, the building firm, sent a team of their staff to give our ‘drop in’ a complete makeover and invited the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress to a grand re-opening on September 17th. Not satisfied with that, they also presented SIFA Fireside with a cheque for £24,000 from their Community Foundation to be used for staff costs for our very successful Volunteer Programme.

Cath Gilliver and Carole Fox (middle right) with Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress Len and Gill Gregory, and Wates representative Jean Fletcher

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Bric-a-Brac sale a success

SIFA Fireside’s Bric-a-Brac sale on September 24th raised over £250. We would like to say a big thank you to all of you who came and showed your support for SIFA Fireside and also to all our staff, volunteers and the team of volunteers from the Dept of Work and Pensions for all their help.

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Volunteer Chris Swann completes 820 mile sponsored cycle ride to Spain

Chris Swann, SIFA Fireside volunteer has completed his 820 mile sponsored cycle ride from Birmingham to Santander in Spain. Chris was aiming to raise £1000 for SIFA Fireside. We would like to congratulate him and thank him for undertaking this feat.

It is not too late to sponsor him. Please visit his Just Giving page.

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August 2010

SIFA Fireside AGM 2010

We will be holding our Annual General Meeting on Wednesday 8th September at
The Bond Company, 180-182 Fazeley street, Digbeth, Birmingham, B5 5SE:
View location map
Download location map

Indoor "Car Boot" sale

On Friday 24th September 2010 we will be holding an indoor "Car boot" sale at our Pershore Street site, selling, amongst other items, good quality clothes, games and toys. There will be lots of bargains to be had! Watch this space for more details!

We are looking for high quality items for our raffle. If you can help with this please contact Mary Mantom on 0121 666 7023.

Going Places Exhibition - Photos now available

Back in July we hosted a joint Art exhibition featuring some of our service users' work. Local artist and photographer, Bobi Robson, worked with the service users, helping them with their individual compositions and then took some photos of the whole exhibition. These are now available to view on her website: http://www.bobirobson.com/exhibitions.html. Please note: you will need to have a flash player installed to view the slideshow.

Service user Bill West with some of his artwork

Important changes to our drop-in service

From Monday 9th August our drop-in service will be changing. We will still be doing breakfast and lunch from our Lower Esssex Street site but the Activities in between will take place at our newly refurbished Pershore Street Site.

Activities are as follows;

Monday – Discussion Group
Tuesday – Dominos and Cards
Wednesday – Quiz
Thursday – Arts/Board Games
Friday – News Review

Activities are subject to change; please see notices in drop-in. Clothes are still on Tuesdays and Fridays at 11.15am at Pershore Street. Please see summary below;

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Volunteer Chris Swann to cycle 820 miles to raise funds for SIFA Fireside

Chris Swann has been volunteering with SIFA Fireside for over 18 months. He ran in the Birmingham half marathon to raise funds for us last year and is now taking this a stage further. In late August he will be taking 2 weeks Annual Leave from his day job at THSH to cycle from Birmingham to Santander in Spain, carrying all his camping equipment with him, in the hope of raising £1000.

Chris is passionate about raising awareness of homelessness within the UK and is determined to raise funds to support those who are socially excluded and marginalised by ensuring that we can continue to deliver our holistic service which is in great need by our vulnerable clients, especially during this turbulent economic time!

Please help us by sponsoring him. A penny a mile works out at £7.50 but any amount will be much appreciated.

For more information about his training and plans please visit his website. If you would like to sponsor Chris please visit his Just Giving page.

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July 2010

Going Places Art Exhibition

After the success of last year's My Birmingham exhibition, SIFA Fireside are launching another exhibition to showcase service users' artistic talents as demonstrated in the photography and art classes that have been running throughout the year which are funded by Bwell. This exhibition is being held in partnership with ARTful Dodgers who aim to improve the social skills, self esteem and general well being of those who are socially excluded due to criminal activity, drink or drugs.

The exhibition will run from 6th - 13th July and is being held at The School of Art, Margaret Street, Birmingham, B3 3BX.

A launch event for the exhibition will be held on 6th July at 2pm. All welcome. Please RSVP to: office@sifafireside.co.uk.

Related stories: August 2010 - Going Places Exhibition - Photos now available

June 2010

SIFA Fireside Service Users to take part in REP performance

In collaboration with the REP Theatre service users from SIFA Fireside have helped to script and shape a professional theatre piece to be held at the MAC (Midlands Arts Centre) on Sunday 27th June 2010.

The performance is a fusion of dance, drama, music and song and will include service user’s stories filmed and shown on screens at the MAC at the following times: 12.00, 13.00, 14.00, 15.00, 16.00. All welcome.

May 2010

Places of Change garden wins a Silver medal at the Chelsea Flower Show

The garden at the Chelsea Flower Show that SIFA Fireside service users contributed to has won a silver medal. This was a project organised by Homelesslink in partnership with the Eden Project showcasing produce service users attending homelessness projects nationwide had grown from seed.

Related news:
May 20th - SIFA Fireside service users contribute to Places of Change Garden
March - SIFA Fireside service users grow plants for Chelsea Flower Show

SIFA Fireside service users contribute to Places of Change Garden at the Chelsea Flower Show

Under Birgit Kehrer’s direction SIFA Fireside service users have grown herbs and vegetables including french beans, red cabbages, spinach and carrots at our allotment near Selly Park which will be contributing to the Places of Change garden at the Chelsea Flower Show running from 25th – 29th May.

Birgit from BSustained said; “I think it’s great that we grew so many vegetables for Eden and it really helped us to improve our own growing skills as well. Our service users really enjoyed learning to grow from seed”.

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April 2010

New extended drop-in for our service users

From Monday 26th April 2010 our drop-in service will be changing. We will be operating an extended drop-in from 9am to 1pm (Mondays to Fridays) at our Lower Essex Street site. This will incoporate both Breakfast (9am-10am) and Lunch (midday-1pm), and also food parcels (11.15pm-1pm -still by referral only). Clothes will still be handed out at our Pershore Street site on Tuesdays and Fridays 11.15-midday.

This change will replace the two separate, shorter drop-ins that previously operated from different sites and is a move that has been largely welcomed by our service users.

For address details and directions, please visit our drop-in page

Unity Trust Bank present donation

Unity Trust Bank, long time supporters of SIFA Fireside, whose staff in the past have volunteered their time helping out on our allotment, have donated £308.89 collected from their Staff. We are very grateful to Unity Trust Bank for their on-going and generous support.

March 2010

SIFA Fireside service users grow plants for Chelsea Flower Show

In a scheme organised by Homeless Link and in collaboration with the Eden project and the Chelsea Flower Show.

SIFA Fireside service users are growing vegetables at our allotment plot to go on display at the Horticultural Society's Chelsea Flower Show which runs from 25th - 29th of May. Here they are getting the soil ready. We will keep you updated on their progress.

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Sutton Fun Run

A SIFA Fireside team will be running in the Great Midlands Fun Run in Sutton Coldfield on Sunday June 6th. Please support us by taking part in the run, shaking a collection tin or sponsoring the team. For more information please contact Hannah Wilson on 0121 666 7023 or email office@sifafireside.co.uk.

Cooking for Change with "ChangeKitchen"

Plans for SIFA Fireside and BSustained’s catering enterprise are well underway with the name ChangeKitchen chosen and a new website to match www.changekitchen.co.uk. Delivery will start in May and we’re already taking orders to provide buffets for meetings, conferences and private events. More >>>

January 2010

New year; 4 new projects

SIFA Fireside has been successful in getting funding for four new projects, coming soon;

1. Start up funding from Be Birmingham to set up a catering social enterprise with sessional employment opportunities for service users.

2. Funding from the Working Neighbourhood’s Innovation Fund for a pilot to extend and enhance our service user volunteering programme and to get a training accreditation system in place.

3. Funding from Be Birmingham’s Active Citizenship programme to put in place a monthly Health Forum focussed particularly on tackling health inequalities.

4. Awards for All money to run a service user led research project; ‘What works 4 you’.

December 2009

Service User Christmas Party

On 17th December 2009 we held our annual Service User Christmas Party, at the Irish Club in Digbeth. It was a great success and on behalf of our clients we would like to thank all those who helped make it such an enjoyable occasion.
Including;

• KPMG for providing volunteers and donating £250
• St Edwards R.C Primary School in Selly park
• volunteers from St Martins
• Wragg and Co who helped pre-event with making sandwiches
• Npower-who helped pre-event with preparing sandwiches and light refreshments

We would also like to thank Sr Sabina for co-ordinating the event and Porscha Scotland, our photographer, as well as all of SIFA Fireside's committed and dedicated volunteers who took part and supported the event.

Thanks for all the Christmas donations!

SIFA Fireside would like to warmly wish all its friends and supporters a very Happy Christmas and a peaceful New Year, and to extend a huge thank you for all the very generous donations we’ve received over the last few weeks.

Audience delighted by service user pantomime

Staff and service users from SIFA Fireside made their stage debut on Monday 14th of December at the Central Library Theatre, taking to the stage with a production of the classic pantomime Cinderella. The performance was the result of 6 weeks spent preparing and rehearsing for the show.

Marie Dennehy who organised the group said: "It was a busy 6 weeks leading up the performance at the Central Library and we were all nervous and excited about how the performance would be. The hard work and enthusiasm our actors put into the project meant that everything ran smoothly on show night! We all had a lot of fun getting the show ready and I hope that the audience enjoyed it".

The pantomime will be performed again on the 23rd of December for guests at the Open Christmas. Marie commented; "everyone involved with the performance is looking forward to doing it all again!".

SIFA Fireside would like to say a big thank you to the Sideways Theatre Company for their help with the production, and also to the Library theatre for the use of their venue free of charge. This production is part of our bwell project funded by Bwell Birmingham.

SIFA Fireside signs up to the government’s Cycle to Work scheme

SIFA Fireside has joined Cyclescheme; part of the government’s Cycle to Work initiative, which provides tax-free bikes for staff.

SIFA Fireside wins Award for 'My Birmingham' art project

SIFA Fireside's 'My Birmingham' art project has been selected for a £500 award from Media Trust for the projects innovative approach in using digital media to give disadvantaged communities a voice.

The ‘My Birmingham’ project allowed service users to explore their own interpretation of Birmingham through various artistic means such as painting, photography and film. The award comes after three successful exhibitions of the art work across Birmingham.

Marie Dennehy who helped to organise the project said: "For us winning this award really is the cherry on the top of a brilliant project. I am thrilled that the service users are getting real recognition for their hard work".

In a press release statement Media Trust said:

"Media Trust aims to inspire, engage and support disadvantaged and isolated communities to get their voices heard through digital media. SIFA Fireside has been recognised with a £500 award for running a three-month art project entitled ‘My Birmingham’, which enabled homeless people in the area to explore their own unique and often unheard interpretation of the city...The project has gone on to inspire a homeless agency based in Northampton to create a similar scheme."

To read more about this award, download the full PDF press release here.

Sister Sabina Staff MBE opens art installation at Digbeth’s new Coach Station

Sister Sabina, one of the founders of the Fireside Charity and now a Senior Volunteer with SIFA Fireside, switched on the lights on December 3rd to illuminate an artwork created from her own hand writing by Irish artist Dave Sherry. The event marked the completion of the £15 million redevelopment of Birmingham’s Coach Station.

November 2009

Invitation to come and see our Pantomime

Click on the image displayed below to download a PDF copy:

Thanks to all our supporters for the Harvest Festival donations!

On behalf of our service users, SIFA Fireside would like to give thanks to all the schools, businesses and individuals who have donated food and other items over the Harvest Festival period.

It is hard to describe the sheer volume of donations, but it is safe to say that we have been inundated!

The donations are appreciated greatly, any fresh food was used towards meals in our lunchtime drop-in, and the tinned food, cereals, biscuits and other goods will be used to make up food parcels for those that are in need.

Once again, many thanks!

SIFA Fireside’s Half Marathon Team beat their sponsorship target

SIFA Fireside's team, made up of staff, volunteers and supporters from Business Action on Homelessness, successfully completed the Birmingham Half Marathon on October 11th and have so far raised more than £1,746 in sponsorship.

The money will be used for sleeping bags and resettlement starter packs, as well as to fund drama sessions to prepare for our service users’ pantomime.

SIFA Fireside involved in Future Jobs scheme

SIFA Fireside is delighted to have been chosen to offer six Future Jobs Fund posts as part of the successful City Region bid administered by Be Birmingham.

The posts are targeted at 18-24 year olds with significant experience of unemployment and we will be working in close partnership with Be Birmingham and Job Centre Plus to ensure that this initiative makes a real difference both to the young people we employ and to the community we serve.

October 2009

KPMG delighted by service users’ photography

KPMG presented us with a cheque for £500 in exchange for the photographs they commissioned from SIFA Fireside’s service users for their new building.

Mark Johnstone said; "We’re very pleased to have commissioned this work and look forward to inviting the photographers to see their work on display."

September 2009

Chief Executive chosen as health champion

Cath Gilliver has been appointed as one of four Champions attached to the Birmingham Voluntary Services Council's (BVSC) Third Sector Assembly.

Cath says ‘This is excellent news, and I look forward to working with the other organisations in the Network so that I can represent their interests.'

It’s also good news for SIFA Fireside as we’ll be in a position to build our strategic influence within Birmingham and further raise our profile.

August 2009

Unity Volunteers Spruce Up Allotment

Volunteers from Unity Bank spent a day transforming our allotment, which had become rather overgrown.

SIFA Fireside receives Streetsmart funding

SIFA Fireside have received a grant from Streetsmart of £2000 towards our Service User Volunteer Programme and to support IT training at our Lower Essex Street site.

Many thanks to the restaurants involved in the campaign. Details of the restaurants taking part and the beneficiaries can be found at www.streetsmart.org.uk.

Launch of Second leg of 'My Birmingham' Art Exhibition

This is your last chance to see this very popular art exhibition, which features artistic work created and developed by SIFA Fireside service users during workshops led by local professionals in photography, creative writing and film.

The Exhibition will be housed at BVSC, 138 Digbeth, Birmingham, B5 6DR from 12th August 2009. Everyone is welcome to attend the launch event from 5.30 - 7.30pm.

July 2009

SIFA Fireside gets DIUS funding to run a Digital Inclusion Project

SIFA Fireside is one of 18 projects nationally to get Early Bird funding from the Dept of Innovation, Universities and Skills’ Transformation Fund. This was the result of a successful bid, in partnership with City College and Birmingham Libraries Service, to set up a Digital Inclusion Project from September 2009 with the aim of giving people, particularly those who are homeless or vulnerably housed, new skills and opportunities to access information and informal learning via email and the internet.’

SIFA Fireside chosen for eco pilot

SIFA Fireside is one of three local organisations chosen by Birmingham Voluntary Services Council to take part in an Eco Doctor pilot, funded by BVSC and Birmingham Environmental Partnership, working with Groundwork to reduce our carbon footprint.

Cath Gilliver, Chief Executive said; "We're delighted to be given this opportunity to demonstrate our commitment to the environment."

June 2009

SIFA Fireside welcomes Birmingham's Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress

We were delighted to welcome the Lord Mayor, Councillor Michael Wilkes and the Lady Mayoress, Mrs Vivienne Wilkes, to Lower Essex St on June 19th where they watched a DVD made by service users and Reel Access and then observed an art and an employment skills session.

The Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress then proceeded to Pershore St to attend a lunch celebrating Sister Sabina Staff’s award of an MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list and service user Bill West read them a poem he had written.

'My Birmingham' - Homeless Art Exhibition

SIFA Fireside opened its Art Exhibition entitled "My Birmingham" at a launch event at St. Martins in the Bull Ring today.

The exhibition is a culmination of a four month art project between professional artists and homeless people from SIFA Fireside. During the project service users were encouraged to express their ideas and thoughts about Birmingham through painting, photography, film, animation and writing.

Reel Access, a local media group, and Birmingham’s current poet laureate Chris Morgan led some of the workshops. Chris Morgan said:

“I was delighted with the work produced by the participants of the writing workshops. Some of the participants wrote some very perceptive and poignant poems that reflected their thoughts of the city.”

Participants in the project are proud of the work they produced and Bill West, a service user who took part in the project said:

“The workshops helped to develop and express my ideas about Birmingham through ways that I had never thought about before. We are all really proud of our work.”

Kevin Davy, one of the organisers of the project said: “As the project has been very successful we have been asked to display the work at the Custard Factory during July and Birmingham Volunteer Service Centre (BVSC) from 12th August 2009.”

The exhibition runs at St Martin's until 28th June and then moves to the Custard Factory from July 2nd to July 15th.

The project is part funded by BWell, a lottery funded initiative aimed at improving mental health and well being across Birmingham.

Download Art Exhibition Flyer Here (PDF)

MBE Honour for SIFA Fireside volunteer

Sister Sabina, one of the founders of the Fireside Charity, and a Senior Volunteer and major fund raiser with SIFA Fireside has been awarded a very well deserved MBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours list.

May 2009

SIFA Fireside and Crisis UK partnership

SIFA Fireside and Crisis UK have been awarded £2,000,000 through the Government’s Places of Change Programme to create a new environment for Birmingham’s most marginalised adults, particularly those currently or at risk of rough sleeping...

Read more (high res pdf)

Read more (low res pdf)

Quality as Standard

SIFA Fireside has been successful in obtaining the internationally recognised ISO 9001 Quality Standard, applicable to all types and sizes of organisations and businesses. This will put us in an even stronger position in relation to winning bids and statutory contracts.

March 2009

Change 4 Change conference

SIFA Fireside put on its first national conference on Thursday, 19th March 2009 at Carrs Lane Centre, Birmingham. The theme was service user opportunities in volunteering and employment, and funding came from the GoldStar project, (part of the work of the Cabinet Office), which enables voluntary organisations to realise the potential of socially excluded groups.

Cath Gilliver, SIFA Fireside’s CEO, opened by talking about our work and the theme of the Conference. Beth Coyne from Thames Reach talked about the successful GROW programme and showed a film narrated by Joanna Lumley which highlighted service user employment after training. Helen Mathie of Homeless Link spoke about volunteering and other service user opportunities across the sector. Finally, Andre Carvalho from Crisis told the Conference about their work, which includes varied activities for service users at their Skylight Centres in London and Newcastle.

The afternoon workshops were: Service User Involvement facilitated by Helen, Employing Service Users at Thames Reach (Beth), SIFA Fireside Trainee Volunteer Programme (Syeda and Lee) and How to Engage Employers (Allison from Business Action on Homelessness). These work shops proved to be lively and interesting, looking at barriers and how to overcome them. A general discussion chaired by Carole Fox (Operations Manager, SIFA Fireside) followed.

General feedback was that the Conference was very worthwhile, and it was agreed to follow up with a forum in a few months time to look at the details involved in setting up service user volunteer or employment programmes.

It certainly raised the profile of SIFA Fireside and we would like to express thanks to the Carrs Lane Centre, our guest speakers, staff members (particularly Hannah and Ellie) who organised it and all the agencies who sent representatives.

Lee Harris, Co-ordinator, office@sifafireside.co.uk

January 2009

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