## **Christians Together in Dover** ## **(CTID)** _Charity Number 296621_ _Registered Address: Windy Ridge, Dover Road, Guston, Dover, KENT, CT15 5EH_ ## **Trustees Annual Report 2022** ## **Objectives / Vision** The objects of CTID are to promote the Christian faith, in particular to advance knowledge about all aspects of Christianity and to seek greater understanding and unity in the fellowship of Christ's Church. **Area of Operation** - Dover & District in the county of Kent. ## **Benefit to the public** CTID promotes community cohesion by demonstrating Christian unity and outreach in practical service and witness to the people of the Dover area, especially through the Dover Foodbank, Baby Basics and Christians Against Poverty (CAP) Dover Money Course providing vital help to those in need. ## **Structure & Governance** CTiD is governed by a Constitution adopted 13[th] May 1983 and amended 9[th] February 1987, 14[th] February 1994, 29[th] May 2004, 3[rd] March 2016 and 19[th] September 2019. Trustees and Officers are selected from the congregations and clergy of member churches and are elected or re-elected annually at the AGM. ## **Trustees serving during the year** Mr David Slater Chair from 17[th] February 2022 Rev Andy Bawtree Chair until 17[th] February 2022 (remains as Trustee) Mrs Hazel Groves Secretary Mr Alan Boxall Treasurer Rev Dr Barry Barton Trustee Mrs Carol Boxall Trustee Mrs. Marissa Clarke Trustee Rev. Catherine Tucker Trustee Rev. Catherine Wagstaff Trustee Mr Peter Wallace Trustee Mrs Geraldine Mills Trustee Appointed 28[th] April 2022 Deacon Michelle Legumi Trustee Retired 2[nd] November2022 Dr Judith Shilling Trustee Retired 17[th] February 2022 ## **Bankers** NatWestBank, address Dover Branch, 25 Market Square, Dover CT16 1NG Page 1 of 15 ## **Volunteers** |Dover Foodbank|30|| |---|---|---| |Dover MoneyCourse|6|| |Port Chaplains|7|| |Childrens/Youth|25|| |**TOTAL**|**68**|| ## **Policy Reviews** The Trustees regularly review and update the policies of the charity. Review of Financial Controls, Risk Management and Core Organisations and activities were all approved in November 2019. ## **Risk Management** The Executive Committee is responsible for the review of all risks on an ongoing basis. The principle areas of risk are Financial, Loss of Critical Volunteers and Reputational Damage. ## **Summary of Activities** During the early part of 2022 the standard outreach works of Dover Foodbank and Dover Money Course were again disrupted significantly by the Covid pandemic. Many volunteers did not return after lockdowns and many potential clients, especially for Money courses, have been unwilling to meet together. We worked closely with other Christian Charities including the Dover Street Pastor Initiative and Dover Outreach Centre including the Dover Winter Night Shelter. Ecumenical Children’s ministry restarted post-Covid with a very successful holiday club and Light Parties. Removal of restrictions meant we were able to resume the Easter Joint services in full, and in person: The placing of Crosses at St Mary’s on Palm Sunday, the Walk of Witness through the toen on Good Friday and a Sunrise Celebration at dawn on Easter morning. The monthly Songs of Praise events in nursing homes was discontinued during Covid and has not restarted due to a reluctance on behalf of the homes to have large numbers of visitors and a number of volunteers not coming back Open meetings in person were resumed later in the year, but numbers are have yet to rebuild to pre-Covid levels. CTiD & related Christian groups provided 6 stalls for Dover Regatta publicising our work and outreach. The Foodbank has continued to grow, in terms of need, funding and now has 3 staff. The Fuel Bank initiative has been successful at meeting the needs of many in fuel poverty. Generous funding has been received from Dover District Council, especially for the Household Support Fund. Funds for Foodbank were also from the Charity Of Ellen Gertrude Sneller Small For Poor Gentlefolk, Charity number 222785, which was ceasing operations. Our churches have cooperated in arranging and publicizing ‘Warm Hubs’ in the 2022/3 winter period. Page 2 of 15 ## **Achievements** Dover Foodbank fed 3429 people, 1221 of which were children CAP Dover Money Course ran 2 courses. Baby Basics - Distributed 112 bundles. ## **Plans for the Future** To re-establish activities in a post-Covid world. To establish a sustainable strategy for Dover Foodbank in terms of funding, premises and volunteers. To work on recruiting more volunteers. ## **Statement of Trustees Responsibilities** The trustees are responsible for preparing the trustees' report and the financial statements in accordance with the United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice) and applicable law and regulations. The law applicable to charities requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charity and of the incoming resources and application of resources of the charity for that period. In preparing these financial statements, the trustees are required to: - select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently; - observe the methods and principles in the Charities SORP; - make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent; - state whether applicable accounting standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements; and - prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charity will continue in business. The trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Charities Act 2011, the applicable Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations, and the provisions of the constitution. The trustees are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities. Page 3 of 15 ## Finance Summary **----- Start of picture text -----**
Assets 1 [st] January Receipts / Expenditure Assets 31 [st] December
Donations
General Account £3,217.48 £3,035.24 -£2,945.93 £3,306.79
Young Peoples Work 693.69 £1,629.30 -£1,504.16 £818.83
Dover Food Bank £78,122.28 £69,454.88 -£48,005.86 £99,571.30
Household Support
£0.00 £122,300.00 -£49,210.67 £73,089.33
Fund
Nexus £24.96 £0.00 -£0.00 £24.96
There is Love in
£438.53 £0.00 -£0.00 £438.53
Dover Mission
Baby Basics £1,652.32 £3,500.00 -£1,615.60 £3,536.72
Dover Money
£142.75 £562.50 -£227.62 £477.63
Course
Dover Crisis Fund £3,421.35 £0.00 -£1,000.00 £2,421.35
Port Chaplaincy £104.46 £70.00 -£0.00 £174.46
RNLI £0.00 £70.00 -£70.00 £0.00
Dover Street Pastors £0.00 £272.45 -£272.45 £0.00
Dover Outreach
£0.00 £1,100.00 -£1,100.00 £0.00
Centre
TOTALS 2022 £87,817.82 £201,994.37 -£105,952.29 £183,859.90
TOTALS 2021 £81,666.30 £54,327.53 -£48,176.01 £87,817.82
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Signed on its behalf the trustees of the charity by : Chairman David Slater Date 16[th] May 2023 Date __________ Page 4 of 15 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ## Independent Examiner’s Report on CTID for 2022 Accounts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Page 5 of 15 **----- Start of picture text -----**
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Page 6 of 15 ## Activity Reports Secretaries Report Hazel Groves During 2022 there have been 4 Executive meetings, as well as the 3 Open meetings, one open meeting was rescheduled due to the period of national mourning, including the AGM. Meetings have returned to being held in person this year. The email list currently stands at 162. The Facebook group is active with 241 members. CTiD Website - http://www.christianstogetherindover.org.uk/ Marianne Slater Activity on the website has increased this year with more events being able to happen post Covid and therefore more interest in the events pages. My plea is still to let Hazel know of any event taking place, then between us we can circulate the information to as wide a range of people as possible. Please also remember that the CTiD website has links to all your churches and outreach activities so please keep your own websites up to date and inform me if your web address changes. If anyone spots something I’ve missed please let me know. I still look forward again to have to juggle to get all events onto the website. There has only been one technical glitch but thanks to Radiant who host the website this was resolved very quickly. Dover Foodbank Laura Ashman – Project Manager 2022 started, slower than with previous years. However, we continued to support a substantial number of people through the year. But had struggled to maintain stock levels. This was due to a variety of reasons such as the cost of living crisis. The fluctuation of stock compared to last year had been quite substantial, on a number of occasions we had no choice but to purchase stock due to the extreme drop, at certain points of the year, in our much needed donations. On the 7th June 2022, Dover foodbank successfully reintroduced the distribution centers. We started off using the same locations and similar times to the original distributions. However, a couple of months in we had decided to open a Monday service at the Baptist church and close the Tuesday service at the Beacon, this was to spread the collection evenly over the week so there was less wait time for a client to collect food from the weekend. In the first few months of reopening we were seeing that a number of clients, almost 50% were failing to attend collection of their foodbank parcels. It is believed that this was due to the client now having to collect their own food rather than it being delivered directly to them. There have been some changes of personnel during the year and In light of some staffing issues at the end of 2021 and beginning of 2022, we had made the decision to employ another member of staff who was to assist the project manager and warehouse coordinator in their roles, easing the pressure and allowing the continuation of vital work within our Foodbank. We had appointed a project managers assistant- Hannah – in January of 2022. After successfully completing her probationary period She has now been promoted to assistant manager with an 8 hour increase. We have also seen two warehouse Managers/coordinators leave the food bank for various Page 7 of 15 reasons and fortunately we have now hired our new warehouse manager – Steve, who started in October 2022. Steve has already fit in to the team very well and has made changes to the organization of the warehouse for the better. In 2022, Dover Foodbank supported 3429 people, 1221 of which were children. The amount of food distributed directly to those in need was 27.8 tonnes, which was slightly less than the previous year. However, It is believed that this is due to the stock issues, as a portion of the year less was given out to each client, in their parcels. And also as above an issue with clients attending there collection appointments. therefore, resulting in more cancellations than the previous year. Going into 2023, for the time being, we will continue to provide a distribution service every, Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Only closing on weekends and bank holidays to allow our staff and volunteers to be with family and friends. This means the warehouse is now open for a five day week compare to last year at only three days a week. We do however expect the introduction of a new project in the first 6 months of 2023 which will allow better access to the foodbank for those needing support. plans will be announced in 2023 when updates are available. At the beginning off 2022, We saw a decrease in volunteers. However, we have been fortunate enough to have now increased our volunteer numbers and have an amazing team who have worked extremely hard all year round for those less fortunate. They have also been extremely patient considering changes with in the foodbank such as staffing and warehouse organization. We are currently still looking for role specific volunteers. Harvest festival had seen us take in just over 2.5 tonnes of donations, which was around ½ tonne down from last years donations. However, we were very excited by the amount we received during harvest 2022 as we knew that many were unable to afford to help this year but a vast amount of people still did even during these times of added pressures. And we would like to thank each and everyone who donated or supported us. The support during harvest really did make a substantial difference and it was much needed due to our stock levels. Also to our delivery team who distribute food parcels as needed. And our distribution team, warehouse team, donation collectors and admin volunteers. We would like to thank each and every person who has dedicated their time and efforts to help us support those in need within our area. Without each and every one of you, this would not have been possible. Baby Basics Dover & Deal 2022 Review What a year we have had! For the first time, since we started in March 2016, we have completed more than 100 bundles in a year! There have been many reasons for this, the rise in cost of living, the ongoing impact Covid is still having on our community and the number of migrant families who have sought refuge in our area after being displaced from their homes. We have never been more grateful to our many and growing number of supporters who enable us to do what we do and serve our community in the way we do. I believe that each bundle that goes into a home takes with it the light and love of Jesus in a practical way, they meet the needs of people exactly where they are. I am also so glad for our revamped storage area, meaning all the bundles can be prepared in a warm, dry, rodent free space! Below, are some figures that show how much our service has been needed in 2022. Some families have received more than one of the items that we offer combined in the same request. Page 8 of 15 Completed Requests 112 +90% Moses Basket Starter Packs 60 +82% Baby Bath Starter Packs 21 +91% Buggies 8 +33% Cots 8 +60% Feeding Bundles 8 -27% Nappy/Toiletry Bundles 8 +33% As you can see from the above numbers the demand for our service this year has almost doubled from 2021, thankfully, our follower base has also almost doubled! We continue to be grateful to the customers of Morrisons who regularly buy our Grab Bags, meaning we get the items we are short of come into stock quickly. We are also grateful to the people who donate through Common Good as this is items bought in bulk. Every single donation is gratefully received and we could not bless our community like we do without our army of supporters. We have also been able to secure substantial funding this year to boost our bank balance. This means we can buy the bigger items we need, such as cots and pushchairs, as we have seen the donation of these items drop. Thank you to each and every person who has supported us this year. Your generous giving continues to humble me. Hannah Hills Centre Manager, Baby Basics Dover & Deal ## Dover Money Course We have led x2 courses this past year at Footprints. SADLY, Some of the Money Coaches have had to drop out from the team due to poor health and other commitments but we are pleased to have gained 3 new coaches who did the training early 2022 Since September we have been working on a new model and way of working, which will hopefully mean group sizes will be larger and administration will be simpler. This model is less centralised and will focus upon Money Coaches arranging the courses local to where they are based. We are hugely thankful to Lyn Harris who has been the Administrator almost since the beginning and who stepped down in December. Wendy Hopper has kindly offered to take on the administration. Deacon Barry will be the kink between CTID Exec and Dover Money Course. Deacon Michelle has also stepped down as Coordinator but will continue as a Money Coach and to support other Money Coaches with courses There are plans to run a course in Elvington in February Deacon Michelle Legumi ## Dover Outreach Centre Overview of 2022 The past year has been extremely busy and very fruitful. We have taken on new projects and have extended the number of beds that we are able to offer within the town. Below is a brief summary of our ongoing work. Page 9 of 15 ## Drop In Centre The centre remains open from 9 to 11am Monday to Friday and Carina Jarvie joined us as our new centre manager. The number of people coming in continued to vary, and tended to increase when the Winter Night Shelter was operating. A new venture for 2022 was to operate the Ukrainian Reception Centre at the Drop In Centre with funding from Dover District Council. We operate a free 24-hour welcome centre providing support, information, welfare assistance, refreshments, SIM cards and onward travel arrangements for any Ukrainians passing through Dover. ## Dover Winter Night Shelter The night shelter opened on December 1st and finished at the end of February. Guests were again accommodated in a local B&B venue, and evening meals were provided by volunteers and delivered to them there. Breakfasts were hosted at the Sunrise Cafe. As in previous years, guests were encouraged to move forward into permanent accommodation and work as and when they were willing and able to do so. Towards the end of the year we signed a lease on a 10-bedroomed property on London Road. Suffolk House also has a flat where Rob Daines, our service manager, lives. It will be a permanent base for the winter night shelter (starting with the 22/23 season), and for the rest of the year it will be used as emergency accommodation for referrals from Dover District Council. ## Victory House Accommodation Victory House achieved supported status in 2022, and support plans are in place for all residents. James King worked with them until the end of the year and a new support worker, Eloise Lambley, was employed to take over the role in January 2023. We have also employed night watchmen who provide added support and security to these premises as well as camera coverage for our other properties. ## Move on Housing In the middle of the year we signed a lease on a 10-bedroomed house in Folkestone Road to offer people semi-supported accommodation. Paul Bothomley was employed as an empowerment worker and is based at Oban House for much of his week. We also partnered with Hope Into Action to find a house in Dover which would offer more independent move on accommodation, and we are waiting for the legal process to complete on a house in Barton Road. One Church has offered to undertake befriending of tenants as and when they move into the property. ## Sunrise Cafe The Cafe currently employs 5 members of staff, and as ever, additional support is undertaken by a rota of willing and invaluable volunteers. External catering has become a popular venture and our team prepared and served several meals for groups in Dover throughout the year as well as providing buffets for external orgnaisations. In May, the Cafe became host to Ukrainian families on Thursday afternoons with financial support from Dover District Council, giving them an opportunity to meet together for a few hours each week. Towards the end of the year it also became a warm hub and its hours were extended to accommodate this. We also provide a number of laptops which are free to use. There are a few more things in the pipeline which we will follow up on in next year’s report. If you would like to consider linking with us, possibly as a church representative, to help share updates on what we are doing please let me know. Page 10 of 15 Judith Shilling judithshilling@yahoo.co.uk DOVER STREET PASTORS INITIATIVE REPORT TO CTID – 2022 Carol Boxall Thank you to all those who have prayed for our Initiative during 2022 as we have seen so many answers to prayer. It has been a year of growth and development in many areas including recruitment, training, marketing and fund raising. God has blessed us in many ways and we have seen miracles on our streets as we continue to listen, help and care for those we meet. Our Chair, Wendy Green, continues to ensure God’s vision for DSPI is being fulfilled through her calm and measured leadership, working alongside her Management Team who were duly elected at the AGM in the Spring. Nominations and elections happen annually, with each appointed serving for a five year term. Please pray that as terms of office come to an end, over the next few years, God will raise up those who will take their place to continue this inspiring and humbling work. As a charity, marketing, social media and fundraising have been key to enabling the work to continue. This year has seen a hard working team host a stall at River Jubilee Event and Dover Regatta, as well as a Family Quiz Night. The distribution and collection of DSPI collection boxes at various venues throughout central Dover has also provided significant financial support. The application for grants has been very fruitful and we thank all those involved in securing these. Our partners within the Street Pastor Urban Trinity (police and local council) have always been very supportive of our work and earlier in the year asked us to consider daytime patrols. This was part of our vision and has confirmed God’s plan for us. Originally, one afternoon patrol a month was agreed. However, a morning patrol evolved very organically and both started in November with newly recruited Street and Prayer Pastors, alongside some old timers!!! These patrols are quite different in many ways to the night patrols. However, the principles and aims of DSPI remain the same. During 2022 we recruited 7 new Street Pastors, with a further two being interviewed in the very near future, five prayer pastors and three home prayer pastors. This is just amazing and it was a joy to commission some of them at our Commissioning Service in October. Another service is on the horizon for September in 2023. The Service was a celebration of the last year, a coming together to share the vision and to meet up with all our volunteers and supporters. It was a joyous occasion with another Street Pastor receiving her 10yr service badge. Sadly, we had to say goodbye to three of our Street Pastors as they moved to pastures new. We hope they will be blessed in all they do in the months and years to come. Throughout the year a number of our pastors have been significantly unwell and requests for pray went gone out and prayers answered. Additionally, Jan, our Prayer Coordinator, organized a wonderful Prayer Day for us at St Peter’s & St Paul’s River. Our thanks to those who provided the refreshments and to Rev Andy Bawtree for use of the venue. It was a most special day. It was good to have had a Coordinator for a fixed term period during 2022 and we thank Kez for all that she gave to supporting the Management Team during her time with us. We are happy to confirm that a new Coordinator will start with us in January to continue our growth and development. In 2022 we have completed a total of 1509.25 patrol hours, issued 475 items to support need and had contact with 942 people with 56 being rough sleepers. We are always looking for new Street and Prayer Pastors. So, if you want to have an informal chat about what each role entails or feel compelled to apply, please contact us via the email Page 11 of 15 address at the end of this report. Each Street Pastor costs around £300 to train and get patrolready, alongside employing a coordinator, weekly equipment/resources, and keeping our Dover Initiative fit for purpose, financial gifts and donations are always very welcome for this work we are passionate about. Details for donating can be found on our website. We praise God. He has blessed us in so many ways, kept us safe and strengthened us in 2022. Our trust remains in Him. Website: www.dover.streetpastors.org Email: dover@streetpastors..org.uk Follow us on Facebook & Instagram– Dover Street Pastors Initiative Port of Dover Chaplaincy David Slater Lead Chaplain Regular Chaplaincy visits to offices have continued this year, but are proving more difficult as many individuals are working from home, many areas have down-sized and staff changes mean relationships are having to be re-established. When key personnel are on long term sick leave their role are not always being replaced. Traffic levels are not yet to pre-Covid levels and travelers are often staying in their cars, reducing the opportunities for interaction. The team is down to 7 following the unexpected death of David Clark. Those left are either Anglicans or Catholics, we would welcome any new volunteers, especially from other denominations. We are still getting trainee ordinands who need exposure to non-church settings as part of their courses, (one already booked in 2023). We still hope to get a retail chaplaincy going, but getting all the key people together has proved impossible. No doubt, with the Lord’s timing, it will come to fruition in due course. Migrants are still a problem. Although the chaplains and other faith groups are excluded from Border Force areas we still get requests and suggestions from church groups all over the country for access, whether at Dover or Manston. The Manston overcrowding situation, followed the deaths in the Channel, took a considerable amount of input, not least to the County Mass Fatalities Coordination Group as the only ‘Faith’ representative. Public Services such as Herald of Free Enterprise memorial, Merchant Nay Day and the Port Remembrance Service (preacher the Bishop of Dover) have returned in full strength this year, hopefully a Sea Sunday service may be possible in 2023. Zoom continues to enable national links such as Workplace Mission UK, the South East Port Welfare Committee of the Merchant Navy Welfare Board (MNWB) and Kent Voluntary Sector Emergency Group, although some face to face meetings are starting to resume. The year ahead continues to be concerning as various EU additional control are expected this Spring which, unless there is a change of heart, could result in long delays, passengers stuck in jams and staff highly stressed. The Dover reputation for tours continued to grow with a very successful visit in October from the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Southwark. Page 12 of 15 LIGHT PARTY EVENT – 31st October 2022 This family event of games and craft was well attended and, from the feedback, very much enjoyed by all. Publicity and invitations went out to schools, groups, churches and individual children who attended the Wonder Zone Club in July. Local schools were very open to putting the invitation out to parents through their parentmail systems this year. This was reflected in the number of schools represented at the event. The evening started with a shared activity, with a short focus talk on Jesus the Light of the World and us needing to be shining lights for him where we are. It was so positive to see as many adults enjoying the craft as children and all the children went away with a Light Party Bag with lots of goodies, gifts and a SU booklet on being a shining light for Jesus. The focus for the party remained – HAVE FUN - STAY SAFE – SHARE JESUS. As always the team were amazing in preparing so many great crafts/activities for the event, and it was the craft that had the most pull on the night, along with the food!! Thank you to CTID Exec for funding this event. OUR NEXT EVENT – in the Light Party Bags everyone had a ‘save the date’ A5 flyer for the Crazy Science Party with Duggie Dug Dug on 18th February at Dover Baptist Church. ## THE WONDER ZONE HOLIDAY CLUB – July 2022 The Wonder Zone was packed with creative ideas about exploring and discovering wonders of our world, the universe and of God. Through fun experiments and daily research the Scientists(children) explored space, animals and us and how science goes hand in hand with God’s creation through three bible passages/stories from both the Old and New Testament. Prayer and a short thought were shared each morning before the children arrived and as always these were such special moments for us. As always the Club had a positive feel about it with the team learning as much about their relationship with God, as the children explored There were so many special moments of children praying and sharing their thoughts about God through prayer activities and worship songs. Such a privilege to be a leader and be part of this. The daily cocktails were on the menu at break time as usual, as were our fruit and biscuit platters. The teams met in their labs to research God’s world, create wonderful creations and learn more about God. The altogether times saw fun experiments taking place with the Prof, including water, flour and a robot, alongside explosive cola fountains led by our young people who came in force to help support the teams this year. They were just amazing. Sadly, Doug Horley had to cancel the Crazy Science Show for the families on the Saturday after the Club, but he is coming in February 2023. Nevertheless, a family party did take place where children had time to get the adults involved in some of the games they played during the three days and sharing ‘all things Wonder Zone’. I would like to thank the CTID Executive and some very generous individual donations for funding this event and the Crazy Science Show, as our grant application was not successful. Also, my thanks to all the team for their hard work during the club and in all the preparation. God most definitely answered prayers. CMM (Christian Music Ministries) Singers Page 13 of 15 A group from Dover and Folkestone churches performed “A Review of Three Musicals” entitled “Dreaming with a Grain of Hope” (two by Roger Jones and one by Rev Rob Frost/Paul Field) in two Dover churches in March and May 2022. “SAINTS ALIVE!” & “A GRAIN OF MUSTARD SEED” Two musicals by Roger Jones, the first telling the story of Pentecost, based on Acts of Apostles, chapters 1 and 2. The second was written to mark the bicentenary of the birth of Robert Raikes (a key figure in founding Sunday Schools). “HOPES AND DREAMS” A musical written for the Millennium, based on the Lord’s Prayer, with music by Paul Field, drama and poetry by Stephen Deal, plus extra songs by Graham Kendrick. It ends with the Lord’s Prayer, set to Auld Lang Syne. Our original group has changed, and been augmented by new singers who are just as keen and enthusiastic! However, we are always happy to welcome in new singers, particularly altos and males!! We are blessed to have two accomplished pianists (one being Revd Gordon Newton) and a talented young percussionist. We would also greatly welcome any other musicians who would like to join us. We are currently planning on performing “Saints Alive!” In its entirety under the umbrella of CTiD (on 27 May 2023 at 3pm in Dover Baptist Church) and rehearse on one Saturday per month in River Methodist Church. We also meet one Thursday evening per month, details available upon request. For further information: Contact Susan Randall susandrandall51518@gmail.com 07761 765689 or Gordon Newton gordon.d.newton@gmail.com 07982 466549 Dover Fairtrade Town Network DFTN has continued to meet regularly during 2022 and have attended a number of local events in the town to promote Dover as Fairtrade town and highlight importance of buying Fairtrade. Events included Samphire’s Multi cultural event; Armed forces Day via RBL, Big Local urban fete, THF Fun Day, Stall at Charlton church Fair and the Regatta . At these events we provide free samples of Fairtrade goods and highlight where Fairtrade products can be purchased. During Fairtrade Fortnight 2022 stalls were held at local Coop stores to highlight importance of Fairtrade and the issues currently facing producers as a result of climate change. Fairtrade Fortnight this year will be from 27 February tp 12 March 2023 and plans will include stalls again at local stores but also a Reception at Dover town council (Date to be confirmed and invites will be circulated). The theme for Fairtrade Fortnight Choose the World you want will again highlight the issue of Climate Change /climate Justice and effect is having on producers particularly in the role that theyh play in providing many items of food such as cocoa, bananas etc. and how Fairtrade Foundation helps with support in farming in a more sustainable way. Page 14 of 15 There are many ways to be involved not just locally but nationally, (see Fairtrade Foundations website fairtrade.org.uk) But the following is a statement on reflecting on why you choose Fairtrade “You already know choosing Fairtrade is best for people and the planet. But do you know communities use Fairtrade to drive positive change? Income from Fairtrade sales has meant tea growers in India investing in organic methods (1) it’s meant solar panels generating electicity for farmers in Cote d’Ivoire (2) Fairtrade banana growers in Columbia have used their income to buy medical equipment for their community during the global pandemic (3) Fairtrade general committees support women on Fairtrade Flower farms to assert their rights and tackle abuse and discrimination (4) Here in Dover now that life is returning to normal we are keen to return to visiting schools as this is always an enjoyable way of promoting Fairtrade. If anyone has contacts with local schools we would be please to hear from them. Our Fairtrade group is small in numbers so if anyone is interested in joining us (we meet bi monthly) you would be very welcome to join us. Finally, I would like to highlight the issue of Fairtrade churches and ask if fairtrade goods are available for any event that they may hold. Although there is a range of products available in local supermarkets, in the past we have always promoted Traidcraft on our stalls but I am not sure if there is a dedicated Traidcraft seller in Dover now (though understand that individual churches may have a member who does this for their own church). I would be pleased to hear if there is anyone acting in this capacity as do like to promote Traidcraft. Thank you for the continuing support of DFTN by CTID Pam Brivio DFTN 07772471905 16.1.23 Page 15 of 15