April

Belated Easter greetings! The Emmaus team wish you a good April and hope the sun continues to try breaking through the clouds. I expect Moley is “full of the joys of Spring”, in his own very laid-back, regal sort of way. He loves to smell the Spring flowers and hopes you get the chance to as well. (He'll be less impressed by the “April showers”, but at least that means he can stay indoors and relax. The Emmaus shops, hubs and Royal Oak cafe also provide space to relax – for both dogs and their owners. Last week, a lovely Labrador came into the Dales shop and enjoyed watching me hoover the carpet!)

If you're planning some Spring cleaning, the Dales shop sells a range of eco-refills, such as washing-up liquid and eco all-purpose cleaner. Moley recommends their lovely, fresh smell.

The Dales got ready for Easter with two Easter-themed teapots on sale, as well as a chocolate Easter Egg-mould kit and a hen-shaped doorstop. Also, if you look on the Emmaus Suffolk Facebook page, you'll see photos of how the Carr Street shop and the Royal Oak celebrated Easter. The Carr Street photos show a lot of beautiful Easter decorations, handmade by hub attendees. (All on sale in the window there for a donation.) Plus, the photos of the display tube at the Royal Oak reveal that it filled up well with the beautiful Easter Egg tokens which I mentioned in the March blog. These were hand-painted by hub attendees too. Moley is very impressed with all their hard work! These tokens represent all the donations already given (at the Royal Oak), which will provide hot meals to the people Emmaus Suffolk supports. Many thanks from the team (including Moley) to the hub attendees and to everyone who has generously made a donation. It says that an amazing £336.10 was raised! Moley sends his cuddles! He's also found out online that egg decorating began some centuries ago and that the idea of the Easter Bunny leaving eggs (initially painted ones) began in Germany, with the “Easter Hare”. Choccie eggs, on the other hand, were started by Fry's in 1873. (Moley wishes that dogs were able to eat chocolate – it just smells so good!)

As for April Fool's Day, Moley likes to pretend that he hasn't had his lunch yet – even when the crumbs left in his food bowl suggest otherwise!

For those who also own/wait upon a dog, you can treat him or her to a smart food bowl/water bowl from the Dales shop, as these get donated there quite a lot. There's currently a dog-bone shaped one! Whereas cat owners/staff may like to honour their feline by purchasing the cat-shaped teapot, the cat-themed table mats or the set of tiny sleeping cat ornaments. Additionally, the book section currently has a guide to puppies and a book by Dr. Noel Fitzpatrick. (TV's “The Supervet”.)

The Dales is also already full with everything you need for preparing for either a summer holiday or enjoying the summer at home or in the park. Some camping chairs recently got donated and there's a large selection of suitcases on sale. You can also find picnic basket sets, children's water bottles, sun hats, jackets, shirts, skirts, dresses and floral tops. By the suitcases there's a large teddy, wearing a straw hat, just waiting to join somebody on their travels.

When I attended this week's Tuesday hub at the Dales, I enjoyed doing some colouring and trying another of their free paninis – a delicious ham + cheese one. Other available activities included a puzzle and Yahtzee. Volunteers also join in during their breaks – this time one volunteer had a sit down and a chat with everyone. She told me that she enjoys the company there at the Dales.

At the Emmaus allotment in March, there was quite a bit of weeding to do. Fellow volunteer David also pulled up the rest of last year's cabbages and beetroot. (Sadly, last year's weather meant that most of the cabbages and beetroot didn't grow properly enough for eating, so they've gone on the compost heap.) The broad bean shoots are getting taller and growing little flowers. David (who's a gardening expert) replanted last year's onions and turned over the soil around them. He said that planting could start in April. Many thanks to staff member Emma for ordering seeds for planting.

The Dales shop sometimes gets plant pots donated, as well as gardening books and garden decorations. There's currently a pair of hanging baskets too. For rainy days, however, you can also find baking equipment, cake stands, puzzles, stationery and craft supplies, including knitting needles and sewing patterns. There's also some packs of plain white greeting card-sized envelopes – 50p each. Antiques enthusiasts can sometimes find Toby jugs, Royal Family memorabilia and clocks, etc. And if you love sitcoms, the shop has previously had David Jason's autobiography and an ornamental “Last of the Summer Wine” - themed plate. Popular authors like Philippa Gregory and Frederick Forsyth are also on sale for bookworms, plus a book for football fans about Alex Ferguson.

A couple of reminders from Moley – there's no longer a retail section at the Royal Oak and the Dales shop no longer has a children's section. But if you have a good look, you might find things dotted around the Dales for both children and the young at heart. E.g. there's been a “dinosaur excavation kit”, a soft toy cheeky monkey, a “High School Musical 2” puzzle and family films on DVD. Children's books are sometimes available in the same area as the other books – Moley recently spotted a copy there of Roald Dahl's “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”, which is just as much fun for adults as it is for children! (It didn't contain a Golden Ticket, but whenever Moley's around, you might just win the opportunity to bask in his presence!)

My second pick from the Dales shop's bookshelves to review is a non-fiction one - “Peaky Blinders: The Real Story” by Carl Chinn. (Whose own ancestors included a peaky blinder.) If you're a fan of the TV series “Peaky Blinders”, this book gives a lot of historical background to the programme's storylines. Therefore, there are many descriptions of violence, including against women and the police. The incidents mentioned were at times upsetting to read about, though it also makes clear that most working-class “Brummies” of the time weren't involved and that it was scary for them to live alongside the gangs. (Moley reckons the peaky blinders might have been less angry if they'd taken more naps.) The series creator is also apparently descended from real life “peakies” - the Sheldon brothers, who partly inspired the fictional Shelbys. Whilst some real female peakies (recognised by their long fringes) inspired the formidable character of Aunt Polly. As I started watching from the penultimate series onwards, I liked reading about other characters from the earlier series too and what certain ones were like in real life, such as Darby Sabini. I also found the old photos, testimonies and newspaper extracts really interesting - one photo shows the real-life Garrison Tavern. And I enjoyed finding out the similarities and differences between the series and real life, e.g. their haircuts and outfits. (Appropriately, in March, the Dales shop happened to have a “Peaky Blinders”-style hat on sale!) As little Moley will have sat this review out to hide behind a cushion, I've chosen a gentler read for next time. (“By order of” Moley...) In the meantime, he's going to catch up on the hour of sleep he missed when the clocks went forward!

All the best this Spring, Heather.

Spring Update

Hello from everyone at Emmaus Suffolk! Everybody hopes you have had a good week and you've been alright during the winter. Until the Spring weather starts properly, you can buy warm clothes at the Emmaus shops in Ipswich and Felixstowe, which are all warm places on cold days. And if you're struggling at the moment, the Emmaus hubs (at the Dales, Carr Street and Felixstowe shops and the Royal Oak on Felixstowe Road) are safe spaces. You can sit quietly with a cuppa or meet new people, whichever you're comfortable with. And at the Dales shop's new lunchtime hub, you're also welcome to a free panini/toastie, plus tea and coffee. Emmaus support workers will listen and support you in gaining confidence. They can also give advice and help with job applications etc.

In January, the Carr Street hub ran a craft activity in preparation for Easter. They provided polystyrene eggs for hub attendees to paint as Easter eggs, which was fun to try. The other attendees did a fantastic job. Tania, one of the hub coordinators, explained to me that, like the baubles on the Emmaus Giving Tree at the Royal Oak last December, these painted eggs will be like tokens, each representing a One-Pot-Wonder meal. (The “One-Pot-Wonder” offer is available to everyone, as at £3:50, it is affordable for all.) A donation of £5 contributes towards enabling Emmaus to continue the One-Pot-Wonder scheme. Over Easter, the Royal Oak will have a large clear tube to put the painted eggs into, so everyone can watch the number of donations growing. The idea was inspired by two things – one is the charity Social Bite, which began when a homeless man asked for a job in a coffee shop in Scotland. They offered him a job and soon also jobs to some other homeless people. Soon after, they started a system there called “Pay it Forward”, where customers could buy food that people struggling with homelessness could collect later on. The other inspiration is the film “Pay It Forward”, which is apparently based on a book of the same title by Catherine Ryan Hyde. (The film is available to view on YouTube.) It's about a boy who has an idea of doing 3 kind things for other people. All he asks in return is that those 3 people would then each do something kind for 3 other people, and so on. Following this pattern, the number of good deeds would quickly multiply to achieve a lot of good in the world. In the book and the film, these deeds are all big gestures, but in real life it doesn't have to be. You too can “pay it forward” by contributing £5 for the Emmaus One-Pot-Wonder scheme, donating items, purchasing something, or volunteering your time at one of the Emmaus sites, etc. The Carr Street hub attendees recently celebrated the anniversary of the Emmaus founder Abbé Pierre's “Uprising of Kindness” speech by surrounding his picture on a board with positive quotes.

Today I attended the first session of the new Emmaus hub at their Dales shop on Dales Road. There used to be a hub there before the Covid lockdowns, which I used to go to. They've now started it again and hopefully it will grow into a nice group again like at their other hubs. The activities in today's session were: colouring-in books, painting-by-numbers kits, games and puzzles. (If attendees would like crafts to be added, please let the staff know.) Like the other Emmaus hubs, this hub provides a warm space – as support worker Sean mentioned, attending can help you save a little on your energy bills, and warm cuppas are also provided for free. At this particular hub, they will also be providing a free toasted panini or toastie, whichever you prefer. The panini options are: BBQ Chicken, Ham + Cheese, Margherita Pizza and Tuna Melt. The toastie options are: Cheese + Onion, and Gluten Free 5 Cheese. (I tried the BBQ Chicken panini, which was really delicious and very warming.) I definitely recommend it and I'm looking forward to trying the other filling options at this hub in the future.) It can save you cooking lunch at home and it's in a comfy, warm and cosy corner of the shop, which has a friendly atmosphere. If you happen to be browsing in the Dales shop while the new hub is on, you're very welcome to join in and meet new people. Equally, attendees might spot a bargain in the shop during the session. Today I saw a plaque on sale, which might look nice in someone's home – it read: “Life does not have to be perfect to be wonderful”. (Moley would no doubt agree because even though dogs can't eat paninis, he still thinks life is wonderful and perfect as he always has a good supply of dog treats!)

There's been some other lovely items in the Dales shop recently, which have found new homes. These include a dachshund-shaped doorstop, a set of Elmer-themed plates + bowls and some beautiful baby baskets. (Moley wouldn't have minded snoozing in one of those himself...) Currently, there are some pretty necklaces and jewellery stands, as well as The Hairy Bikers' Family Cookbook.

My first read to review from the Dales shop's bookshelves has been children's book, “The Star of Kazan”, by Eva Ibbotson. It's a great adventure/mystery, with lots of humour, and twists and turns. The good characters are all charming, and even some of the unkind characters have their nicer moments. And if you haven't been to Austria, Hungary, Germany or Switzerland, the book's beautiful descriptions take you on a journey through them all (as they once were) from the comfort of your home. I found a child's favourable review of it online, which is good to know. (Just to forewarn, however, there are some very sad moments too. Also, some characters are upsettingly cruel to animals, children, the elderly and mental health sufferers, reflecting certain attitudes of the setting – the early 1900's.) Moley approves that there's a dog character (called Hector) and is glad that Hector was saved from a brutal owner. Hector also plays an important role in solving the mystery!

Wednesday sessions have now resumed at the Dales shop's allotment. (11am-1pm) Last Wednesday, I pulled up the remaining beetroot plants, then turned over the soil around some onion shoots and broad bean shoots. Fellow volunteer David told me that turning over the soil brings up the weeds before they can get too big. It was nice to hear the birds singing and see how all the rain has helped the shoots to grow.

Master Moley would like to have the last word today, firstly with a reminder of the old saying: “A dog is for life, not just for Christmas.” As he's a rescue dog, he's so happy to have found his forever home with Mandy & Chris. He'd also like you to know about Emmaus's #BeMoreKind campaign to continue the legacy of Abbé Pierre's speech. (Raising money for the cause he started and encouraging a modern-day “Uprising of Kindness” in the world.) Moley recommends being kind to others, but also to yourself. He practices this by kindly cheering people up with cuddles, and thinking positive thoughts. (E.g. feeling proud of himself for being such a good boy, plus daydreaming about lunch...)

See you next time, Heather.

Happy January!

Happy New Year everyone!

Moley hopes that you had as festive a Christmas as he did and so does support dog Luna, who joined her owner, my friend (and fellow volunteer) Sarah at the Emmaus Christmas party for volunteers and companions. If this Christmas was a difficult time for any of you, Moley and Luna send their love. If you like dogs and are lucky enough to meet these two at an Emmaus site, both appreciate cuddles and the chance to rest their sweet heads on your arm. Also Luna can show dog owners exactly where the treats are kept at the Royal Oak.

Luckily the Christmas elves didn’t manage to eat all of the Royal Oak café’s homemade mince pies, so there were still plenty for everyone at the party – along with crisps, sausage rolls, a choice of main courses and hot and cold drinks. The afternoon also included a Christmas themed quiz, Christmas music and many Christmas jumpers being worn. Well done to all the quiz teams, and credit to the rest of the team I was in, for all of their right answers. Thanks to everyone that organised the party, delicious food, quiz, music and goodies for each person to take home.

The Royal Oak stayed extra busy that week with their excellent One Pot Wonder Christmas dinner (a bargain at just £3.50) including a vegetarian option along with sausage rolls, Santa themed hot chocolate and mince pies with ice-cream. A warm welcome was given to everyone including the excited children from the Kids & Carers club. The Christmas Giving Tree was decked with baubles – each one represented a donation to continue to provide hot meals for those in need. The tree raised a fantastic £1744.65. Another brilliant result is that Emmaus Suffolk provided 265 One Pot Wonder meals in December. Many thanks to everybody who donated to the Giving Tree and bought a One Pot Wonder meal – your contributions will enable Emmaus Suffolk to do so much good in your local community.

More wonderful news is that Emmaus Suffolk has received funding to continue the Singing for the Soul sessions at the Royal Oak on Friday mornings. You can be sure of a warm welcome whatever your singing ability and level of confidence (including from Luna who recommends a good sing song to cheer yourself up and help with any anxieties you have).

Looking for bargains this New Year. The Emmaus Suffolk shops have a great variety. From preloved clothes and furniture to homeware, garden supplies, PAT tested electricals, stationery, books, cds, dvds, toys, games, and puzzles. Along with jewellery, craft supplies, decorations, ornaments, sports equipment and if you’re looking to try new dishes, there are great cookery books.

I’ve been asked to sometimes include book reviews in the blog with books from the Emmaus shelves so I bought one to read over Christmas. As I read more slowly nowadays, I thought I would start with a children’s book aimed at 9-11 years which can also appeal to adults. It is called the Star of Kazan by Eve Ibbotson and its set in 1908. Although it doesn’t include magic, this story feels very magical. Like the characters Harry Potter and Lyra in ‘Northern Lights’, the main character Annika is an orphan and you can picture everything from the beautiful descriptions. Also for Downton Abbey fans, Annika grows up as a servant in Vienna and according to the blurb on the back, it turns out that her real mother is still alive and an aristocrat. Moley is looking forward to finding out what happens next…

If you like poetry, Moley approves of a Stevie Smith poem called ‘O Pug’ It mentions how pugs have lovely big eyes, get worried if their owners aren’t right next to them and how they snore a lot. Being a French Bulldog, Moley is a professional snorer and has amusingly demonstrated this morning during the lovely sleep he’s had in the office.

Moley wonders if you any of you have made New Year resolutions and how they are going? I haven’t but Moley’s resolution, as you can tell, is to take more naps. (Walking is a tiring business when you have little legs…) A New Year tradition is to make as much noise as possible when midnight strikes although achieving this by heavy snoring is more Moley’s cup of tea. Talking of which, you can get free cuppas at the Carr Street hubs and the Royal Oak café sells a great selection of hot drinks – while all of the shops sell a variety of mugs and cups. Maybe you’ll find just the right one to drink your daily brew from and toast the New Year.

Best wishes to you all in 2024

Heather

Community Corner

Community Corner

Season’s greetings everyone from the Emmaus Suffolk Family!

My name is Heather and I’ve been volunteering with Emmaus Suffolk in Ipswich for several years. Being a volunteer in the Dales Road shop, the allotment and with their upcycling has really helped my confidence with the support they offer and the chance to try out new things, the latest of which is this blog.

Emmaus Suffolk is like a big family, including Mandy’s lovely dog Moley, who is currently in the office trying to decide which is the most comfortable spot in the arm to rest in his head. He now seems to have found it as his eyes are closed very contentedly – as the saying goes, it’s a dog’s life!

There’s still time to get your Christmas shopping done at the Emmaus shops in Ipswich and Felixstowe. You’ll find something for everyone, from decorations and cards to cuddly toys and clothes. All purchases help Emmaus Suffolk to continue to support Suffolk people struggling with homelessness, unemployment and their mental health. Hubs at the Carr Street shop in Ipswich town centre and Felixstowe offer a safe warm space, company and support, including if you’re quiet like me. You can have a cuppa and a chat, enjoy crafting, play a board game or do a puzzle. (And there are biscuits too, if you have a sweet tooth.)

The Royal Oak also provides hot meals with their ‘One Pot Wonder’ offer and drinks, as well as a singing group, a Kids & Carers group and a Men’s Breakfast Hub. Whatever your circumstances and level of confidence, Emmaus Suffolk will give you a warm welcome (Dogs are welcome too, including in the shop areas at each site – some are regular visitors!)

The Christmas elves are up to their tricks again at the Royal Oak – you’ll see the evidence on the Emmaus Suffolk Facebook page! (This afternoon will be the volunteer Christmas party so hopefully they will have left some mince pies…). There’s also a Giving Tree there, which you can donate a present to. When you order a meal at the Royal Oak, there is an option to add a donation to the cost of your meal – this donation will be used to provide someone with a hot meal this Christmas.

Volunteers have been busy upcycling donated craft materials into Christmas decorations and cards, some of which are available in the Carr Street shop for a donation. They and the hub attendees also made Emmaus donation themed decorations for the Emmaus Suffolk Christmas Tree at St Mary-Le-Tower’s annual ‘Trees @ The Tower’ display.

The Dale Road shop also has a small community garden and allotment. This year, David and Dave planted a lot of vegetables including potatoes. It’s been interesting helping out at the allotment and seeing each week how much the veg has grown (some broad beans are sprouting at the moment.

Helping on the till is also interesting – you never know what’s going to donated. So far this winter, a lot of teddy bears have been donated along with an advent calendar with miniature books behind each door telling the Nativity story. (It sold quickly and the teddy bears found new forever homes too!)

As Moley happily settles down again after his pre-Christmas lunch, he and the team hope that you too can join us for some festive fun this Christmas time, whether it’s at the hubs, volunteering or browsing in the shops.

Warm Christmas wishes from everyone at Emmaus Suffolk!

p.s Moley has a Christmas cracker joke – “What do Santa’s little helpers learn at school? – The Elf-abet!” He also found out on Google that mince pies used to be lucky – back in the day, people thought that if you ate a mince pie every day during the twelve days of Christmas, you would get 12 months of good luck. Moley approves of this and is hunting for mince pie crumbs (although he know dogs can’t eat the filling)… he hopes it’s true and wishes you good luck too in 2024!

A Kinder Revolution

On Saturday 25th March 2023, we we’re very honoured to be chosen as a charity recipient for a brilliant music & poetry event, at the Gallery Theatre in Ipswich. The gig was headlined by the band ‘Fred & Charlie’ - one member of whom is a volunteer at Emmaus Suffolk - and support acts included Jon Alcock, Joe Lees, Carl Best, Piers Harrison-Reid, and poet Amy Wragg. Another huge thanks to the Mavericks for organising this very entertaining evening of talent, and for choosing to support Emmaus Suffolk.

Your support means the world to us

Got a few spare quid and want to support out work?

You can now donate online using a QR code (ooohh fancy!).

This code takes you straight to our PayPal Giving Fund page where you can choose from either a set amount, or an amount of your choice, to donate to Emmaus Suffolk.

100% of the donation goes to the charity (PayPal do NOT take any fee) and, as is our ethos, all monies raised in Suffolk stay in Suffolk.

Singing for the Soul

We are utterly delighted to announce a new, free weekly singing group, run by Andi Hogood from Suffolk Soul Singers, at The Royal Oak. The group meet every Friday morning, 10-11.30am, round the piano in our warm space. Its completely free, fun and informal. All ages and abilities welcome, lyrics will be provided.

The first session took place on Friday 20th January, singing a selection of great pop tunes through the ages. As time goes on, Andi will be asking participants to choose songs they want to sing so you’ll have chance to request some of your favourite songs too!

Have a listen below to a short interview with Andi about the project, and hear the new group in action. (2 minutes long)

The first (ever) Singing for the Soul session (Friday 20th January 2023)

How to Change Your Mind with author Melanie Green

We are delighted to be able to share another live recording from Work It Out with Emmaus Suffolk, featuring the fantastic local author Melanie Green, who joined us on the discussion based around ‘How to Change your Mind’.

Melanie Green, is a mother of two from Suffolk whose life was turned upside down when she received her cancer diagnosis in 2018, a week after her 48th birthday. She started writing a blog to process all of her emotions during treatment, which then evolved into her book But Seriously, Who Knew? Since her diagnosis, she has quit her job as a team leader in the Additional Learning Support department at Otley College, and is now living life to the full with her husband, Big G: travelling the world and working on book number two.

You can find Melanie’s awesome book, ‘But Seriously, Who Knew?’ for sale at Dial Lane Books (Ipswich), Woodbridge Books (Woodbridge), online through her website, and it can be borrowed for free from Suffolk Libraries.

A huge thank you to Melanie for joining Emmaus Suffolk and our other guests: Sean Trueman, and Sarah Jones, for a fantastic conversation around change, challenges, and overcoming adversity. We have included in this recording a contribution from her daughter Lauren (with permission) who was in the audience, for further context. Thank you to Lauren for agreeing to be a part of this recording.

We hope you enjoy these recordings as much as we loved hosting these awesome, and inspiring guests.

How to Change Your Mind

In 2022 we launched ‘Work It Out’ with Emmaus Suffolk, a series of talks and workshops based around employability, which took place at The Royal Oak Community Cafe (Felixstowe Road) last year.

This is the second talk in the series, called ‘How to Change Your Mind’, and it featured three amazing guests talking about their experiences with change (October 2022). The excerpt here is from the first guest on the panel, Sean Trueman, a support worker at Emmaus Suffolk talking about his journey to recovery.

Thank you SO MUCH for listening, and a HUGE thank you to our funder: New Anglia LEP Partnership, and Suffolk Community Foundation, for their support in making this project a reality.

Extra special thanks to our incredible guest, Sean Trueman, for sharing his inspirational story with us all. It truly is an emotional, honest, and beautiful speech from Sean. You might want to have a tissue close to hand…

TW: Addiction. Homelessness. Mental Health.