benbell

pain in the arse... again

pain in the arse 1 - two years ago

quite a few arse related issues following.

pain in the arse 2 - admitted to hospital on boxing day; operation the following day; still not sorted; very painful; won't be round here for a while; all prayers appreciated.

Mary

By far the most popular image i've ever produced is this one of Mary.
It has been used around the world in many different contexts.
the invitation is still there for you to use it for free - please just tell me where and when you are going to use it.
Advance worship have written an interesting piece on it giving various ideas for using it.

Following the success of the Manchester Passion  BBC3 are doing the Liverpool Nativity.
it looks brilliant. I love this sort of thing - contextualising ancient narrative in contemporary society.
I'm in the middle of working with Dennis Morris producing some very exciting images contextualising the Easter narrative with inner-city young people - more on that in good time.

Anti-Bullying Week

19th-23rd November
the Anti-Bullying Alliance has a great website with loads of resources, information and links to others who are working to address this issue.

legacy of slavery...

I was privileged to be invited to a conference held last week by Dean Pusey on behalf of CMEAC.

This youth work conference considered how the legacies of slavery in all its forms are still impacting young people of African and Caribbean heritage today.

Much of the conference focused on the telling of the story. I was devastated as I heard story after story of what it is like to grow up as a person of colour in Britain. Experiences infrastructural racism, low self esteem and lack of opportunity to contribute to institutional structures, including the church.

Since the conference I’ve been trying to live with the story which has been tough, but obviously not even close to how tough it would be if it were my story.

More detailed reflections to follow.

A blessing for National Youth Work Week

May God who is youthful in creativity and passion,
His devotion to friendship and Her challenges which cause us to see new ways of approaching the familiar
Remain with us.          
That we may continue to out grow our uniforms
And in our growing pains may know comfort and companionship.

"I've got nothing to do"

Half of the parents of 11 to 16 year olds could not say where their children are outside of school hours, says a report on "home alone" teenagers.

Such unsupervised youngsters, without access to youth clubs or creative activities, are at risk of involvement in crime, says the report by 4children.

I'm continually impressed by the work of 4children and their ability to get these important stories into public consciousness

looking for JJ

took a group of young people to see this last night - it was brilliant.

You can't change what happened...no matter how much you think of it or cry, you can't change a single second of it...the only thing you can change is the future.

Six years ago, three children went to play near a lake on the edge of town. Later that day only two of them came back.

Following her imprisonment for killing her best friend, Jennifer Jones has been released into a new life under a new identity. The ensuing media-frenzy has everyone asking ' where is she now?'

Alice Tully knows exactly where JJ is - and what happened that day six years ago.

Despite her dangerous, violent and sad childhood, Alice is happy with her loving boyfriend and is getting ready to go to university. But now, with everyone looking for JJ, the past threatens to return and rip her new life apart.

Based on the controversial and multi award winning book, Looking for JJ is a gripping story of suspense and intrigue, with a fast moving narrative for the MySpace generation.

Looking for JJ is on at the Unicorn Theatre until the 25th November

 

youth space

The bad news …

4children has published a report today saying
‘New statistics show that as schools prepare to break up for the holidays, over 1 million teenagers could be wandering the streets because there is nowhere else to go.’

The Make Space Youth Review report was launched by Lily Allen and presented to Prime Minister Gordon Brown

Launching the report today, youth icon Lily Allen said: “I want to see a new start for teenagers in communities where they have nothing to do, nowhere to go and nowhere to call their own."

The Good News ….

Yesterday I was presented with a cheque for 40,000 by the Master of the Worshipful company of Grocers. The money will go towards the building of a space for young people within St Stephen’s church hall’s. Young people will be able to drop in and get advice, chill out, take part in focused group work looking at issues such as anger management and sexual health and do their homework using a new Mac computer suite.

I have been blown away by the generosity of the members of St Stephen’s church who have given over £40,000 and the Grocers and Clothworkers companies who have supported our vision to provide local young people with somewhere to go and something to do. The grocers company in fact gave us more than we asked for as they want us to increase the specification for the furnishing and equipping of the space. 

We won’t be open this summer but from September young people will have a ‘home’ in the local community.

Mustafa Hulusi

I've posted about Mustafa Hulusi in the past and i'm still a great fan. I got along to the Max Wigram gallery last night for the private view of Mustafa's new exhibition. It's well worth checking out if your in London. It on until the 7th July.

Notorious for his unsolicited fly-posting campaigns in London’s East End, Hulusi moves within the realm of advertising that uses misquoted visuals involving anything but geometric patterns, flowers or fruit. Equally existing in the gallery and the public sphere, these are distributed in formats like billboards, light box displays or paintings, an activity enticing audiences into a relation of recognition and desire in wanting to know more about these visual surfaces.