Activate News - January 2008

A Positively Happier 2008
A cheerful heart brings a smile to your face... A cheerful heart fills the day with song Proverbs 15:13,15 (The Message)

Why is it that some people have such great lives that they are always smiling, always positive and optimistic and everything seems to go right for them – whereas others seem to experience quite the opposite? more... [29/01/08]

Activate News - January 2008
Installing Love
Tech Support:
Yes, how can I help you?

Customer
Well, after much consideration, I've decided to install Love. Can you guide me though the process?

Tech Support:
Yes. I can help you. Are you ready to proceed? more... [22/01/08]

Activate News - December 2007

LETTER FROM JESUS ABOUT CHRISTMAS    
It has come to my attention that many of you are upset that people are taking my name out of the Christmas season. Maybe you've forgotten that I wasn't actually born during this time of the year and that it was some of your predecessors who decided to celebrate my birthday on what was actually the time of pagan festival, although I do appreciate being remembered anytime.

How I personally feel about this celebration can probably be most easily understood by those of you who have been blessed with children of your own. I don't care what you call the day. If you want to celebrate my birth, just GET ALONG AND LOVE ONE ANOTHER. more... [18/12/07]

Activate News - October 2007

'Je ne regrette rien'
Brave words by Edith Piaf – yet most of us feel we have something to regret and a new book entitled ‘The Book of Regrets’* has been published.

It’s a compilation of contributions by celebrities who talk about the thing they regret in life, with proceeds going to charity. more... [16/10/07]

'The Top 50'
featured in the papers for the second year running the other day
- the 50 places where women want to work.

The info was gathered by the Aurora women's network and featured in the Times newspaper. Apparently these companies offer the best in career development, training, healthcare and pensions. Heigh ho. more... [14/10/07]

Activate News - July 2007
OK we admit it – we get it wrong sometimes!
We’ve been urging you to take full advantage of the sunshine and invite all the neighbours to mouthwatering barbecue suppers in your garden (or something like that)...

However, sadly, most of us have been squelching round in our wellies for the last few months. And it doesn’t look too bright on the horizon either. A newspaper headline in the last few days announced ‘The future is wet – summer was in April.’
more... [04/07/07]

Activate News - June 2007

Chocolate
Forgive us for sounding smug – but three times in the last two weeks the newspapers have affirmed Activate and our thinking about taking God’s love into the community by addressing relevant issues...

First they wrote about stress in the workplace, then this weekend the price of happiness and wellbeing (see Ruth’s article below) and today they have released the ‘news’ that women love chocolate. Where HAVE they been? If they had just rung our new PR expert Karen she could have written those stories for them.
more... [11/06/07]

The Price of Wellbeing
An article in the Body & Soul section of The Times on Saturday 9th June – The Price of Wellbeing -  was asking whether a price could be put on our happiness.

Research was trying to establish the answer to the age old question, ‘can money buy the greatest amount of happiness for us or do the sources of true and lasting satisfaction come from having deep interpersonal relationships with close friends and other people in the community?’ more... [11/06/07]

A news item on the internet today held no great surprises for Activate.
If you have a copy of the Activate book ‘Unlocking the Door’ you’ll see that we have been talking about the massive impact of stress on the workplace for quite some time. Here is how recent findings were reported today: "Mental health problems are having a "huge" impact in the workplace, with increasing numbers of employees taking time off for depression and stress, according to new research".
more... [01/06/07]

Activate News - May 2007

ACTIVATE IS...
Activate encourages each one of us to be who we are where we are for God. That means not restricting expressions of faith to Sunday services, but simply living out our lives in the world and doing the things we enjoy. Because we’re all unique individuals, everyone’s diary will be different and we can inspire each other. That’s what is so great about belonging to a national network like Activate. more... [01/05/07]

CHURCHGOING IN THE UK
We were encouraged by the following latest statistics that suggest a warmth towards church by people who don’t currently attend. The responses indicate that many people would go to a service if invited but most Christians would find it difficult to simply approach a neighbour with a ‘raw’ invitation to a church service, unless it was a special celebration.
more... [ 23/04/07]

Activate Easter
With thoughts turning to Easter this week, we've included this message from Claire, an Activate member who held a successful event last week. While there won't be time to replicate this in your area before Easter, you might like to bear it in mind for next year, or even consider a similar event later this year - perhaps before the summer holidays or at Christmas. more... [02/04/07]

Activate News - March 2007

Activate in the News!
Part of our role in Activate is to keep up to date with current events and that means we read lots of magazines and a wide variety of newspapers. The Daily Mail is a tabloid that is particularly pitched at women, so that is often on the top of our pile.

The politics of the newspaper are very apparent and they take every opportunity to ‘have a pop’ at the Labour party. So it came as no surprise that Gordon Brown’s 2007 budget came in for some fierce criticism. However, we were intrigued by the headline they used for the article in bold capital letters on the front page:

“WHAT GORD GIVETH, GORD TAKETH AWAY.”

We thought it was rather witty, but it only works if you recognise the pun and obviously the Daily Mail were confident that their readers would understand and catch the joke. more... [26/03/07]

Activate Conference - March 2007
On the second weekend in March almost 300 Natural Women gathered at the Royal Court Hotel in Coventry for our Activate annual conference.
In fact it was the first of two for 2007. You can find out about our winter conference here.

This year our conference clashed with Crufts Dog Show, and we found we had competition in the glamour stakes as quite  a few glossy haired beauties strutted their stuff around the grounds of the hotel accompanied by their ambitious owners who brushed and tweaked and oiled them to perfection in the hope of the coveted Crufts championships. more... [22/03/07]

ACHKIY
One of our favourite Third World charities is Achkiy (meaning 'anything that shines') in Peru.

We adopted this charity a few years ago as it was set up by Fiona Castle’s daughter, Julia in 1996. Julia has encouraged and taught women from a shanty town near Lima to make lovely jewellery using gemstones and top-grade silver. They also use recycled paper to make attractive hand-made cards, notebooks and bookmarks.

We ask our supporters to consider having an Achkiy party in their homes as a way of getting to know their neighbours and sending much-needed funds to this project. These can be held at any time of the year. It costs you nothing to have an Achkiy party - we supply you with invitations, a selection of productions on sale or return and a twelve minute video demonstrating the work, so you don’t have to try to explain it to your friends.

We have been overwhelmed by the response so far from schoolchildren to grannies, which has made a huge financial impact in Peru, but also has helped to 'break the ice' in neighbourhoods all around the country.

Contact Julia on: juliucas@btinternet.com [21/03/07]