Southend-on-Sea in Transition

SFCP Bulletin

February 2016

 

Welcome to our bulletin, to bring you up to date on upcoming activity and information related to Socratic Dialogues that you may wish to attend.

Rene Branton- Saran

Many of you know Rene, who has been a wonderful ambassador of SFCP and a life involved in Socratic Dialogue, Rene has now decided to step down as a trustee and is now an Honorary Fellow of the Society.

Jayne Crow

We are very lucky to be able to announce that Jayne Crow is now a trustee with the Society. Jayne has worked in the caring sector for many years and is also a trained facilitator with the Society. She alongside Pat Wood is mainly responsible for the success of the Socratic Dialogue offer which takes place throughout the year in Southend on Sea.

Mitko Ivanov

Mitko is based in Bulgaria and is a philosophy lecturer, as well as a facilitator trained alongside other Bulgarian colleagues by SFCP. He is now responsible for developing our website and is currently updating it. If you have any thoughts or ideas on what you would like to see incorporated into the website, please let us know.

We are currently in the process of putting some video talking heads on the website; the first of these will be Rene.

London Marathon

Look out for our runner Dave Pitt, who will be running for SFCP in this year’s London Marathon. Any monies raised will be used to support and grow our Socratic Dialogue facilitator base. Training to become a Socratic Dialogue facilitator requires individuals to take part in a number of Socratic Dialogues; they then undertake a training course that includes both theory and practice. The training course can take up to two years to complete and does require a big commitment from those wishing to become trained facilitators. If you would like to make a donation please do so via the SFCP charity page on the ‘my donate’ website.

 

Dave Pitt personal profile

In order to escape the brutality of school rugby, I began running at school and have been running, racing and fitness-training myself ever since for over 40 years. I ran the first London Marathon back in 1981 and subsequently have run 7 more and am now training for this last attempt at sub 3.00 hours before age catches up with me.

I have raced for Thames Valley Harriers, Serpentine and London Irish on the road, cross country and track and I am still a (semi)-competitive runner albeit amongst the Masters Runners, and am hoping to compete in the World Masters Games in Auckland next year.

I’m from Birmingham originally, but moved to London in 1976 to work as a youth worker in Notting Dale.  After nearly 30 years of community work, I then spent 6 years running a bar and music venue within a community setting. Now, in a yet another career change, have become a fitness instructor and personal trainer. I specialise in working with older people who wish to maintain strength and endurance. My first female client ran a personal best in the London Marathon in 2015, improving by 5 minutes and running a time of 4hours 23 minutes at the age of 74. I live in West London with my partner Tina, and our new kitten, Hattie.

 

Events that may be of interest to you

Socratic Dialogues in Southend on Sea, on the following Saturdays at

Nazareth House St Joseph’s, 111 London Road, Southend-on-Sea, SS1 1PP

• Saturday 7^th May
• Saturday 12^th November

These dialogues will be facilitated by Jayne Crow.

Café Philo on the Isle of Wight

These take place in various libraries on the Isle of Wight.

Socratic Café

Takes place once a month in London. It uses some of the approaches that may be familiar to those of you who have attended a Socratic Dialogue before. An ethical question is discussed in a relaxed friendly setting and we have three rules

• Speak from your own experience
• Theories are left at the door
• Active listening for understanding

The next café philo takes place at The Uxbridge Arms Public House 6.30 – 9.00 p.m. in Notting Hill on Saturday 5^th March. The pub is an old traditional British pub serving real ales.

Nearest tube Notting Hill Gate or Kensington High Street.

If you would like more information on Café Philo or Socratic Café please don’t hesitate to contact us via this e mail address.

Upcoming Socratic Dialogues taking place in Germany

As some of you may know there are regular Socratic Dialogues which take place in Germany. For full details and enrolment form please visit www.sfcp.org.uk

Hannover, 19^th March 16.00 hours – 24^th March 13.00 hours

Vander Lemes:  What is an altruistic act? [SD in English]

Springe, Near Hannover 29^th July 16.00 hours – 31^st July 13.00 hours

Sarah Banks: When is it right to stop helping? [SD in English]

Springe, Near Hannover 31st July 16.00 hours – 3^rd August 13.00 hours

Marije Altorf: When should I judge? (SD in English)

Munster, near Dortmund 30^th Sept 16.00 hours – 2^nd October 13.00 hours

Angella Hodgson: What does it mean to ‘be valued’? [SD in English]

 

2 day Socratic Dialogue taking place in Carlisle, (near the Lake District

Carlisle, (Border City between England and Scotland) nearest airports Glasgow Prestwick, Newcastle, Manchester, Liverpool.

Saturday 28^th  (9.30 – 5.00)  and Sunday 29^th May (9.30 – 1.00)

Our question will be  ‘When should I prioritise my own needs over others?’

Facilitator Angella Hodgson

This will take place in the border city of Carlisle, ideal location for those of you who wish to take advantage of the bank holiday weekend and stay on longer or use it as a base to travel around the Lake District.

If you want further information please e mail angellahodgson@yahoo.co.uk

Small Grants

If the only thing stopping you attending a Socratic Dialogue is finance, please feel free to apply for a small grant to cover your costs. The process is simple and quick and we particularly welcome those who have never attended a Socratic Dialogue before, as well as though in education and the caring professions, students and those living on universal benefits.

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Venue Use

 

Venues – we are always searching for reasonably priced venues throughout the U.K. preferably with availability at the weekend as well as during the week. If your organization has a room to let at preferential rates to charities please let us know.

If you know of anyone who might be interested in participating in a future dialogue, please ask them to email socraticdialogue@sfcp.org.uk and we will add them to our mailing list.

 

Please note, in keeping with our confidentiality policy, your contact details will not be shared with other people registered with SfCP or passed on to any other organizations.

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