Debbie Spencer on "County Community Projects (CCP)".
Christians at Work had a most interesting; informative and enjoyable evening when Debbie Spencer did what she loves to do best – talked about the work of CCP. One could not fail to be impressed by Debbie’s passion and enthusiasm as she described the growth and activities of CCP.
St Peter’s regulars will be familiar with the crates in the porch for the donations of food for CCP’s clients in crisis. This is collected each week and delivered to CCP and is very much appreciated. However, this is only a small, if vital, part of what CCP does.
CCP was started twenty one years ago by Michael Ratcliffe – a Cheltenham businessman- who felt there was a need for a shelter for homeless young people. What began as a shelter with ten beds is now an organisation employing 60 people and using the services of 150 volunteers.
The charity was started to deal with young people in crisis. Do you know how the word “crisis” translates into Mandarin Chinese? No? Well, Debbie enlightened us. Apparently it can mean either “threat” or “opportunity”. From the early days the staff at CCP realised that though you may deal with a crisis unless you take the opportunity to deal also with the root of the problem there is a a strong likelihood – a threat – that it will happen again. Consequently CCP began to take preventative action by working with families and developing training schemes for young people. CCP’s clients often needed access to a number of services located in different places in Cheltenham. Keeping track of several different appointments at different times and in different places was often more than clients could cope with. As a result CCP set up the First Stop Shop in the lower High Street where all the services clients might need are located in one place. This is much more satisfactory for clients and has led to much closer liaison between agencies.
CCP also runs an OFSTED recognised independent school for young people who are excluded from mainstream education, a Music Forum to develop the talents of those with musical ambitions, an Appropriate Adult scheme which supports young people who have been arrested by the police and has recently started an Advocacy service.
There are many other areas in which CCP is active. It is fair to say that wherever there are people in crisis CCP will be involved in some way, but without their volunteers CCP could not do the work that they do. Volunteers of all ages, skills, backgrounds and interests are always welcome and receive exactly the same training and respect as the staff. In fact fifty percent of CCP staff started as volunteers. If you think you might be interested in volunteering with CCP you will be warmly welcomed and every effort will be made to accommodate what you feel you can offer. Why not do a Seeing is Believing Tour which Debbie leads on the last Wednesday of every month for those interested in volunteering? Ring 01242 228 999 to book a place or enquire about volunteering.