Taking stock of what Community Development learning I have contributed towards before my mum died

Terminal illness and death of a dear one provide a natural time for us to take stock of our lives.

Although I've been putting at least one blog post a month on the Sussex Community Blog (http://sussexcommunity.blogspot.com) since the October 2010 fire is site, with my focus for the last six weeks being to assist my mother have a peaceful death, March 2012 nearly produced no update to the blog. Yet much is now happeneing in St Leonards in terms of Community Planning / Community Development. That story will be taken up more by the Sussex Community Blog (and associated blogs from Paul Crosland & friends).

For now, here;s some of the last year re-visited:

1) Virtues (A recently discovered YouTube 'rant' that says so much of value):


2)Jo Moon -Stories that heal:


3) Paul Crosland, AGoodWeek begins at St Leonards Warrior Sq- #Hastings Action for Happiness #afhh:


4) The local MP endorses the Action for Happiness work & even Mark buys it!:


5) Poverty in St Leonards, through the eyes of a visitor


6)Introduction to #Hastings for Happiness #afhh @actionhappiness


7)St Leonards Sharing Consortium - some of what we bring together 4 #stleonards:


8) Mark Williamson, Director of Action for Happiness visits #Hastings & #StLeonards #afhh


9)2 things from the chair of HPWRT for a happier #Hastings & St Leonards @thepeoplespier #afhh


10) Ray Chapman, HPWRT, after two day conflict and dispute training in #Hastings #StLeonards #afhh


11) #HastingsPier Fire, HPWRT chair to those there when fire started


12) Ethical Outings in Hastings -Part 1; Southwater Road


13) Hastings Pier Fire 1st Anniversary (1 of 4):


14) Hastings Pier Fire 1st Anniversary (2 of 4):


15) Hastings Pier Fire 1st Anniversary (3 of 4):


16) Hastings Pier Fire 1st Anniversary (4 of 4):

(NB I'm the one who can't count in the video above!)

Kind regards/ Lots of love (whichever you prefer)
Paul
- http://twitter.com/paulcrosland
- http://stleonardssharing.info
- http://nagaloka-dream-cycle.blogspot.com/
(With overview of everything at http://additionalinfo.blogspot.com)

Sussex Community Blog evolves

See the new page of the blog which is describing the transition in the year of the establishment of The Hastings Community Justice Panel
http://sussexcommunity.blogspot.com/p/history-of-sussex-community-website-and.html

Hastings Community Justice Panel

This blog post is about Hastings Community Justice Panel and "Ethical Outings"

For Friday 5th October 2012, the second anniversary of the pier fire, a team is preparing a performance of the "Ethical Outings in Hastings" play (http://ethicaloutings.blogspot.com)

I have begun to write a scene convening the first 
Hastings Community Justice Panel :

Paul Crosland: Thank you for accepting my invite to consider joining this team committed to a deep sense of justice. I've head-hunted you as the people I'd most like to have disputes with over the issue of whether justice has been done in Hastings. We might annually review which matters in our two towns we most wish to see brought to justice. For the time being we start with Hastings Pier Fire.



http://ethicaloutings.blogspot.com

Will 2012 be the year that the truth of the October 2010 Hastings Pier Fire comes out?

"The Truth Will Out" in 2012 (some say). Perhaps we have to wait longer before people are sufficiently ready (and supported) to talk?

So meanwhile, here's some of the 2011 highlights with campaigning for a "more caring and sharing Hastings & St Leonards", some brushes with local celebs (notably Sue Coates) and some personal disclosure and opportunity to understand more of why getting justice in Hastings is so deeply linked to my own story and what I want for those who were on the pier that fateful/fortuitous night!

Here's a flashback to the night of the fire (with Jeremy Birch):

& here's a bit more background (again as The 'Man of Many T-shirts'):

And now I search for another 'Man of Many T-shirts' this is what I've found:

Restating the Paul Crosland personal mission statement & publishing what the Observer did not

I give my service to generating a more caring & sharing Hastings & St Leonards.

In doing this I'm learning & practising inclusivity and happiness.

I moved to St Leonards because the arrestees after Hastings Pier Fire were from St Leonards; addressing all these wounds is a driving force for me.

I hope my work contributes to creating a town in which no-one wants to set light to any buildings.

In working towards this goal, I treat people ('arsonist' or otherwise) with respect and dignity.

Paul Crosland 

(November 2011)

*****************************

Publishing what the Observer did not:
Dear Editor

My interest in the pier fire, which prompted me (and the organisations I head) to move to St Leonards, is not so much in finding someone to blame as in encouragaging the relevant young people in this community TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY.

It seems unlikely that those who were on the pier on 5th October 2010 will come forward to take responsibility until some combination of the following occurs:
1) A deeper understanding of why talking truthfully about what happened matters so much to a (growing?) number of us.
2) A conscience that recognises that a better way to deal with things is to "come clean".
3) An awareness that many others in this community model how to take responsibility (eg for things they "got away with" that have nonetheless left deep wounds) & that actually taking responsibility works well for all.
4) They stop using excuses about others' as a way to deny the need to  take responsibility. (In Criminology these excuses are called the 4 techniques of neutralisation)
5) Hearing fewer voices from those who are only saying what they want FROM those who were on the pier (e.g. those who want further suffering as retribution)
6) Hearing more about what others want FOR those who were on the pier e.g. opportunities for a life that values your skills, determination and wish to live a meaningful life, living harmoniously within your chosen community.
7) Something that sufficiently addresses your fear of talking out about what happened, so that you take courage and do it before someone else reveals your painful secret.
Kind regards
Paul Crosland

CEO Mediation Support & the main blogger on (healing) the pier fire (here at www.sussexcommunity.blogspot.com)

the longest book never written

The 3rd June 2011 Hastings Observer, on page 20, reported Cllr Godfrey Daniel suggesting that

"if a witness statement about the impact of the crime on all those affected was taken, it would be 'longer than most books in the universe'"

We live in an age whereby as well as writing statements, anyone affected has the option of recording YouTube videos (anonymously or more publically); so my questions are:

1.  Where is the material for those who were on the pier to watch or read so they can get a sense of what the impact was? 
2. What we can all do to move on in our lives, once the harm has been acknowledged and justice done?

Having shown the pier trustees a film called 'Burning Bridges' (about community meetings to deal with the consequences of an arson on a historic wooden bridge) in January 2011, by April (and before the lottery decision and the Crown Prosecution System's decision to drop the case against two individuals) Ray Chapman, chair of the Hastings Pier & White Rock Trust, recorded a video for those who were on the pier on the night of the fire. (That video is stored privately).

Now that Mediation Support Ltd (whose CEO, Paul Crosland, edits this blog), have moved into the Southwater Area Community Centre, Ray Chapman called in to record this public film about Hastings Justice:


If you want to see the words from Ray Chapman's YouTube video in print, here they are:

"Hi, I'm Ray, the chair of trustees  of the Hastings Pier & White Rock Trust and this is a communication to those of you who were on Hastings Pier on 5th October 2010. 

Some of our trustees have been involved in the Hastings Pier & White Rock Trust for over four years in preparing the business case for the Heritage Lottery Foundation, in partnership with the Hastings Borough Council and English Heritage.

We have obviously heard repeatedly from a number of sources particular names and also a rumour that there may be more than two of you who were on the pier that night. If you were on the Pier on  5th October 2011, we have a conversation to have, its is in the interests of our community that we  get a clear understanding of what happened on the pier that night.  Many people were effected and want to live in a community without buildings catching alight under mysterious circumstances.  The key is now for the town to get the pier up and running again as soon as possible. I hope that you'll be able to engage with the community and build bridges. 

I've seen  a film made in America called 'Burning Bridges' where six young men burnt a heritage bridge and they met with the community and got a deeper understanding of how everyone was affected. The community supported them to carry on living in that area and contributing to get them involved to repair the bridge. Who knows what the community will have, or even you will have, for us all to have a better future in Ore, St Leonards and Hastings? We learned, sadly. that not 'everyone loves the pier'. However some of the ideas from the recent consultation include concerts, raves, music, theme park rides and scoring most boat trips, cruising, lagoon, fishing, angling and green energy encompassing our heritage and also engineering and tourism for our local education providers. What do you think?

I am aware that other members of the community will be watching this and will have been affected by the pier fire. You too can also voice an opinion publicly or privately that will be passed on in due course to those people whose names we have been given.

The way we are doing this safely is through the -website www.peoplesjustice.org.uk  "

If you care to help this process, then please add a comment to this blog post. Alternatively, submit words and video eg via www.peoplesjustice.org.uk or just straight to YouTube, and drop a line to the mediation support ltd email or the peoplesjustice email so that I can put your message on this page.

Sussex People's Justice -launched 5th November - will be based on the winning idea at the 2010 Social Innovation Camp (www.jailbrake.org)

At the 2010 Social Innovation Camp, the team I was in, led by Aleksi Knuutila, won the competition for the web/mobile phone based idea most likely to reduce youth offending/ youth custody.
The judges of www.jailbrake.org were from:

• The Youth Justice Board
• The Prison Reform Trust
• The Police Improvement Agency
• Foyer Housing Foundation

Jailbrake 2010 from The People Speak on Vimeo.

NB I introduce my passion for Restorative Justice 2 minutes and 44 seconds into the above video, and go on to summarise some of the personal experience that led to that passion and my time as Restorative Justice Co-ordinator working in HMP Bristol; a job which I took up after a lovely holiday spent in Hastings in 2007.
More information about how People's Justice will work in Hastings here.
What I see myself as doing in Hastings is showcasing the idea that anyone can start a conversation about a crime, or other incident in which they have been embroiled and that the outcomes of such conversations will be unexpected and usually beneficial to a number of people. Time will tell if the service due to be launched on Bonfire Night proves this process and it's benefits in a Sussex town.