Dragon's Apprentice Project Successful

17th March 2011

The finals of the Dragon's Apprentice fundraising campaign were held last night at Hatfield University. Six of the teams had been shortlisted to make their presentations and compete for various awards on the night. St. Albans Girls School won the prize for the highest amount of money raised for their charity. All six of the teams made excellent and impressive presentations to the whole assembly and particularly the four 'super dragons'  on the judging panel, including the Pro-Vice Chancellor of the university.

The Oaklands College Business Studies team made a very lively, interesting and professional presentation, led by team leader Matt Hale. It made a noticeably good impression on the judges and audience, with its strongly personal and heartfelt message coupled with a skilled and streamlined delivery, and missed the award for Best Presentation by only one point. A cheque for £577 was presented to Camphill St. Albans, received by Alex, one of the resident members of CSA Community. The money will go into the Holiday Fund, assisting supported people with low income to afford much needed holidays which are vital to their continued health and well being.

In addition to the money raised, the project has reaped enormous benefits in terms of publicity and raised awareness and created many new networking opportunities which will benefit both the charity and the college in future. Our warmest thanks go to Matt, Lucy, Maria and Liam, Paul Kirikal their tutor, Maria Cutler and Richard Shwe of St. Albans City and District Council, Graham Rees who led the choir of superb volunteer singers during the Christmas lights switch on, and to Penny Mortimer and the whole team of Dragon's Apprentice 2011 who made it all possible.

Camphill St. Albans community members break new ground in 'Ways to Quality' course

2nd March 2011

Five supported people took part last week in the first of three four-day seminars of the Ways to Quality Foundation Course 2011, which was held at the Quality Hotel, St. Albans. This is the second time that the Foundation Course has been held in the city but the first time that supported people have participated in the whole event and will receive a certificate on completion of the course. Two residents from Camphill Houses Stourbridge also took part.

Ways to Quality is a recognised and accredited European-wide method of self-evaluation and quality assurance for organisations, especially those  working with vulnerable people (see News article dated June 2010 below). One of its many advantages is its inclusiveness. Supported people can experience themselves as not merely service users but as community members who are co-responsible for the vision, direction and management of the organisation in which they are at home and from which they receive support.

The five participants from Camphill St. Albans are all members of the regular Ways to Quality Working Group and they were able to make a substantial contribution to group discussions and plenum sessions. The social aspect was also important, with people making new friends from all over the UK and Ireland.

Not least, all agreed that the food was fabulous! 

Dragon's Apprentice Team Shortlisted!

COUNTDOWN TO DRAGONS’ APPRENTICE AWARDS NIGHT

2nd March 2011

Oaklands College Business Studies students working on behalf of Camphill St.

Albans are one of six teams of students and budding entrepreneurs from St

Albans and Harpenden schools who will be lining up in front of a panel of Super

Dragons in the final of the 2011 Dragons’ Apprentice challenge at the University

of Hertfordshire on the evening of Wednesday, 16th March.

Over the past five months, 12 teams, each with the support of a local business Dragon, have been competing to turn £100 into £1,000 or more for their chosen charities. The top six teams on the night will have to present their results to local business and industry experts. This panel of SuperDragons includes Julie Newlan, Pro Vice Chancellor and Dean of the Business School, University of Hertfordshire; Daniel Goodwin, Chief Executive of St Albans City & District Council; Graham Lane, President of St Albans District Chamber of Commerce; and Laura Cronshaw, Chief Executive of St Albans Centre for Voluntary Service.

Five awards are up for grabs: most money raised, most innovative fund raising idea, best example of raised awareness of their charity, best presentation and best poster.  “All the teams have done incredibly well to raise so many thousands of pounds for charity,” said Penny Mortimer, a Trustee of the Centre for Voluntary Service and one of the main organisers of Dragons’ Apprentice. “We have seen a wide range of innovative ideas to raise money and the students have had a real taste of business, dealing with finance, marketing and sales with the expert guidance and support from their Dragons. The final will be very keenly fought, as all the teams are keen to walk away with a prize.”

Christmas Play - "The Grandmother of Uvasen"

A Norwegian Christmas Story by Sigrid Undset

Performed on 19th December 2010

Haldor and Signe Arnesson live in a remote mountain cabin with daughter Audhild and grandparents Helga and Trygve. It is Christmas Eve and all is shrouded in snow and bitter frost. Haldor has had a bad accident and is confined to bed. He cannot get out to release his animal traps in the surrounding forest. To leave the traps primed on Christmas Eve has been regarded as an evil omen in Norway since the time of St. Olav in the eleventh century. Grandmother Helga is the one who ventures out in the freezing night to release the traps but she loses her way  and becomes very afraid, thinking she will never find her way back and will freeze to death in the forest. She gains comfort and courage from the  mysterious sound of a man's voice singing an old familiar carol and a golden light flickering in the distance, but she is very tired and falls asleep. In the morning when she wakes she sees her long-lost son Olav standing over her in amazement. He had heard in the city that the family was in difficulty and had made his way  home, only to get lost himself in the forest. He had built a fire and comforted himself by singing the old carol. Joyfully reunited, on Christmas morning the two return to the cabin where Haldor is already starting to regain his strength.

The Dragon’s Apprentice

October - March 2010

Camphill St. Albans is one of twelve local charities taking part in The Dragon’s Apprentice – inspired by TV shows The Apprentice and Dragons’ Den. The launch event was held at St Columba’s College in St Albans and saw the teams of sixth formers meet their chosen charities and the local business ‘dragon’ assigned to help them raise much-needed cash.

The 12 teams of sixth-form aged students, who are from six different schools and colleges in St Albans and Harpenden, have been set the challenge of turning £100 into £1,000 for their charity in any way they choose.

They have to produce a clear business plan setting out their ideas and the ‘dragons’ – including Deloitte, St Albans District Council, Harpenden Building Society and Premier Foods – will provide expert advice and guidance as well as resources to help the teams to achieve their goals.

Teams will present their results to a panel of judges at an awards evening in March 2011 at the University of Hertfordshire, where the winning team will also have the opportunity to complete a work placement.

Camphill St. Albans is teamed with the Business Studies students of Oaklands College and two members of St. Albans City and District Council, responsible for Community and Economic Development.

Last year’s pilot initiative, which involved three teams from St Columba’s College, raised £2,445 which was split between several local charities.

Penny Mortimer, a trustee for the Centre for Voluntary Service and one of the main organisers of Dragon’s Apprentice, said: “We are delighted with the response of this year’s competition and our thanks go to the schools, charities and, of course, the dragons who are giving their time and expertise free to help our young entrepreneurs.

“The teams will get a real taste of business and have the opportunity to deal with finance, marketing and sales as they develop their own fundraising strategies and see them through.”

Harvest Meal at Michaelmas Festival

  September 2010

The recently cleared and refurbished community space in the building called Juniper was the venue for a common Harvest Meal for the whole community on Michaelmas Day, 29th September.

The room was beautifully decorated with leaves and branches and other autumnal decorations and everyone enjoyed delicious soup made specially from vegetables grown by the gardening team at Lily House.

Camphill St. Albans Achieves Quality Assurance Accreditation

June 2010

Camphill St. Albans works with Ways to Quality, a process-orientated management system of 12 fields, through which the organisation can develop and monitor its quality. Developed for organisations in the field of Health and Social Care and officially recognised in Switzerland, it has been used in the UK since 2003.

The activity of continuous working with Ways to Quality encourages the Community and its co-workers to state a clear commitment to their task and to ensure the quality of the work through continuous self assessment and learning. 

This act of engaging with the task out of freedom is an important aspect of the therapeutic environment that is made available for the wellbeing of supported people. 

Camphill St. Albans has been audited by the independent (internationally accredited) certification body Confidentia (Society for the Advancement of Organisational Self-Regulation) and has been awarded Ways to Quality certification, only the second organisation in the English-speaking world to achieve this. 

The award was presented on

16th June 2010