But first we decide to feed them

Following a visit and inspirational talk by

Matt Ellmer (RCO) Grenadier guards. We

have had a number of meetings to decide

the structure and way forward for a full

project. This has included meeting with

some of those wanting to help both able

bodied and disabled/injured soldiers.

We have also now engaged with other

military employment and recovery officers

Based in Chetwynd Barracks in Notting-

ham (Chilwell).

These disabled and injured will be trained

to help other civilian and military and

provide them with trained service and

companion dogs. Most dog trainers being

able bodied we decided to develop a train

the trainers program.

The unique irony of disabled helping to

train others in the same position and the

personal understanding of their difficulties

and problems has proven an employment

winner and helps de-stigmatise any issues.

This has a business sustainability program

under development. Real jobs, Real pay.

Real skills development are planned for

them and working with and alongside their

able bodied counterparts. A wider com-

munity focused project. ………

(read more inside)

We have an agreement to meet again

in the early New Year to discuss further

an employment collaboration with

Goodwill Solutions (Jobs, Jobs, Jobs).

Please visit their web site and see the amazing

Social Enterprise and employment program

inspired by their founder Mike Briton.

Their great work includes helping ex-

offenders and other disadvantaged members

of society. They have inspired some great

employability programs and its fair to say the

OATS and new project team have been truly

inspired by them. We hope to and will be

proud to collaborate with them with next

years projects.

Collaborate Why Compete ???

Jim Vernon (Snr)

Oakdale Arts & Training Spaces Employment & Training is focused

on the new K9 project this month

ARTICLES

CONTENTS

OF

INTEREST

Guest Article

Funding news

Members Fun

Up coming

Training News

Job club

“All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.”

― Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina

It is a great way to do business…..

Helping those with needs or less

fortunate, to help ‘themselves’ and

to help others in similar positions.

Some Organisations

WE WORK WITH OR

SUPPORT (ED)

OATS has its first official Day with the

Guards Regimental Casualty Officers

and launch of its project

www.goodwillsolutions.co.uk

V O L U M E 1

Visit and help us to help

them. You probably

drink many coffees in a

week and it does no

more than quench your

thirst…..this one will !!!

OATS intergenerational

Job Club and Training News

Intergenerational Activities

WE ARE SUPPORTING

Anna has done it again

although now leading on her

own project. She has been busy

painting and drawing simple pic-

tures and patterns and putting

them in cheap picture frames

she has from donations and

charity shops been up-cycling

them with her OATS group

painted pictures inside to make

less attractive pictures in gaudy

frames more appealing. To sell

on the flea markets .This also

involved raiding all our

teams wardrobes for old but

serviceable clothes. So with her

teenage daughters and her

friends also contributing

clothes and pictures. I was

roped in with the Centers

Minibus for a few Wet 05.00am

starts (Arghhh).

Why? To raise £400 for fire-

works for a small group of single

mums unable to visit some of the

local events and no funds for

their own children. Brilliant !!!

WELL DONE all of you….

Now where did I put my favorite

jumper??? ….ANNA ???

Dominated this month by the launch of our project

to help train Soldiers to help others disabled both

military and civilian.

This is to be a real jobs for real pay project.

Training will be provided and overseen by this pro-

jects leader Gavin.

We are aiming high with World Centre of k9

training Excellence status within 5 years the target

for these disabled doing most of that training

alongside their able bodied colleagues. Integration

at its best.

OATS Latest employment Project

JOB

CLUB

JOE

Are you an employer looking

for genuine Job seekers?

OATS candidates come with

a package of employer

support and training and

mentoring for all their Job

Club members.

They are not job seeking to

satisfy some benefit require-

ment, they really want to

work and succeed…..

Our web site has stalled due

to time restraints by a will-

ing volunteer. We fully un-

derstand and empathise. So

we are looking for another

to help….

Some of the OATS K-9 training team

with the first three candidates, Sarah,

Duggie, Andy. (in the Centre) and

R.C.O. Matt Ellmer the Grenadier

Guards, on the right..

They were treated to a mornings intro

to the Way Forward model. Then on

to a Demo/Training session. Buildings

laid on courtesy of David Jones a local

C.O. from Alchemy in Sneinton and no

relation to David Jones in Wales….I

think? Ha ha.

Just a few more official thank you’s General notices

P A G E 3 V O L U M E 1 I S S U E 3

SERVICE DOGS FOR DISABLED

Have benefitted by a great discount on some

office equipment’s for this project given by

Nottingham Office Equipment

Supplies

(others reading this. We need more help?)

Linda Stevenson (Achieve)

For helping Lee with a funding bid and collabo-

rating with OATS to provide Matrix IAG for

candidates from the Job club projects and

similar support from (FUTURES)

Mike Briton from Goodwill Solutions for

facilitating our Team meeting in Northampton.

All the TEENS and Anna’s Artists for their

clothes and pictures for the flea market for

fireworks for some single parent families

Teen—Agers: The teens

helped with clothes dona-

tions and pictures recently

A few modest funding bids are in

with the ESF to help mostly our

job club and employment projects

lets hope this time your em-

ployability is considered wor-

thy by the ESF board…...

Work should start this week on

the new kitchen floor and large

rear classroom and windows.

OATS support Lady Bay Book

Club reading event.

By dressing up and story telling to the

children with Rory’s idea of an Ali-

ba-ba theme and Anna’s art for the

children’s parents to also get them

involved. We ran out of coffee after a

marathon and rushed service on

cakes n coffee for the area that after-

noon Lee tells me .

We also raised £140 for

MacMillan cancer research

Catch 22 run an amazing event for young

budding entrepreneurs and Lee was asked

to assist with motivational speaking and to

assist with a Dragons Den type of event

for the teens to propose their ideas as a

team having worked up a biz model to-

gether in small groups Peter Jones and

Lord Sugar watch out your jobs might be

under threat soon.

Unfortunately Lee has had to cut down

his volunteer work load due to illness. But

he punches well above any normal work-

load, so hasn't disappointed too many.

Watch this space…( News & Events )

“Govern a

family as you

would cook a

small fish…...

very gently.”

Chinese Proverb

Lee helps young entrepreneurs

If you have projects or needs from within the Lo-

cal community of Bakersfield and Sneinton locally

or within the City of Nottingham generally, that

you think OATS can assist you with. Or just good

ideas for Community projects that will benefit this

area or some minority group locally. Then please

email us initially. Oldrioproject@yahoo.co.uk

More Volunteers from 16 to 60+ needed for

community projects full time, or just a few

hours per week. Please also e-mail or write

first to :

OATS 7 Oakdale Rd, Bakersfield NG3 6NR

Re-fit currently. But mailbox checked regularly

Wales?...Not so distant from OATS vision for

our own Community Goals. ( Guest article Jim Vernon OATS Projects )

1987 a dream of a 4th emergency service was born…..

What is it you ask? Is it that TV commercial for the AA?

Nope! It was an idea to engage communities in being more

responsible and contributing to their independence and family

spirit, yawn! Yep you’ve heard similar many times.

Occasionally the country is gripped by Street party mania or

Football led gatherings of family and pub comradery around

the world cup, or Olympic games in London etc.

But nothing seems to bring communities together like a major

disaster such as a flood or when children go missing….

But then its usually too late. It’s re-active, not pro active and

often short lived….people get busy with their own lives again

and putting bread on their tables.

So how to harness all that community and family spirit? How

to provide longevity to that energy and all the varied talents

and manpower and equipment's available?

The Emergency services have finite resources that get

stretched to breaking almost at times of major disasters. Yet

often there are too many (untrained) volunteers when search-

es for lost children are required for example….A distraction for

the emergency services and how to feed and manage and coor-

dinate or even toilet requirements for a thousand locals turn-

ing up suddenly wanting to help?

Well a blueprint was drawn up by a K9 unit way back in

1987….It still holds good today and it was called the Fourth

Emergency Service Project.

It’s a partnership of the local emergency services and Commu-

nity organisations and its woven into the everyday fabric of

life and community. It is therefore ever-ready, low mainte-

nance but high impact and modest cost to set up and run.

The key is simply training education and co-operation.

SIMPLE? …. I wish.…..But certainly not impossible.

Well nearly three decades on and high unemployment and the

world bank crisis now actually make it a financial necessity and

much sought after resource, or in many cases a needed out-

source. Outsourcing/Volunteering/Community and third sector

funding and employment/Drains on the traditional Local

service budgets etc. now make it easier to grasp/understand.

There are existing portions and local initiatives taking place

right now over many organisations around the country.

But nobody has really developed a standardised package

of measures that can be deemed to be generic to most

communities. Indeed it would be impossible to create a

one size fits all solution. But in fact there are many aspects

that CAN be developed nationally and tweaked to suit local

problems.

I don't want to steal our own thunder here in this News

Letter trying to explain further…..but as per the OATS sym-

bolic logo….(An Oak tree). I’m sure you know the saying

“Mighty Oaks from little acorns grow”

Well a cross border intergenerational and employment

creation model was born this week, to start sowing

acorns across Britain. Starting with an Anglo Welsh pro-

ject launch aimed at community/Employment/Voluntary

sections.

It’s a small acorn...sorry pilot. Being lead by a Welsh K9

rescue organisation and a Communities First and OATS

collaboration to roll out using exciting and innovative

thinking to engage people and communities and create

employment, stronger community spirit and an effective

4th Emergency Service.

Who are they….well its potentially everyone. But primarily

the TRAINED general public. WATCH THIS SPACE

Somerset levels: volunteer spirit rises during flood crisis

How you can join volunteering organisations in the spirit

of the Telegraph's Lend a Hand campaign

We need to learn more about how self-organisation

works: what more can be done to facilitate it; and how

links with more established volunteering agencies can

be strengthened. Not to try and take over, but to see if

there is a way of harnessing such energy for the future.

There is a suggestion that those people, moved to help

out in a crisis, often catch the altruism bug and later

look to more established organisations to see how they

can continue to be involved.

Connecting the self-organised with more formal agen-

cies such as Volunteer Centres could bear rich rewards

in the future.

Random Pictures Gallery

Phil Haig (late of DESA) shows his rescue Dog in training for Earthquake victim searches

Local Landmark “Green's Windmill” backdrop for Launch of our dogs for disabled project . Injured Soldiers will lead this program to help others

Lee plays ‘Peter Jones’ of Dragons Den to encourage young

budding business entrepreneurs at a Catch 22 event

Employability training (CCTV) for disadvantaged

or long term unemployed