Eight Bristol child protection social workers agreed to be filmed last year for a BBC documentary, Protecting Our Children.  The first episode was broadcast last night and will continue over the next three weeks.  Senior social worker Ben Crang was filmed removing a 14-month-old baby in an emergency with the police.  Here he explains why he agreed to take part and how he hopes it will influence how his profession is regarded.

“I work with a large area team of duty social workers handling incoming case work covering a large part of South Bristol.  Back in 2009 we were asked if we would object to being filmed for a documentary trying to take a behind-the-scenes look at our work.

“I agreed and didn’t think much of it until I found that they were interested in one of the cases that had come in – a health visitor referred her concerns about a mother and baby living with a convicted child sex offender.

“Mum had been advised of his background and it was my job to visit and explain that the situation could not continue.  We had further concerns as he appeared to be manipulating mum by buying her alcohol and had taken charge of the baby’s nappy changes.

“Mine is one of the most unusual cases to be showed in the series as I’m seen removing the baby from the scene and returning to the office with him.  The surprise from my colleagues and manager is obvious and the programme does give us a chance to explain that this rarely happens.

“However, it does illustrate how in social work you can never be sure about what is going to happen each day, how decisions are never made without other agencies involved and how we consider the needs of the child before everything else.  This is the end of my involvement on camera and you see the child assessed by medical experts and thriving with his foster family.

“My work with families in Bristol is usually very private, often drawn out over many months or even years and always rewarding.  I think most viewers will have their ideas about the work we do from the high-profile cases where things have gone wrong and inquiries are demanded.  We deal with a lot of issues in the city that are hidden from public view - sexual abuse, violence and neglect.  I hope that these programmes will help show the processes behind the decision-making and that we are the professionals who bring everyone together to keep children safe.”

What a time it’s been for us University of Bristol Robogals! In keeping with the Robogals mission of encouraging schoolgirls into science, we have been working at Cabot Primary School in St Pauls with a fabulously diverse year six class of 30 pupils.

In our weekly afternoon sessions, we have been giving interactive presentations on scientific themes; from science careers, to the work of engineers, the presentations have covered a broad range of topics. Additionally, we have been running workshops involving LEGO robotics, house design (using Google Sketchup) and house building with the highly scientific tools of spaghetti and jellybabies. Certainly, the children’s infectious enthusiasm and mischief have fuelled us Robogals into a busy second term.

Having secured generous funding from the University of Bristol Dean of Engineering to help pay for exciting workshops, we are also planning the SINE weekend for all the Robogals chapters across the world. Indeed, the global team, including the founder, fly to the UK and hold the conference. The event will take place on the 28th-29th of January in Bristol and promises to be a huge success.

Simultaneous to our innovative school based work, we have organised accommodation, food and rooms for the expected 40 people. Excitingly, we are also presenting at ‘Access to Bristol scheme’ on Wednesday 25th when 30 local sixth-formers learn about pathways to University.

We haven’t stopped there. Naturally, our ever expanding society of Robogals Volunteers are organising a stall for the engaging ‘Discover Bristol’ event in Cabot Circus on the 8th-10th of March to involve and educate the wider Bristol Community as to Robogals mission.

Additionally, following our incredible response from Cabot Primary School, we are in some promising talks with some wonderfully interesting schools for more projects this term. Certainly, 2012 looks to be a great hear for Robogals filled with fun, learning and mischief.

If you’re looking for a challenge and think you could volunteer with Robogals please contact emma@robogals.org.uk or search INSPIRE Bristol on facebook. You could really make a difference by volunteering with us, not to mention how impressive it looks on a CV. Similarly, we are in need of sponsorship, so any local business’ who want to get involved please get in touch. We would provide extensive advertising opportunities in exchange for your support.

Yesterday, we reported how a Bristol man whose BMW motorbike was stolen at the weekend had turned to Bristol24-7 to help track down the thieves.

Well, fantastic news – the bike has been found! Here is Matt Rendell’s letter to us letting us know:

Happy to help

This time of year has many names: Winter Solstice, Christmas, Yule, Hanukkah, Saturnalia, etc. Some of these are ancient, others more recent. In particular many belief systems have a special event or holiday centered around the time when the days are short, nights are long and cold.

Ask yourself, which it is that you celebrate? One of them? All of them? None of them? Also ask yourself, of all your friends, relatives and acquaintances, do they celebrate the same event exactly the same way? Also ask yourself, if these traditions have been celebrated exactly the same way every year? I would think that almost all of us know people whose traditions differ from our own.

This diversity of belief and practice, and change of belief and practice, is part of what makes our culture so vibrant and engaging. What was popular last year may not be popular this year; it may also become part of the popular tradition of  Christmas.

An example of this is the popularisation of the Christmas tree during the reign of Queen Victoria. That people can change what and how they celebrate is an attribute of a secular society. It is also why this society must be protected from those who would demand that one of belief or tradition should be given a special place of privilege.

When one viewpoint gains  prominence and has the power and will to impose itself on others, the risk is that this will result in a theocracy or a dictatorship of some kind. When this happens, your choice as to how you practice your Christmas, or your politics or your religion will be curtailed.

Secularists campaign to remove religious privilege from society, not to remove religion from society. This should be welcomed by all people, religious or otherwise, as it is the best guarantee that they will be able to practice their religion, traditions and culture freely and without hindrance from any other part of society, within the law of the land.

From all of us at the Bristol Secular Society, we would like to encourage you to take advantage of the freedom that secularism offers, spare a thought for those who don’t have the freedom that we have, and have the best Christmas (or whatever!) that you can. After all, it’s your choice to do whatever you want with this time.

Nigel Sewell is a member of the Bristol Secular Society

St Mungo's staff with a homeless man on the streets of Bristol

Rough sleeping is on the rise across the UK, according to homeless charities, with London leading the way with a rise of 8% in 2010-11. Here, in Bristol, the increase is much smaller but even one person sleeping rough is a cause for concern and the prospect of more following suit is very disturbing.

Over recent years, the city council, working with its partners, has succeeded in helping reduce homelessness here through a policy of early intervention, working with those at risk of becoming homeless before this happens by acting as a mediator, with landlords or with family, by providing financial assistance, such as a deposit and by helping find alternative accommodation.

Listen to Andy, who has been on the streets of Bristol for seven months

Listen to Jenny Riley, deputy manager at Bristol’s Compass Centre

And the Compass Centre, on Jamaica Street, which is currently run for us by the homeless charity St Mungo’s, provides an outreach team to help people move off the streets into sustainable accommodation, a GP practice with a drug treatment facility, training and education services and skills development.

But while we continue to work to bring down the numbers presenting themselves as homeless and sleeping rough we face increasing pressures.

The Government has reduced the Supporting People grant so we will have to change the way we provide support to some of the most vulnerable people in our community. This will inevitably result in some of the organisations we currently commission no longer receiving funding from us in the future.

Our aim is to ensure that the remaining providers pick up the support between them and that we use the existing funding in a better, more cost-effective way.

In addition, the city’s expanding population is competing for an almost static supply of homes. At present, the waiting list for council houses and housing association places stands at 16,000 – four years ago it was 12,000. And in spite of major increases in the amount of private renting we need still more private landlords stepping into the housing market to take up the demand.

Add to that the current recession, the possibility of a rise in repossessions if interest rates increase and the impact of cuts in housing benefits which come into force in January and you can see that there is genuine cause for alarm.

It is a sobering thought that as the majority of us across Bristol make ready for the festive season and look forward to spending time at home with our friends and family that too many are not so fortunate, will endure real hardship, and that many others besides face an uncertain and an anxious start to the year.

Getting people off the streets and into support continues to be a top priority for Bristol City Council, as will helping people at risk of losing their home. We will continue to work protect front-line services to the vulnerable as best we can.
If anyone is at risk of becoming homeless, they are advised to present at one of the council’s customer service points.

Homelessness in Bristol

Homelessness acceptances
2006/07: 927
2007/08: 573
2008/09: 441
2009/10: 285
2010/11: 214

Preventions
2006/07: 1489 (estimated)
2007/08: 2048 (estimated)
2008/09: 2382
2009/10: 2513
2010/11: 2752

Households in temporary accommodation as at 31st March (households in B&B)
2006/07: 465 (54)
2007/08: 381 (45)
2008/09: 274 (22)
2009/10: 211 (13)
2010/11: 159 (0)

Rough sleeping – average per hotspot count
2006/07: 7
2007/08: 5
2008/09: 6
2009/10: 5
2010/11: 6

Details of these and further information on homelessness are available at the council’s website.

Find out more about the Compass Centre here…

By Martin Hatter

One of the main concerns we have at the Bristol Secular Society is the unwarranted influence religion has over public life and the deference given to religion’s often self-appointed leaders. This is particularly true of Christianity, perhaps because, as we often hear, “this is a Christian country.” But is the UK really a Christian country? And, if it is, how Christian is it?

It’s very difficult to establish how many people living in the UK today identify themselves as Christian. The average age of church-goers is rising and church attendance figures are declining, as even the church itself admits, but the recent National Census asked the question “What is your religion?”,  which seemed loaded to convince people that they had a religion. It will be interesting to see what results we get from this.

We also hear that many people belong to a certain faith but aren’t  “currently practising”.  I’m not quite sure how you can “have” a religion yet not actually practise it. Christians often explain that their faith permeates every aspect of their lives and this is certainly cited as the justification when demanding exemption from certain rules and even laws. But surely it’s the practising of religion, along with the holding of certain beliefs, which distinguishes a religious person from a non-religious one?

We’re also often told that it’s important that we understand and respect those beliefs, which is quite reasonable, and so I’d like to ask: what do you have to believe to be a Christian?

You might say that a belief in God is what makes you a Christian. But which God? Saying that there’s only one isn’t enough since Muslims believe there is only one God and you don’t mean theirs. It’s not enough to say simply that you mean the God of the Jews, the God of the Old Testament, because that might mean you are Jewish.

Christianity was founded on the word of Jesus who revealed himself as the son of God, having been born to a virgin mother and who, after his death, rose again and ascended into heaven. This is the fundamental basis of Christianity and, if you don’t believe in it, I don’t quite see how you can consider yourself a Christian because you must be saying that Jesus lied or his disciples lied or that the Bible is untrue.

My view is that there are a significant number of people in the UK who don’t believe all this and yet still seem to be counted by many in the media, along with politicians and, of course, the church itself to be Christians. Perhaps they’re the “Cultural Christians” we hear about?

They could be claimed, and perhaps more convincingly, as “Cultural Atheists” or “Cultural Agnostics” since (just to be clear) we could be talking about someone who doesn’t believe that Jesus was born to a virgin mother or performed miracles or that he came back to life after his death or that he ascended to heaven and someone who, in addition, doesn’t pray, doesn’t read the Bible and doesn’t go to church.

Now, if they’re still considered to be Christians, the obvious question is: on what grounds?

Martin Hatter is a member of the Bristol Secular Society

Gareth Malone has just completed his latest moving transformation on BBC2, turning a group of lonesome military wives into a choir that performed at the Royal Albert Hall. Meanwhile, over on the other side, The Choir that Rocks on ITV1 has spawned a new type of choir, mixing rock, pop and soul just for the sheer fun of it.

So popular are the rock choirs that have been popping up across the nation that they all came together recently for a special gig at… Wembley (Arena rather than Stadium but impressive nonetheless).

Here in Bristol, a city with a fondness for singing, choirs are going from strength to strength. This time last year I was looking for something to get me out of the house on the long, wintry evenings and put sunshine into the soul. A Google search led me to the Renewal community choir and after a quick check to make sure that they’d accept someone who only ever sang in the shower (they would) and can’t read music (they did) I headed off to my first rehearsal.

It didn’t take long to realise that I’d stumbled across a turbo-charged route to the feel-good factor. Singing with a choir produces a whole bunch of positive emotions from joy to elation to satisfaction when it all comes together. It’s an incredibly uplifting, transcendent experience.

So what is it about singing in a choir that makes it such a tonic for these uncertain times? The research shows that singing in harmony with others is good for both mental and physical well-being, reducing stress levels and increasing happiness.

Singing in unison can help people recover from depression and overcome grief. Wearing my positive psychology hat I can see many a way in which choir singing raises the bar (pun intended) on your happiness. Of the five recommended ways to well-being, all of them are fulfilled by singing in a choir.

1. Connect. When it comes to happiness there is no doubt that other people matter. We need to connect with others for our well-being. One of the characteristics of very happy people is that they have active social lives. Joining a choir is a great way to connect with others in your community. It gives you a sense of belonging, which is vital for well-being especially in the individualist era we live in.
2. Be Active. Being a member of a choir is an active form of leisure which far outstrips passive recreational activities such as watching TV in its benefits for your mental health. It also delivers a work-out for your lungs!
3. Take Notice. There is much to savour in a choir – appreciating the blend of voices, the banter and laughter, the sense of community, working as a group towards a common goal.
4. Keep Learning. Learning new things builds confidence and it’s really satisfying to learn something new just for the sake of it, for fun rather than for work. You also get a sense of progress – I can now hold a note for twice as long as I could this time last year. My lung capacity has expanded!
5. Give. The joy of singing is that it’s infectious with the positive mood spreading from the choir to everyone around. It’s a great way of putting a smile on people’s faces and impacting positively on the collective mood.

The Renewal Choir are hosting a Christmas celebration, aptly-titled Joy to the World at the Colston Hall on Saturday. I’ll be rocking it up in the alto section. To find out more, visit the Renewal Choir website or call Colston Hall box office on 0117 922 3686.

By Gav Alexander

In January of this year, two civil partnered gay men were awarded compensation of nearly £4,000 at Bristol County Court after being turned away from a Cornish hotel. The case concluded that they had been discriminated against because of their homosexuality.

The owners, Peter and Hazel Bull, claimed they do not allow any unmarried couple to share a double room as it would be sanctioning immoral activities (ie pre- or extra-marital sex) to take place under their roof: something at odds with their Christian faith.

The Bull’s appeal reached the High Court in London last month and focuses on their claim that the sexuality of their (potential) guests is irrelevant and they simply care whether or not a couple is married. The Bulls say this policy has in place since they bought the hotel in 1986, however National Secular Society (NSS) Council member Ray Newton claims that he stayed there in 2006 with his female partner.

They were not asked if they were married and even signed the guestbook in their respective names. So it would seem the Bulls were simply not happy with the prospect of having homosexuals stay in their B&B, rather than having a blanket ban on the unmarried. There are many people who, it would seem, sympathise, giving the impression that the Bulls ‘cannot help their religion’ and that they cannot be accused of discrimination because of this.

The case raises an important issue: that of discrimination against individuals or groups on religious grounds, or the restriction of services due to the religious belief of the provider. Another example in recent weeks is that of a woman from Hartlepool who had her prescription for the morning-after pill (EHC) refused by the pharmacist as the drug was ‘against their religion’.

This scenario has occurred several other times in the UK in the last decade. At present some laws allow for certain exemptions for people who do not wish to provide particular services, resulting in them extending their religious belief so that it impacts upon other people. The NSS believes that no such exemptions should be allowed and certainly not protected in law as it is in some cases. While the religious have every right to believe as they wish, they do not have the right to extend that belief so as to affect others.

Very often the arbitrary nature of the religious beliefs in question is not considered. There are, for example, biblical passages that could give justification to refusing to accept a mixed race couple into a hotel, as well as numerous passages that could lead us to conclude that black people should be treated as 2nd class citizens: they were used extensively to justify slavery. Within the last year, David Starkey suggested that perhaps Christian (or similar) B&B owners could display a notice stating their beliefs: That way gays know where their lifestyle is not welcome. But this would be analogous to the signs displayed in boarding houses only a few decades ago: “No Blacks, no dogs, no Irish.”

With regards to most things other than sexuality, this arbitrary nature is perfectly obvious: A police officer would not be allowed to dismiss some domestic incidents under the excuse “My religion allows a husband to beat his wife.”; a bus driver would not be allowed to refuse to carry a female passenger because she was not dressed in the way the driver’s religion dictates. Similarly should hotel owners be allowed to turn away homosexuals because they disagree with their lifestyle, something which is ultimately none of their business? Similarly would I be justified in refusing a Christian couple because I don’t want them to pray in my hotel?

Objecting to actions like those of the Bulls is often decried as intolerance of religious beliefs and there are several groups, primarily Christian, that are vocal against this, as they call it, ‘persecution of religious conscience’. They have been fairly active on this front for a good many years now. However, as I’ve described above, religious people are not being persecuted but are simply being penalised when they manifest their beliefs in such a way as to discriminate against others through their actions.

At present there are numerous exemptions afforded to religious organisations that allows them to discriminate against people, for example due to their sexuality and faith when it comes to teachers in faith schools. The NSS campaigns against such immunities for religious groups, acting to ensure that everyone is treated equally regardless of their differences. This also includes backing religious people when they are mistreated because of their faith, but of course does not encompass the consequences they face when practicing their faith otherwise in accordance with human rights laws.

By Andy Wistreich

My son has come back from Thailand, with tales of the terrible floods. A huge area north of Bangkok is underwater, causing disruptions and suffering in countless people’s lives and economic damage estimated so far at $10bn.

It began with exceptional rains in China and Thailand causing rivers to flood. The many dams and reservoirs on the rivers have made the rivers’ behaviour unpredictable, making effective intervention difficult.

The government had overfilled the reservoirs in expectation of drought, and then because of the flooding had to empty them out. In the process they made selective decisions to flood residential areas and save financial areas, causing widespread anger.

Many displaced people seek accommodation, and many leave jobs in the city to care for family homes and farms in the countryside.

In Bangkok people wading through waters are at risk from huge water snakes and from crocodiles escaped from crocodile farms.

This story with local variations is becoming commonplace across the world, isn’t it? Even Bristol is not fully secure from flooding, though hopefully no crocs yet!

Climate scientists generally agree that most of this is due to human activity pressing on the natural geo-systems of the planet. Some have named the period of history since 1950 as the Anthropocene Age to reflect this. It means that since then we can say that the evolution of the planet is shaped by humans.

Life on our planet is endangered. As we are all inter-connected, troubles far away affect us too. With an attitude of universal responsibility we care about the well-being of everyone in the world. We needn’t be obsessed by our private self-interest, personal wealth and security.

I appreciate that although for some people such an attitude comes naturally, for most it is quite a challenge. To develop it needs much reflection and reasoning. The point is that this attitude provides the best mental basis for helping the world.

As the Dalai Lama has said: “Universal responsibility is the key to human survival.”

I’d say we need such an altruistic attitude at this critical time in human history, and there is no shortage of practical ways to do something. We don’t all need to go to Thailand – there is plenty to do here in Bristol.

By Emily Coyte

It has been announced recently that 11 of the 55 free (state-funded) schools to be opened from September 2012 onwards are faith-oriented schools. Seven of these are to be Christian.

The general view at the Bristol Secular Society (BSS) is that if a school wants to bias its views, ethos and even curriculum on a particular religious doctrine, it should do so out of its own pocket, not that of the taxpayer.

For a start, it’s worth considering why religious organisations are so keen to have influence and control over our children. The answer may actually be this obvious – it seems they feel the need to have influence over children from a young age.

Perhaps they hope that distorting exposure to certain religions will help boost falling church (/mosque/synagogue) attendance by providing a lifetime’s worth of indoctrination right from the start. And yet, if their claims are true, the weight of the evidence should cause people to naturally gravitate towards the truth, not need to have it forced down their throat before they are old enough to make a decision for themselves.

There are many ways religious bodies could help the education sector without trying to run it and have control over it themselves with sectarian schooling.

One of the most disturbing things about these schools is that they are allowed to discriminate entry up to 50% based solely on the (real or alleged) belief choice of their parents. Additionally, if the school’s website or open days present a strong religious emphasis or bias, it will actively discourage members of other faiths or none from applying.

This type of segregation from an early age leads to lack of real understanding of other cultures, a key factor in the generation of fear, discrimination and hate crimes.

There is a new RE syllabus for Bristol, North Somerset and Bath which plans to inform children of the “central contribution of RE to community cohesion”, but this appears hard to justify if the schools which adhere most closely to these principles are also the ones dividing the community into groups based on beliefs of their parents!

It could also be said that the selection privilege seems like a thinly veiled scheme to choose children who are more likely to work hard and behave themselves, by having parents most likely to acquiesce their requests. This gives the school a better reputation, and leaves the more difficult children to the nearby secular school, which gets an unfair disadvantage from the start. Let us not forget that voluntary aided faith schools are legally allowed to discriminate against non-faith or homosexual teachers because they are exempt from this part of the Education Bill .

This is a selection privilege rightly not granted to other professions but allowed where childhood indoctrination is going to be highest. The Bristol Secular Society feels this is just the kind of religious privilege which needs removing from this country, and yet the House of Lords recently decided not to amend this loophole, allowing faith schools to continue to select teachers based on factors wholly unrelated to their ability to teach children.

Another important consideration is that when religious groups get control of education, fundamental principles such as reasoning, scepticism and evidence tend to get thrown out in favour of the preferred religious text, particularly whenever there is a conflict between their dogma and the current scientific evidence and understanding. This is an extreme case, and many faith schools are unassuming and fair, but it does happen and it must be stopped if we want a fairer, more balanced and healthier society.

We’d like to know what your experience of faith school was, if you went to one, and what your opinions are on schools, funded by the taxpayer, which are allowed to discriminate entry to their school based on the real or alleged faith of their parents.

Emily Coyte is a member of the Bristol Secular Society