News

June 2008 - AWI gets aid to Burmese villages

 

 

While many agencies are still being refused visas, Agapé Workplace Initiative is now into its fifth week of aid distribution through its partner Global Aid Network (GaiN), in the villages of Burma, while most agencies have been allowed only as far as the city of Yangon. Moreover, local confidence in the Birmingham to Burma appeal launched four weeks ago, seems to be growing, with support now coming from Atkins, Wragges, Aquila TV, IE Design, Baverstock School, Broad St BID and many others. Last week saw a fourfold increase in monies raised. Speaking to a gathering of over 100 business people at the Council House on Friday, Caroline Spelman MP challenged the Birmingham business community towards citywide philanthropism, generating five further offers of support for the appeal in discussions afterwards, including the Birmingham Chamber of Commerce. Daniel Win, who is Burmese, is the head of GAiN in Australia. He has been delivering aid to Burma since 2003. Speaking on Radio WM’s Thought for the Day, Phil Jackman said “Think for a moment. I have Daniel’s phone number, and Daniel Win has 100 volunteers and a relief camp on the ground in Maubin. That’s just three short steps from you to the man who tragically lost all 79 members of his family in Cyclone Nargis.” See www.burmaappeal.org for more details.

 

June 2008 - Preparation for visit of Toshiba CEO in September

 

 

On June 9, 27 business people gathered at the Living Room in Birmingham's Broad Street to meet Alan Thompson, VP for Toshiba's PC division for Europe, Middle East and Africa. Alan will speak at a Burma charity dinner in September entitled "Value-centred Leadership - Commercial Success or Suicide?" Those present at the Living Room will be the core inviters to the September event, aimed at high level business people across the city. The dinner will take place at Wragge's Banking Hall, and is the first of its kind to be run by AWI.
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Agape
Agapé Workplace Initiative

141 Cleveland Street London W1T 6QG (020) 7388 7475

Agapé

Fairgate House King's Road, Tyseley Birmingham B11 2AA (0121) 765 4404

info@awi.org.uk

About us

Agapé Workplace Initiative is a non-profit organisation with roots in the Christian tradition of Shaftesbury and Wilberforce. (The statue in commemoration of Shaftesbury in Piccadilly Circus was intended to be Agapé and not Eros.) Whereas Shaftesbury and Wilberforce worked to bring freedom to children and slaves, we work to bring freedom through forgiveness. Forgiveness is letting go of the debt to right a wrong that someone owes us. Its effects can be seen in Northern Ireland and South Africa, and we are trying to translate these principles to the workplace.


Relationships Course

Relationships are crucial to business, and Emotional Intelligence (EQ) is often used to cultivate them; but as emotional management, EQ can be used to benefit others or manipulate them. Against this, The Relationships Course:

  • Assumes that better relationships are other-centred;
  • Agrees with recent research showing businesses with better relationships are more able to retain staff, thereby saving money;
  • Makes EQ other-centred by turning the virtue of cancelling debt into the goal of EQ;
  • Emphasises the personal freedom and self-worth that flow from this;
  • Seeks to improve the quality of workplace relationships.

The course costs £3800 for two facilitators to teach twelve participants, and includes three sessions of one-on-one coaching per participant. The coaching consists of fifteen-minute sessions at the beginning and middle of the course, and one of thirty minutes at the end. Further coaching is available on request. The course itself is divided into eight forty-five-minute seminars, which can be run over two half days or eight separate sessions:

  1. Introduction - not making someone pay cancels the debt they owe us
  2. Cancelling debt - introducing what cancelling debt is not
  3. Self-Awareness - cancelling debt is not forgetting, does not deny feeling, and is not instantaneous
  4. Listening - those who have empathy are more likely to cancel debt
  5. Setting Boundaries- cancelling debt does not deny justice
  6. Making up- cancelling debt is not reconciliation
  7. Humility - cancelling debt brings personal freedom
  8. Story - our wider story affects our ability to cancel debt

Click here to download a course overview. (PDF 68k)

“Everybody benefitted greatly from the sessions. We agreed that an understanding of principles which were fundamental to successfully working with colleagues was good for the individual and company.” Anthony Elliott, former Director of Group Risk, Abbey National
“This course addresses the core issue of why business relationships very often fail. If individuals apply these principles then staff turnover would fall and I am convinced the company would work more efficiently.” Richard Irwin, Product Development Manager, Schroders

Staff

jon

Jon Horne

Jon is Director of AWI (London), and has two degrees in Theology and a background in publishing and marketing. He is also responsible for re-formatting much of AWI's new material.

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Phil Jackman

Phil is Director of AWI (Birmingham), and has degrees in Maths and Theology. Formerly the Communications Director of Agapé UK, he has a long track record in writing, teaching and training for adults.

Ivor Anderson

Formerly CEO of First Personnel, Ivor Anderson is an AWI Associate and Thomas International consultant, with many years experience of profiling and team building.