A farewell to CMS

31st October was always going to be an important date in my mind as it was my last official day working for CMS. I have had a good 7 and half years working with both young people and old in the context of Youth and Children's work. I remember the first 3 or so years was mainly characterised by visiting churches to run youth events where most of the participants were not youth. We always had a good time though and often I would do the programme I had planned for the young people. On one occasion a lady had a heart attack during a movement session and as she exited the room on the stretcher she looked at me and said "I'm awfully sorry". A spirited bunch! I must add the heart condition was brought on by climbing the stairs to the room not by my workshop...honest!

The second half of my time with CMS became more focused on running creative projects that switched   my work from a regional focus to a national one. Over 4 years we ran two major projects Free For All and World to Rights. We worked with hundreds of young people and managed to get local news media coverage all over Britain. This was a real adventure, creating a play and workshops and then delivering them on a big scale. Our plans for next year, to expand from working with just schools to working with churches, can no longer materialise, but we are hoping to do a scaled down version in schools called "Down to Earth". We will work representing CMS in partnership with Arocha and look to book around 10 venues between January and April 2010. Greenbelt has also been an important part of my time at CMS and I have literally watched children grow up over the last  7 years as they have returned to our drama workshop/performances each year.

When I returned from working in The Czech Republic with Ifes in 2002 my aim was to do some drama training and Paul Thaxter saw the potential in this for CMS too. I was able to study Mime at Desmond Jones School funded by my part time post at CMS as a youth worker. I later went on to study acting at Morley College for a year and do a two year Masters part-time in Applied Drama at Goldsmiths. I completed my dissertation in September and have just discovered that I passed. You can see my essays and dissertation on this link. In some ways my dissertation now reflects the direction I want to explore, looking at the use of drama and creative arts in Christian Mission. However perhaps the biggest influence CMS had on my life was in arranging for me to work in Oxfordshire on a youth project with a certain Irfana Riffat. Jill Poole was the instigator as she excitedly announced to me, "I have a really pretty Pakistani Christian girl for you to work with". The rest is history.

Redundancy was never my plan for how I would move on from CMS and it has been a bit like having the carpet pulled from under my feet. However I am grateful for the many opportunities CMS has given me and I look forward to the next adventure. Another new chapter opened for my family on 31st October 09 with the birth of Zane. What a blessing! God's timing! I will miss many people at CMS. Some have also moved on and some are still there. To single out just a few It has been great working with Jonny Baker with his laid back but empowering approach, and of course my team of Anita Matthews and Mike North. We have been a great team, complimenting each other with very different skills and we have had an amazing working relationship. Anita will stay on at CMS and I am sure will do a great job heading up the community work, While Mike and myself now look for what next. All that is left to say is, watch this space!

Comments

[mattfreer.wordpress.com]

Congrats on the arrival of Zane, hope the move on from CMS goes well and the way forward becomes clearer as you enter this new part of your journey.

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