Welcome to 2016!

DAST are starting the New Year with two new projects.

Firstly, we must thank the Heritage Lottery Fund for a grant of £3,800.  This is for a one year project that we will be working on throughout this year.  Called ‘Our Asbestos Heritage’, we will be collecting memories, observations and photographs from people who worked with asbestos from the 1940s to the 1990s.  We will use this information to make a catalogue of trades, types of workplaces and household objects which involved asbestos. We will prepare a leaflet and a display and share our findings using a website and social media. The overall aims include to record this part of our industrial history, and inform those who work with historic buildings and artefacts so that they can be vigilant. Leaflets will be sent out to museums and magazines specialising in vintage homewares.

You can contribute!

·        Did you work with asbestos?

If so, please complete one of our questionnaires – ask Sarah for a copy.  We can help you to fill it in if required.

·        Do you hold any photographs of someone at work with asbestos or in an environment where it was heavily used?

If so, please email a copy or allow us to borrow it so that we can scan a copy.

·        Do you have any photographs of objects that contained asbestos?

Please share them with the project.

·        We will shortly be launching a new Twitter account and Facebook page devoted to this project.

Please follow us and contribute your thoughts – look out for the links on our existing social media pages.

Secondly, January is Artisans For Asbestos month.

We are asking our supporters to while away the dark, long evenings by crafting something for DAST to sell.  You could knit, sew, crochet or anything you fancy.  Please make objects that people would be interested in buying from us, either at our events or from an online shop. Some ideas include:

·        Hats/scarves/gloves

·        Brooches/corsages

·        Toys

·        Cushion covers

·        Cards/gift tags

·        Bags/purses

·        Artwork

Have a go!  Share your works in progress on our Facebook page. 

If you’re not crafty yourself, why not ask a friend to relative to make something on your behalf?

 You can make a donation to DAST by clicking here

Get Crafty For DAST

The craftivism movement seeks to spread important messages through the use of handicrafts and visual arts. Throughout the world, people are getting together to knit, sew and crochet their beliefs into something tangible that can be shared with others.

Derbyshire Asbestos Support Team are always seeking new ways to get the message across about asbestos and the damage that this still ubiquitous substance does to peoples’ lives. As we read about craftivism, it was immediately obvious that we could use this as a tool to share the stories of those that have unfortunately had to make use of our services.

Luckily, we have someone who is keen on sewing on the team!  Sarah spends her evenings hand stitching all kinds of little pieces for her home and her online sewing shop.  And she is happy to turn her hobby into something that might help raise awareness and give an outlet for people to share their feelings.

DAST’s craftivism project will be a patchwork of memories and messages.  Sarah is preparing some white fabric hexagons, which can be decorated.  These will then be sewn together to form an ever-increasing patchwork.  This will then be displayed at our events, and inbetween times hung on our office wall to inspire us!

William Bear with scissors at the ready

We want you all to get involved, but we realise that not everyone likes or is good at craftwork.  So, there are three ways for you to take part in the project:

1.   For those of you that would like to have a hexagon, but are not into craft, you can buy a hexagon for £5.  Sarah will then sew on a small fabric Reflection Rose and a set of initials.  Please be aware that if a lot of people want this then there might be a waiting list.

2.   For £2.50 you can buy a hexagon and decorate it yourself.  You can put whatever you want on there, and use whatever materials you like – cotton, fabric pens, sequins – whatever suits. Just take care to decorate it with a point to the top so that it will join to the other hexagons. Send it back to us when you are ready and it will be attached to the other hexagons in the patchwork.

3.   For those keen stitchers among you that would like to help, then Sarah would appreciate support in joining the hexagons together (or sewing on roses and initials if a waiting list develops).  If you don’t live near the office, then we can mail the work out to you. 

We will be officially launching this project at our conference in November – if you are coming along to see us in Derby, then come over to the fundraising stall for a chat about the project. However, it would be good to start the project with a couple of completed hexagons so that people can see what it will look like.  So if you want to be one of our craftivism pioneers, then send a cheque to the usual address for your hexagon.

Our New Projects

It’s been a while since we’ve blogged, so there are a couple of things to catch up on.

Firstly, our Lottery funded bereavement project is now underway.  We have recruited Jo Reeve to run the three year project.  Jo is currently busy planning the recording and monitoring processes. The Big Lottery Fund people are very stringent on how we report progress of the work and those taking part in it, so it is vital that this is planned meticulously. If we don’t give them the right information in our bi-annual reports, they will stop paying us! But Jo has also found time to make contact with people who are interested in being part of the project, and has already proved that she has a wonderful capacity to listen and guide.  Keep watching Facebook and Twitter for news of events.  We will be talking to people directly about the direction that the project will take at our conference in November – ahead of a major launch early in 2016.

For some time now, we have wanted to do something to raise awareness of the issue of asbestos in schools.  Our Asbestos in the Home project was so well received, we wondered if we could use this as a template for a school building project. Joanne researched the possibilities and found that we could do something similar.  This interactive tour would take you through two different types of school building – the system built school of the mid 20^th century; and the Victorian school with 20^th century alterations.  The tour could be saved onto usb stick and sent out to headteachers.   Sarah prepared a written funding proposal, and sent this out to the trade unions that represent people who work in schools. She also approached some other funders. We are still waiting for some responses, and we will also experiment with CrowdFunding later in the year.  However we can now report that thanks to support from three trade unions, there is enough in the pot to start work on producing the computer programmes and accompanying leaflets. The major supporter so far is Unite East Midlands – they have now made this project happen with their contribution of over £5,000.  The teaching union ATL and UCATT have also donated. When the computer programme is ready, we will be buying in a load of usb sticks so that anyone will be able to have a look – but we really hope that we can get this used in every staff room in the East Midlands. As usual, we will update you when we have news.

You can make an online donation to the school project by clicking here. Thank you.

We're in the Money!

At last! After a great deal of work, DAST have finally secured a grant from the Big Lottery Fund.  The people running the Lottery Fund are very careful about who they give their grants to, and they want to make sure that the money is well spent. Sarah’s work to prove that the project is needed has been going on for over 18 months.  Some of you may remember taking part in a survey about bereavement support back in 2013 – that was to help with this bid! Two Outline Proposals were rejected before we got through to the final stage of bidding.  Your support kept us going through this frustrating process – thank you all.

So, now we have got the grant – what are we going to do with it?  The £110,215 has all been earmarked to provide support to people who have been bereaved by asbestos. We will begin by recruiting a new worker to the team, and they will stay with us for three years to set up and launch the new support processes that will be put into place.  These will include:

·        A triage service when a bereavement is first reported.  The worker will compile a database of local sources of counselling and pass details on if required.  If a visit is needed to sort out benefit payments, or if the bereaved needs someone to accompany them to the inquest, then they will provide this service. They can also act as a listening ear if someone just needs to talk about their immediate concerns to a person outside of their family.

·        A befriending service.  We will be looking for volunteers who have experienced asbestos bereavement in the past to take part in this service.  This will probably involve a set number of telephone conversations at pre-arranged times, to help the newly bereaved to begin to work through their feelings.

·        A Friends and Relatives Forum.  This will enable friends and relatives of those affected by asbestos to get together and discuss issues important to them.  It will give people an opportunity to get involved in campaigning, and in steering the work of DAST in the future.  This will be a way for those who have been bereaved for a longer period of time to work for change and make a difference.

We will begin advertising for a worker very soon and we hope that the project will be able to properly launch in the summer.  Meanwhile, we will talking about the project at our event in Lincoln next month (see our previous post Caring for the Carers).

Keep an eye on our Facebook and Twitter pages for more information about the project as it progresses.

Be There!

Plans are now well under way for our Asbestos in the Home Derbyshire event.  This will be held at the Winding Wheel, Chesterfield on Wednesday 25th February.  There will be a launch at 2.00pm and another at 6.45pm.  Refreshments will be available from 1.15pm and 6.00pm respectively.  We have had several grants and donations towards this event from our usual supporters - such as trade unions and solicitors.  A full list of donors will be available at the event.  Thanks to everyone who has so far contributed - and if anyone else is interested in sponsoring the event please do get in touch with us (mail@asbestossupport.co.uk)

All this work will be in vain though, if we do not get a good attendance on the day.  Do you know anyone who works in home improvements or DIY?  Do you know any plumbers, electricians or joiners? All those who work in schools should also be asbestos aware.  Tell anyone who might benefit to come along, have a cuppa with us and find out how to protect their health at work.  Do you know anyone who works for a Derbyshire housing association? Please help us to get the message about this event to their workers. Let's get Derbyshire talking asbestos!

Getting the Message Across

Our Asbestos in the Home project was launched in Leicester last year, and has been on show just a few times since – at Nottingham City Homes events and at our own conference in Derby, for example.  We need to keep on pushing the project – and in order to get the message into the public consciousness we are going to have a re-launch in Chesterfield, early next year.  This is going to cost a lot of money if we are to do it properly.  Here’s a copy of a letter that we have just sent out to trade unions in the region:

Derbyshire Asbestos Support Team (DAST) was originally established to support anyone that had been diagnosed with an asbestos related disease.  As the organisation tackled a growing number of people who were suffering from the terminal diseases of Mesothelioma and Lung Cancer, it became clear that we needed to build awareness of the dangers of asbestos too.  As was initially expected, many of those affected by asbestos had come into contact with the substance in an industrial setting – in power stations, coal mines, railway workshops and steelworks.  But just as many workers had inhaled those deadly particles in a domestic setting. According to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) - 8 joiners, 6 electricians and 4 plumbers die every week due to asbestos exposure.   This is because the majority of houses that were constructed before 1999 contain asbestos.  90% of all public sector housing is thought to contain the substance.

In the average 20^th century home, asbestos will be found around water tanks, fuse boxes, guttering, flooring and insulation among many other locations.  It remains safe as long as it is undisturbed – it is the particles that are released on movement which are dangerous.  Many professionals are now aware of the dangers and most larger employers will ensure that employees are trained to protect themselves. But we are concerned about smaller companies and the self employed.  HSE research showed that many workers thought that because asbestos is now banned, it no longer posed a danger. The growth in DIY – and the recession forcing people to try and improve their homes rather than move – also puts householders at risk.

DAST saw this need to make people aware of domestic asbestos, and we launched our Asbestos in the Home project as a result. The project consists of model houses which, with the aid of a computer programme and projector, demonstrate where asbestos could be lurking in each part of an average house.  The initial launch took place in Leicester.  The displays have also been on show in the Nottingham area, thanks to the support of union stewards at Nottingham City Homes.  But we need to keep on using the displays if we are to get the message out into the wider community.

We are therefore planning to launch it for a second time – on this occasion we will be targeting Chesterfield and northern Derbyshire.  We wish to hire rooms at the Winding Wheel for one day, and invite the general public as well as local trade union representatives and members of local government.   We will need to publicise this in the local press as well as pay for technical support and refreshments.  It is therefore an expensive activity and we are seeking grants and sponsors for this event, which we are scheduling for early spring 2015.

I would like to ask if the xxx can consider sponsoring this event.  A donation of £100 would be very welcome and we would ensure that your logo appeared in the programme and a projection screen. I would also like to ask if this letter could be distributed to Derbyshire branches. This is primarily as part of the awareness drive – but any donation that they could also consider making towards the Chesterfield launch would be very welcome.

I hope that you can help us to keep workers and DIY enthusiasts safe in the home.

Do you know of anyone who might want to be a sponsor?    Have you got any more ideas on how we can get this project equipment on show in new places?

Please tell us!

Caring for the Carers

Plans are now well underway for our first event to be held especially for those who have been bereaved by an asbestos disease.  Last week, Joanne and Sarah visited the Doubletree Hotel in Lincoln and booked their hospitality suite for the 26th March.  They also met with the branch chair and secretary of the local Cruse Bereavement Care.  They will be sending some of their volunteers along to offer help and support, and to tell those attending a bit about their services.   This event will be an opportunity for people to share experiences and talk to someone else who “understands the journey”.  We hope that those attending will find companionship and moral support.  The event will be open to anyone – not just widows – children, parents or close friends will be welcome too.

This is just the beginning of what we hope will be a big development in DAST’s services.  Up until now, we have only had the resources to support those actually suffering from asbestos disease.  However it has been clear to us for sometime that loved ones need just as much support.  Stage two of our lottery bid will be submitted within the next couple of weeks.  If we are successful this will pay for a new worker to join us for 3 years to help set up a befriending scheme and a friends and relatives forum.  Keep everything crossed for our success.

Sarah has been working on this bid as part of her remit to diversify and develop our income.  New projects like this are needed to tap into funds from the Lottery and others, because they always prefer to fund new work over existing services. This is good in a way because it has made us look at what out service users need that we are not already giving them.  However, it is an uphill struggle to fund funds for our day to day work.  General running costs, such as telephone and electricity bills in particular are hard to find grant funding for.

But in this respect we have had some good news this week.  Two separate charitable trusts have donated a total of £1200 towards meeting the cost of our home visits in the county of Northamptonshire.  These visits are obviously the most expensive for us, because of the distance that Natalie has to travel to get to them and the time that they take.   So we must say a big thank you to the Maud Elkington Charitable Trust and the Earl Fitzwilliam Charitable Trust for giving us much needed support in their area.

Do you know of any funds or foundations in your area?  Let us know.