The Noise Report - LOOK AT THE NOISE GALLERY FOR ALL THE NOISE PHOTOS!

In April's bulletin, we told you about the Noise, a joint project between Cornerstone and 20:20 Vision to get involved in the local community in Sish Lane, more precisely the block of flats around Chauncey Gardens. And at the beginning of this month, Saturday 3rd - Sunday 4th of May we did it(!) So what did we get up to? Well, the week before the weekend, we all overcame our fears of knocking on doors (and of dogs - Maxine!) and got a good response (considering we just up on their doors!) from the local residents and list of things to do.

We did the Noise because we wanted to both support the detached-youthwork team (Maxine, Pete and Anne) and also get involved in the local community showing love in practical and simple ways.

On the Saturday we did the majority of the practical stuff, which we had scheduled for, with time set aside on the Sunday morning to finish off anything we hadn't completed the day before. The Sunday afternoon was set aside for a min-fun day.

The projects we undertook on Saturday included the following:
- Hiring a van to provide a 'tip' service which meant many residents (usually on the top floor!) gave us old washing machines, ovens, and even a cast iron bath to take down to the dump. We filled the Transit up six times!
- Cleaning all the corridors and stairwells (just before one of the teams on the 'tip' service made it all mucky again!)
- Free car wash (and entertainment in the form of the occasional 'leader' wash)
- Litter picking (didn't seem daunting at first until closer inspection of all the shrubs and hedges)
This gave us a good chance to chat with the residents, not all of whom were supportive of what we were doing, but it certainly opened people up to discussion of what we were up to and more importantly why we were doing it. This also helped to encourage people to come along so Sunday's activities and the BBQ.

On the Sunday there was still plently of practical projects to complete: there were further trips to the tip and more litter picking (Wow! was they are a lot of rubbish!). By lunchtime the BBQ got underway and children from the area were bouncing on the bouncy castle. There was a great response to the BBQ, with many burgers and hot dogs consumed and plenty to go around (reminded me off the feeding of the 5,000!). In the afternoon, we did face painting ('I can do tigers or lions!') and hairbraiding to a never-ending queue of mostly girls. The afternoon was finished off with a crunch match between the two giants of Cornerstone and Sish Lane Wanderers, which to their absolute delight Sish Lane won! (here it would be helpful if I could remember the score, but some many goals were scored by both teams, I've forgotten!).

It was definitely a successful weekend, as well as being an important learning curve if we plan another one. We need to thank God especially for the great weather, allowing van into the dump all but one time, good chats with locals and all the equipment donated, etc. Special thanks needs to go to Nicola, from 20:20 and St Peters, who did a massive amount of organising on and before the weekend. And so, until next time!