Majestas

In this issue

A Gift from God
Prima Vox
News
Detained without Trial
Disability and Creation
A Community of Healing
Signpost
Caring Council
Life on the Ocean Wave
Henry VII's Pall
Diary
Who's Who
Publication
- Submissions for the next editions of Majestas

A Gift from God

Right: Gavin Moulton, who is in his third year at A.P.U. reading history and politics Left: Richard Bocock, one of the voluntary carers, chopping onions in the kitchen

``It's a springboard to independent living.'' This is Jenny Sandland's description of Bridget's in Tennis Court Road, which provides accommodation and care for disabled students in Cambridge. The hostel is on the ground floor of what used to be the living quarters of nurses at the old Addenbrookes Hospital, and the other three floors provide study bedrooms for students at Anglia Polytechnic University. Each study bedroom at Bridget's has an electronically adjustable bed with a Tempur mattress which moulds to the body and provides relief from pressure. The washbasin in each room is height-adjustable so that a wheelchair fits under it: the taps are on the front of the basin and the mirror position is adjustable. The wardrobe has low fittings and each room has a fridge and a computer connected to the Internet. All rooms are connected to a central call system. Specialist facilities include a lifting hoist, a shower with a shower wheelchair, a Parker bath which is upright for entry and tips back and an Appollo bath with a separated seat which lowers the user into the water. There are an area for charging wheelchair batteries, a well-equipped kitchen, a laundry room and a comfortable common room. There are special carpets with wheelchair grip which are easy to keep clean. Each student has a swipe card for his or her own room and for the front door. Bridget's came into existence through the efforts of historian Dr Margaret Spufford, whose daughter Bridget had cystinosis, a rare genetic disease which attacks the kidneys and also affects transplanted kidneys. Margaret wrote in her book Celebration: ``She has failed, inevitably in all this medicine, to keep up with her peer group, to move from home after A Levels into further training or a job, she is often alone at home, often unwell, often agonisingly lonely.'' Margaret realised that there was a need for facilities for disabled students in Cambridge. After a great deal of work by the fundraising committee, the hostel opened in 1991. Sadly, Bridget did not live to see it, but she knew that it would be named after her. The charity now has Trustees (with Brian Hawes as Chairman) and a Management Committee, which Margaret chairs. Jane McLarty started as the part-time education liaison officer at Bridget's and was secretary of the University Disability Committee. She is now the University's full-time Disability Adviser but retains an interest in the people at Bridget's, where she is based. She said that colleges have changed from seven years ago when Bridget's didn't exist and more colleges are adapting rooms for wheelchair users and their carers: ``Bridget's is moving towards offering care in college for people who want it, so they have a choice. They can live at Bridget's or if they want to be in college we will supply care to them in college. In those circumstances we would probably help them recruit the carer and help them with the management and supervision of that carer.'' All the carers have the opportunity to gain a NVQ Level 2 in Direct Care. The manager, Jenny Sandland, said that Bridget's accommodates seven students: ``We have the equipment to deal with quite high levels of disability. We can provide 24-hour care and we do that with paid staff and volunteers. We have people who were born with a disability and those who have recently had an accident, suddenly became disabled and were plunged into this incredibly different world.'' Jane added: ``It's usually the people that are sporty and active who have the accidents --- people who go horse-riding and diving. They come from an active, sporting life to being completely sedentary.'' Bridget's is made known in Anglia Polytechnic University, Cambridge University and Cambridge Regional College's prospectuses and in mailings to Directors of Social Services, sixth form colleges and career advisers. It also has a web site. Each student receives housing benefit, which covers the rent, and the cost of care is provided by the student's local Social Services up to Ł200 per week. If it is more than this, the balance may be paid by the Independent Living Fund (a Government scheme), although not all students have access to this fund. Jenny explained: ``For 99% of the students who come here it's the first time they've ever left home so it is quite frightening for them to have all these new people doing the most personal care for them. Suddenly they've got to manage their own budget, organise their time, and cope with their disabilities. Bridget's is set up to cushion them a little but after a while they have to start looking after themselves and learning how to care for their carers.'' Quentin Crewe has been a journalist and author for forty--five years and has to use a wheelchair because of muscular dystrophy. His delightful book Letters from India was published this year and in it he recalls visiting Mother Teresa in Calcutta: ``She looked at me and said, `You have a disability. It was a gift from God, use it.''' It is that spirit which is evident at Bridget's and as Jenny said: ``We prepare them as much as we possibly can for the future so that they are not just going to go home and sit in their front rooms for the rest of their lives. It is something that has to come from them so we try to encourage them to think ahead and plan it for themselves, and then it is a huge achievement when they do it.'

Prima Vox

My sister Fiona is a physiotherapist. As part of her training she and a group of colleagues spent a day getting around the centre of Birmingham in wheelchairs. It was a distressingly eye-opening experience as she found herself treated condescendingly by the staff in the few shops she was able to get into. She discovered for herself the tendency for people to talk over the head of the person in a wheelchair about them to the helper pushing --- a tendency picked up in ``Does he take sugar?'' the ironic title for the Radio 4 programme on disability affairs. In the last few years some efforts have been made to increase accessibility. In the University there is an officer whose job it is to advise on all areas concerning the proper integration of students with disabilities. Interesting challenges can be posed for the University Departments such as finding a way to communicate complex mathematical notation written up on a blackboard to a student who is blind. These challenges can and are being met and all members of the University will benefit from the achievement. Different perspectives and different needs make us re-evaluate the way we do things and re-examine comfortable practices. We have to ask whether the ways we work and think are the only way. Is there no alternative? The future for all of us depends on an inclusive rethinking and restructuring to enable everyone to participate fully. This does not mean changing the `disabled' to fit into the `able-bodied' systems but changing the systems so that they fit all people. If this concern for a whole society is taken seriously, the effects will reach far further than accessibility for users of wheelchairs. It would mean a society in which all have access to the best medical and dental treatment, access to jobs which meet a person's skills and are safe and fulfilling. It would mean a better distribution of work so that those in work have time for life-enhancing leisure and for their families. Whether or not we have a society like this is our choice. At the moment we choose to spend millions on armaments rather than on access, healthcare or education. We choose to bolster our standard of living at the expense of millions worldwide and then spend even more defending our position. We fear giving meal tokens to the poor, yet we call tax-breaks for the rich incentives. We choose to go on convincing ourselves that we can do nothing about this even if we want to. This attitude, however, is not a genuine option, for ``if anyone is in Christ there is a new creation; the old order has passed away, everything has become new.'' [2 Corinthians 5:17]

News

Great St Mary's Wider Concerns links: Pakistan and Africa

Jane Hunt (right) left Cambridge in August to teach at a school in Peshawar, Pakistan. The following is an extract from her recent letter to GSM (available in full from the church office). ``Yesterday early evening there was a colossal storm. I rushed outside and stood for a few minutes in the rain. It was bliss to feel cool! Half an hour later the sun came out and I saw the most fabulous rainbow stretching in a great bow across the sky. The children in my class all saw the rainbow and were thrilled and drew and wrote simple sentences about it. All except one child in my class have English as a second language, so they need lots of practice in oral English. I've landed up with six-year-olds again including some very lively Pakistani boys!... ``...The future of the school is very much tied up with aid work with Afghan refugees in Pakistan and aid work inside Afghanistan itself. The Taliban are militant in their efforts to control the whole of Afghanistan. They are a warrior tribe and fighting is in their blood and they will stop at nothing. Recently they expelled most of the aid workers. This means that very little aid and funding is reaching the country at present. In this sort of situation it is always the poor who suffer...''

International Debt Series

This month sees a major series on International Debt and World Development take place in St Michael's on Sunday evenings. The speakers include Jonathan Lingham (Head of Debt Policy, DFID), Maudlyn Park (a journalist from Nigeria), Roger Williamson (Director of Policy and Campaigns, Christian Aid), Julian Filochowski (Director of CAFOD), David Peretz (UK Executive Director of IMF and World Bank (1990---1994), Deputy Director of International Finance, HM Treasury) and Professor Michael Lipton (Poverty Research Unit, University of Sussex). The series is presented in association with the Harambee Centre for Development Education, who have an office in St Michael's. For full details please see the diary.

Remembrancetide

Two services will be taking place at Great St Mary's during November at which the departed will be remembered. There will be a Requiem Mass, with the reading of names of the departed, on Monday 2nd November at 7.30pm in GSM. Names can be added to the list in church. Remembrance Sunday is 8th November and the preacher at the civic Remembrance Service will be the Revd Tony Barker, Minister at Zion Baptist Church, Cambridge. All are welcome at both services

Harvest Appeal

Many thanks to those who have already contributed to this year's Harvest Thankoffering. There is still time to make a donation if you have not already done so. The money raised will be used by Oxfam to alleviate the sufferings of people caused by the war in the Sudan.

Advent Carol Service

The Advent Carol Service, by candlelight, will take place on Sunday 29th November at 8.30pm. The singing will be led by the choir of Queens' College. Lessons will be read by members of Queens', the Dean of Chapel (the Revd Dr Jonathan Holmes), and the Vice-Chancellor.

GSM Christmas Card

This year's Friends of Great St Mary's Christmas Card is now available on the bookstall at 3 pounds for a packet of 10. Orders can also be made to the Church Office, (01223) 350914.

Cambridge Views

Can you discover the location of this object in Cambridge? Bring or send the answer, and your name and address, to Majestas, Great St Mary's, Cambridge CB2 3PQ, by 30th November. The first correct answer drawn out will win a book token for Ł10. The image in the October issue can be found above the south entrance to Great St Mary's

Detained without Trial

For a long time Louise Pirouet has been concerned about the way asylum-seekers are treated in the United Kingdom.

E Wing of Rochester Prison is a Victorian block, three storeys high, with clanking ironwork galleries and a small `association' space on the ground floor between the rows of cells which I visited recently as a guest of the Chaplain. Standing around aimlessly when I met them, or playing at one of the three snooker tables which were the only recreational facility, were some 90 young men of many nationalities. Asylum-seekers, not charged with any crime, they were what Sir David Ramsbotham, HM Chief Inspector of Prisons, calls `non-criminal prisoners'. He thinks there are far too many of them. So do I. Some 800 are currently detained, about half in prisons, the others in immigration detention centres. One of those I had come to see had been there fifteen months, and his seriously depressed state was of concern to the prison staff. Why was he there? He did not know. He had fled political persecution in his own country and, instead of his being given temporary admission whilst his application was considered, as are most asylum-seekers, an immigration officer had decided to detain him. When he was interviewed about his asylum claim, he had found it difficult to give a coherent account of what had caused him to flee, had been refused by the Home Office, had lost an appeal against refusal, and was awaiting the outcome of a last-ditch chance of a further appeal. ``Do you think I would stay in this place if I could safely go home?'' he asked me. Although not disabled in any ordinary sense of that word, detained asylum-seekers find themselves severely disadvantaged. Their physical and mental health may be damaged by detention. They can seldom understand why they are detained. Unlike criminal prisoners they do not know how long they must remain in jail. Some have fled from persecution which included detention without charge or trial and torture, and further detention is intensely distressing. A number of particularly distressed detainees were referred to Dr Christina Pourgourides, a psychiatrist then working with the Northern Birmingham Mental Health Trust. Her report, A Second Exile, suggests that they suffer from three Ds: Debility, Dependence and Dread, and in situations which are Unaccountable, Unpredictable and Uncontrollable. Several had made serious attempts at suicide. Eventually some of these will be recognised as genuine refugees, as defined by the UN Convention. Forty per cent of Dr Pourgourides' patients were eventually granted asylum. One wonders how they will ever recover from the trauma of first being forced by persecution to leave their country, family and friends, and then undergoing the further trauma of being detained here in Britain. Sir David Ramsbotham says he is determined to get asylum-seekers out of prisons: If the Immigration Service needs to detain people, then they should do it themselves, not foist the job off on the prison service. He insists moreover that people should not be detained simply on the say-so of immigration officers: ``There should be judicial oversight of immigration detention,'' he says in his report on Campsfield House Detention Centre, something that Amnesty International, the Refugee Council, the Medical Foundation and the churches have been asking for for years. The incorporation of the European Convention on Human Rights may at last mean that something has to be done about this form of enforced disablement.

STOP PRESS: One of the men I saw in Rochester has phoned up: ``I've been released! I was called for an interview at Gatwick, and they've released me! Thank you for praying for me. Only God could have helped me!'' He was mentioned in the intercessions at the Friday midday Eucharist for several weeks, and he wants to thank everyone who prayed for him. His asylum case is not yet resolved: he doesn't know why he was released any more than he knows why he was detained in the first place. Research by Amnesty International suggests that some 60% of detainees are released without their cases being resolved. So why were they detained, sometimes for months, and at great expense to the taxpayer?

O Lord, strengthen and sustain those who are placed in chains when seeking refuge from their oppressors. Grant them courage to continue their fight against evil, faith to endure the onslaughts of tyranny and the love to care for those who imprison them, Through Jesus Christ our Lord.
(written by a prison governor in the UK)

Disability and Creation

Jonathan Myles offers insights into a theological appreciation of disability.

.... I will root you in the wood,
under the sun will make you bread
of beechmast, never let you forth
To the white desert, to the starving sand,
But we shall sit and speak around
One table, share one food, one earth.
from Rublev by Rowan Williams

Christianity is, as has been pointed out often, the most materialistic of religions. It has continually eschewed any notion of its function as being the transmission of timeless ideas from some platonic realm to the `lower' world of human being, but instead has clung obstinately to the idea that God has, in an act of divine generosity, made an act of self-commitment passionately and unconditionally to the physical, contingent universe. One possible reading of the early centuries of the Church is precisely the confrontation of this heresy --- the idea of a God who exists in aloof disapproval of an irredeemably fallen creation. The idea, of course, returns regularly to haunt orthodox Christianity, probably owing to its apparent ability to provide an easy answer to the problem of the creation's invariable tendency to `go wrong', sometimes terrifyingly and agonisingly, more often obstinately and frustratingly. The disabled academic, scholar or scientist confronts what seems to me to be similar issues. She will want, sometimes passionately, to pursue the world of ideas, scholarship and academic progress, but will continually find herself coming up against the oddities and difficulties presented by the material world --- the inaccessible libraries, the badly designed computer systems, the physical tiredness. The temptation is then to rail in frustration --- if only things were different, if I were made differently, all would be well. But many activists in the disability movement have pointed out the dangers in such thinking, so that the disabled person can eventually think of herself as a `normal' person who has somehow `gone wrong' and who no longer `works properly'. Modern theories of disability dismiss the notion of disability as being something `wrong' with the individual and emphasise that it can be conceived as being much more connected with the arrangements and structures in society. So the inaccessible libraries and inappropriate computers are certainly things which can and should be changed, but the disabled person is understood not as a pathetic individual longing desperately for a `cure', but as a person with strengths and weaknesses of their own, just like any other member of society. The matter surrounding me, and more radically the matter of which I find myself made, is fundamentally good. A 20th-century fight for justice and equality finds a parallel in a young faith's struggle to express its truth. One project in Cambridge expresses some of these thoughts. Bridget's, between Downing College and the Judge School of Management, was set up in the early 1990s and named after Bridget Spufford, the multiply-disabled daughter of Cambridge historians Peter and Margaret Spufford. Bridget's provides a community in which students with disabilities can live, with the support necessary to enable them to undertake study or research. The notion of disabled people as valued and respected as themselves, transforming radically the Cambridge academic world's view of disability, parallels a fundamental insight into the goodness of God's creation

A Community of Healing

The Iona Community: Pearce Institute, 840 Govan Road, Glasgow GS1 3UU; tel 0141 445 4561; e-mail ionacomm@gla.iona.org.uk

Jonathan Myles has recently come back from a holiday on Iona, and I share his love of that Hebridean island. I have found Iona to be a beautiful place in which to experience the closeness of God in the company of fellow Christians, to share and lay down burdens and to set forth once more strengthened and renewed by the community of faith, particularly if one has been through a time of difficulty or sadness. In the Abbey every Tuesday evening throughout the year there are prayers for the sick and those in any kind of trouble. This is followed by a laying on of hands, to which all are invited, either to come forward and kneel on cushions or to stand beside those who kneel and to place a hand on someone's shoulder. Those who remain seated can also join in the words of the prayer of healing, all being `wounded healers' for one another. The crystal clear waters, the ever changing vista of mountains as sunlight and cloud patterns move ceaselessly, the silence full of the restlessness of sea and wind make Iona a place of transparent spiritu-ality (a `thin place'). It is also a place of sending out and looking forward in hope. The wild goose is the symbol of the Iona Community, not only because it is a Celtic symbol of the Holy Spirit, but also because it represents strength in community. Geese in flocks can fly a much greater distance than a single goose on its own, and geese in formation fly very much faster than single geese.

Sheila Cameron

Signpost

The Cambridgeshire Deaf Association runs under the aegis of the Diocese of Ely Deaf Association. The Association's community worker, Ali Gordon, said: ``The Association is set up as an advice and information resource but it also provides a number of other services. Our main objective is to improve access to information services and the bulk of our work is aimed at people who use sign language as a means of communication, but we also work with other deaf people as well --- people who are deaf through industrial injury and people who are getting a little older and losing their hearing.'' The Association is managed by a committee which includes four deaf people and the chaplain is the Revd Ros Hunt, who conducts services for deaf people, signs church services, runs a bible study group for the deaf and encourages participation in the National Deaf Church Conferences. The Association produces a bimonthly newsletter and runs a monthly children's club, two clubs for adults and one-off social events such as a summer barbecue and the popular Christmas party. Ali said: ``What is an issue for many deaf people is isolation in various parts of the county. They need an opportunity to get together and relax when they're not struggling to communicate.'' Ali has drop-in sessions at Peterborough twice a week and in Cambridge on Monday mornings and Wednesday afternoons at the Cambridge Centre for Deaf People in Romsey Terrace. She spends part of her time helping deaf people with various applications and, as she is a qualified interpreter, she goes to appointments deaf people have at banks, hospitals or wherever the need is. Performances at the Arts Theatre are all interpreted for the deaf and taster visits and tours of the theatre with an interpreter are arranged. In Cambridge British Sign Language courses are available at the Regional College and through the W.E.A. The Cambridgeshire Deaf Association is one of the organisations which link with Directions Plus, which is an independent advice service for disabled people of all ages and their carers, friends and relatives who live in and around Cambridge. Directions Plus provides free and impartial advice on topics such as benefits, transport, access, equipment and adaptation in the home, residential care, education, training, employment, leisure activities and holidays. Jim Smith, the co-ordinator, explained that one of the ways of making information available was through their publications --- Carers' Handbook, Mental Health Handbook and A Child First (for families with children with special needs). These are available in the GSM library.

Caring Council

Judith Jesky, Disability Policy Officer with Cambridge City Council, explains how the Council tries to make Cambridge more accessible for those with disabilities.

Access in and around Cambridge can be extremely difficult for older people and those with a disability. These problems, and the effort of trying to overcome them, can begin to affect a person's independence and increase their isolation. The City Council has, in recognition of these difficulties, begun a process of making Council services more accessible. It is also very proud of the specific services it provides, in particular the Shopmobility and Taxicard schemes set up to support people with limited mobility and the grants it gives to support the many local organisations providing services, including the Cambridge Dial-a-Ride. Taxicard is a scheme which aims to provide a subsidised transport service, using local taxi firms, to disabled and older people who, because of mobility difficulties, are unable to use public transport. There are eligibility criteria and to qualify a person must be resident within the city of Cambridge. For more details, please contact Jane Richardson on 01223 457316. Shopmobility gives everyone with a mobility problem, whether through age, accident or disabi-lity, permanent or temporary, access to and around the city centre shops and facilities. There are two centres, one in the Lion Yard and one in the Grafton Centre, providing manual and electric wheelchairs and scooters, and the service is free. They also provide an escort service of up to two hours which is available for wheelchair users and people who are blind or visually impaired. For further information, telephone Jean White or Tony Peppercorn on 01223 457452 or 01223 461858. The City Council produces a guide which details all the services it provides to elderly and disabled people. It explains how to apply for a disabled parking bay and who to contact if you need adaptations to your home; it lists the locations of the wheelchair accessible toilets, how to obtain a Leisure Card and much more. For further information about the guide please contact Judith Jesky on 01223 457452. The leaflet is also available in large print, in braille or on tape.

Life on the Ocean Wave

Wendy Heath (right), who suffers from myasthenia gravis, sailed with the Jubilee Sailing Trust

I joined the Lord Nelson (which was purpose-built for the physically disabled) at Swansea, with my `buddy', Frances. We signed on as voyage crew and were issued with wet weather gear and a safety harness. We then met the permanent crew and had a briefing session. We were divided into four watches of ten (five able-bodied and five disabled) and would run the ship using the traditional four-hour watch system. After lunch we did emergency drill. We set sail and headed south, round Land's End and across the Channel, arriving at Douarnenez in Brittany two days later. By this time we had left behind the strong winds and lumpy seas and it was warm, sunny and calm. We spent the day in port and our watch went out for a meal ashore. It was a very good evening! While in port I climbed the rigging, accompanied by one of the permanent crew, using a `Helistrop' to help me up. It was still hard work and I was not able to climb right onto the platform. We set sail again, heading north, and anchored off La Coquet, a beautiful sandy bay. We launched the Doti boats and all went ashore, including the wheelchairs, for a beach barbecue and games, swimming or just sunbathing. We had to launch through the breakers to return to the ship --- that was great fun. I had to be lifted in the `Helistrop' to climb back on board as I was not strong enough to climb the ladder. We set sail again for another stop at Roscoff, then we were homeward bound. While on watch I learned how radar works and how to do the ship's log and took a turn at the helm, which is power-assisted so that even the weakest crew members can take their turn. There was always plenty to do, sail-setting or furling. We learnt what the different ropes were for as we used them. The dolphins came to play several times during the voyage. Each day we had `happy hour' --- not free drinks, but time to clean the ship! On one day of the voyage I was on mess duty, helping in the galley. On the nine-day voyage everyone takes a turn, except the watch leaders. It has been a wonderful experience. The permanent crew were very friendly and helpful at all times. They gave us every encouragement to take part in all activities, and safety was important. The friendly atmosphere among the voyage crew developed as the days went by and I made many new friends. The food was excellent and the whole voyage was great fun in spite of feeling exhausted towards the end. I would love to go again. If anyone thinks it would suit them, go for it! Further information: Frances Wayman 01954 719317

Henry VII's Pall

By Dr Lynne Broughton

The pall of Henry VII, now kept under a glass cover in the north aisle, is an unusual part of the joint history of this church and the University. Because it has faded few people realise what a sumptuous object it is. Made of a Florentine fabric of the highest quality, it consists of cloth of gold with a design in cut-velvet. A cross of wine-coloured velvet divides the pall into equal parts. At the centre of this cross are the arms of England and France, with a dragon and a greyhound as supporters. The arms of the cross are charged alternately with roses and portcullises crowned, the Tudor badges. In 1504 an Indenture was sealed, by which the University of Cambridge was to be paid Ł10 a year for ever to celebrate an annual Requiem service in the church on 11th February during the king's lifetime and thereafter on the date of his burial. During this service a frame was to be set up and covered with the pall, as a catafalque to represent the king's coffin. A similar Indenture was drawn up with the University of Oxford and a similar pall survives in the Ashmolean Museum. It has been suggested that the Cambridge pall might have been given by Bishop John Fisher. Its survival through the Reformation changes seems to have been due to its having been stored away and then brought out to be used as a canopy, carried over Queen Elizabeth when she visited King's College in 1564. From this usage it acquired royal rather than the `superstitious' connotations which caused other church textiles to be destroyed. The commemoration of Henry VII was by no means the only service of its kind regularly held in the church; about twenty annual dirges are recorded at various times. Palls, perhaps not so splendid but nevertheless of fine fabric and workmanship, were provided for most of these. After the Reformation this form of anniversary was abolished, being replaced by the endowment of annual sermons, such as the Chevin Sermon which is still preached. The yearly commemoration of all the faithful departed, on All Souls' Day, is a reminder that all Christian people are united in a fellowship of mutual help and prayer within the Body of Christ.

This article forms part of a series describing our Church building.

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