Signpost 39 (25 January)

Good afternoon,

Among a great selection of links, this weeks’ Signpost celebrates some of the national awareness days and anniversaries that arise in January. We look at Holocaust Memorial Day, Veganuary and Burns Night, but didn’t have time to mention some of the more niche days such as Squirrel Appreciation Day, National Kazoo Day or National Puzzle Day!

97 years ago this week the first Winter Olympics took place in the French Alps, 95 years ago this week, John Logie Baird gave the first public demonstration of a television system in London, 77 years ago this week the siege of Leningrad was broken after almost 900 days, and 52 years ago this week The Beatles made their last public performance, giving an impromptu concert on the roof of the London recording studio.

REFLECT

As many people try hard to stay at home, the Church of England’s website offers a virtual candle. By lighting a virtual candle, you are making space to pray. You can light a candle online to pray for yourself, for a loved one, or a situation. Whatever is going on, make space to pray in your life.
The St Monica Trust Pastoral Care Team produce regular services and reflections online, and you can view all of them here. The most recent service comes from Lisa Loveridge, the Pastoral Care Coordinator for The Chocolate Quarter.

CONNECT

Freeview is the UK’s digital terrestrial television service and you can view the usual channels such as BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel5, as well as up to 135 other channels. The Freeview website shows you what is on any of the channels at anytime here, and you can check how many channels you can access here. You might want to have a look at Sky Arts on channel 11, Together TV on channel 87, or BBC news on channel 231. Freeview also has several movie channels including Sony Movies on channel 51 and Talking Pictures TV on channel 81, which offers films from over the last 90 years.

LEARN

Scottish Bard Robert Burns was born on January 25 1759, and each year Burns Night is celebrated in Scotland and by Scottish people all over the world on that date. You can read some of Robert Burns’ poetry here, and some facts about the man himself here. The Visit Scotland website explains what happens on Burns Night here.

Each year on 27^th January, we commemorate Holocaust Memorial Day and remember the six million Jews murdered during the Holocaust, alongside the millions of other people killed under Nazi persecution and in genocides that followed in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur. The Holocaust Memorial Day Trust encourages remembrance in a world scarred by genocide with activities across the UK (when we aren’t in a pandemic!) and has an amazing amount of information and resources on their website.

Have you heard of “Veganuary”? Every year hundreds of thousands of people take a pledge to try a plant-based or vegan diet for the month. If you are interested in finding out more about vegan food, you can look at the Veganuary website which gives top tips to get started, advice on nutrition and a vast selection of recipes. Nigel Slater has recently suggested 10 winter vegan recipes and Jamie Oliver has a special vegan recipe section on his website.

The coronavirus vaccination is now being rolled out across the UK. If you or a loved one have an upcoming appointment for a COVID vaccination at Ashton Gate vaccination centre, then the taxi company Uber are offering free taxi journeys up to the value of £15. You can find out more here.

FUN

62 years ago this week, Disney released “Sleeping Beauty”. Enjoy the classic song from the movie “Once Upon a Dream” here.

Please get in touch through our email communityimpact@stmonicatrust.org.uk and let us know how we are doing.

Don't forget that our online services of worship and contributions from the Pastoral Care Team can be found at https://vimeo.com/stmonicatrust.