ROC Ambassadors Conference 2010
In October we hosted our first ROC Ambassadors conference in Crewe. We have hosted conferences before under the banner of Redeeming Our Communities but, from our point of view, this was by far our best conference yet!
Why was it so good?
On the first night Adrian Parker, who works for ROC, asked us all why we had come. There were a range of responses but surprisingly over 80% of the delegates had no previous relationship with ROC and had come to find out more. The quality of those attending the conference was outstanding. We had a very gifted bunch of people from all over the UK, with a wide range of skills and expertise who all shared a passion for local communities. By the end of the conference most delegates had signed up as Ambassadors!
Chief Inspector Paul Wilson, our ROC coordinator for London, was one of the speakers and he gave a great presentation about how churches and Police can work together. Inspector Charlotte Cadden told us about an amazing new ROC Cafe in Bury, aptly named “ROC Café on The Rock” which opened at Bury Fire Station on December 2nd! We were all fired up by this idea!!
Debra Green talked about the rapid growth of ROC and how it is a unique movement providing an opportunity for churches to work alongside statutory authorities and make the most of the doors opening with the Big Society agenda. We looked at the way in which ROC is working in villages, towns and cities across the UK and celebrated the recent launch of ROC in Birmingham. Debra said that Chief Constable Matt Baggott had invited her to Northern Ireland recently and the phrase “kindness without agenda” was first coined. Could this be the way ROC will continue to serve local people and communities in the forthcoming months and years ahead? Debra visits NI again in January 2011.
Roll on the next ROC Ambassadors Conference (May 6th-7th 2011), we can’t wait!!
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