Director of (inter)national Action for Happiness sends his blessings

Date: 30 November 2011 11:36:21 GMT
To: Paul Crosland 
Subject: Re: CLARITY ABOUT MY MOVING-ON PLANS whilst keeping a strong-link to Hastings -wanting to return when the conditions are right again, & NatWest CommunityForce

Hi Paul - thanks for the update. Sorry to hear the NatWest thing didn't work out - I'm sure there was some very strong competition for the funds. Best of luck with the move to Brighton - really hope that all works out for the best. Love the idea of "lend it all man" and great to hear that you're connecting with the #occupy folks. Thanks for all the positive things you've done in the name of Action for Happiness. Stay in touch! Mark

-- 
Mark Williamson

Director, Action for Happiness

www.actionforhappiness.org

www.facebook.com/actionforhappiness

www.twitter.com/actionhappiness

On 30 November 2011 11:19, Paul Crosland <paul.crosland@gmail.com> wrote:

Dear All (copied to Mark Williamson, Action for Happiness director)

Thank you all for the NATWEST COMMUNITY FORCE VOTES YOU GAVE AND ENCOURAGED OTHERS TO GIVE.

For me this unsuccessful attempt at raising timebank finance was a litmus test of Hastings/St Leonards neither being ready for what I'm offering or the way in which I'm offering it.

The controversy of my bringing the pier into the issue is well highlighted by this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCYpzKyhyP8

I thought that some of you might like to see the results -as offered below. Can I also ask a favour? Has anyone got time to research how many votes it took to win in 'Ashford & hastings' area & how many it will took to win in Brighton?

I ask because I will be moving to Brighton (and commuting back to St Leonards for two nights a week-ideally WEDS & THURS) if:

1) I can set up the better conditions I seek in Brighton (This basically consists of a supermarket shelf-stacking job through FRIDAY, SATURDAY & SUNDAY nights & living in a Buddhist household committed to the Bodhisattva Ideal)

2) I get offers of accommodation in Hastings/St Leonards to enable me to visit as planned.

Meanwhile, I've moved into a smaller and much neater office upstairs at the southwater centre that has all the vibe of the healings that were done there during "AGoodWeek".

Sue Coates is a keyholder and I would like Graham to accept back a set of keys so that he can use the office (when Sue and I aren't) in order to do the work of The Hastings Happy Crew.

I imagine that others of you can create some value by using the resources of the Mediation Support office, with its computer (just sign in as 'guest'), printer, comfy (orange) chair, display on the board and door of some achievements over 6 months, and streetbank library.

I'm in negotiation with the co-director of Freeelending CIC, Edmund Johnson, about the changed name and direction of the Community Interest Company; perhaps shortly to be called:

Timebanking & Freelending CIC.

Cheers

it's been a pleasure to have your company on this leg of a journey that reaches another crescendo this afternoon by the pier, where a poignant gravestone is being laid by a group of us.

(Don't worry, you'll be able to catch it all on http://www.youtube.com/user/Toothpaste007)

Paul

P.S. On Tuesday 13th December I'm giving the following talk (6-7pm) at the Occupy Brighton Camp:

Lend-It-All Man on increasing the role of the sharing & gift economy

-it would be great to see you there!

More on 'Lend It All Man' is here:

http://imperfectidealist.blogspot.com/p/paul-aka-lend-it-all-man.html

and my latest facebook update:

Excited by the prospect of the BBC Interview I did yesterday at the Occupy Brighton Camp leading to the recruitment of a team to knock on doors in Brighton and offer to do an hour's work for everyone we meet. (It's a bit like 'bob-a-job' from my youth). http://brightontimebank.info/

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: CommunityForce
Date: Tue, Nov 29, 2011 at 10:40 AM
Subject: NatWest CommunityForce - The results are in
To: 

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Dear Paul, As you will know, in July this year we launched CommunityForce and asked local charities and projects to take part and apply. In September, we invited members of the public to get involved and vote for the projects and charities they felt were making a big difference in their communities. In total more than 360,000 votes were cast for over 5,000 projects across England and Wales. We are delighted to tell you that the winners have now been announced. Visit natwest.com/communityforce to find out if the projects you voted for have won a £6,000 CommunityForce award. What will happen next? You can continue to support CommunityForce by volunteering for many of the charities and projects that applied this year. If you would like to volunteer it's easy to get involved. Explore the full range of projects and see who is looking for help near you here. We're also delighted to announce that CommunityForce is working with Localgiving.com to help provide a sustainable future for local charities and community groups, by making it possible for you to find and give to these projects. To find out more about Localgiving.com click here. Thank you for continuing to support CommunityForce. Yours sincerely, Fraser Kennedy Senior Manager, Community       This email is a service message designed to keep you informed about CommunityForce. If you do not want to receive this type of message by email in the future please click here or contact the CommunityForce Helpdesk on 0800 2100 246 or minicom - 0800 0155 545. About this email Please do not reply to this email, the address this email was sent from is not monitored. If you need to speak to us about this email, please refer to the Contact Us section of the CommunityForce website. Please note that this will not opt you out of any digital or mobile banking services you have subscribed to. If you wish to unsubscribe from any specific services such as online statements or mobile banking you will need to log on at NatWest to unsubscribe. Security Why we use the second half of your postcode in this email - We take your security seriously and this easily recognisable piece of information is an additional way to help you identify that this email is likely to be from us. However, you should still treat all emails that appear to be from us with caution and continue to follow the advice given in this section below and at natwest.com/security If you have recently changed address, you may still recognise it as your previous postcode. If so, please contact your branch to update your address. If you suspect it is a phishing email please forward it to phishing@natwest.com Should I ignore emails that do not contain the partial postcode? No, but do treat them with your usual caution. This new security feature is being phased into our emails over time so you should continue to follow the existing email security advice below and at natwest.com/security Many internet users have been targeted through bogus emails by fraudsters claiming to be from the Bank. These emails ask customers to provide personal details or Banking Security Information in order to gain access to your account or verify an email address. Please be on your guard against emails that request any of your security details. If you receive an email like this you should not respond. Please remember that, for security reasons, apart from when you create them at registration or when you change your Internet PIN or Password we will only ever ask you to enter random characters from your Internet PIN and Password when you log on to this service. We would never ask you by email to enter (or record) these details and we would therefore request that you do not respond to emails asking for this information. If you think any NatWest email is a phishing email please forward it to phishing@natwest.com. For further information about this and Internet Security in general, please refer to natwest.com/security Legal This email message is confidential and for use by the addressee only. If the message is received by anyone other than the addressee, please delete it from your computer. National Westminster Bank Plc does not accept responsibility for changes made to thismessage after it was sent. Whilst all reasonable care has been taken to avoid the transmission of viruses, it is the responsibility of the recipient to ensure that onward transmission, opening or use of this message and any attachments will not adversely affect its systems or data. No responsibility is accepted by National Westminster Bank Plc in this regard, and the recipient should carry out such virus and other checks as it considers appropriate. National Westminster Bank Plc. Registered in England and Wales (Registered Number 929027), Registered Office: 135 Bishopsgate, London EC2M 3UR. Authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority. If you do not want to receive further communications about CommunityForce by email in the future please send us a message.

--
Dear friend,
How are you? Is there anything that I can do to make things (even) better for you?

Kind regards
Paul
0780 70 66 202 - if a call will work better for you than an email?

Asking you about your interest in happiness & sharing:
http://stleonardssharing.info

"St Leonards Sharing" Timebank videos & press release at:
http://actionforhastingshappiness.blogspot.com/p/ideas-bubbling-out-of-happiness.html

Thank you for your time reading the whole email and following up what you were moved to do.

Brighton (Triratna) Timebank - your feedback please on this synthesis of ideas please

This email is sent to fellow friendly (& challenging :-) members of the Triratna Buddhist Community & copied to others whose opinion matters most and whose support sustains.
*************************

Brighton (Triratna) Timebank
- sparking new ways to help each other in the new economy

(underneath a logo of a Catherine wheel comprised of 3 Jewels, an arrow to the nail that holds the Catherine Wheel.)

What most firmly keeps the Catherine Wheel safely sparking into the world is a firm shared valuing of the values of the Timebank; the word 'Triratna' meaning 'three jewels'.

These values transcend many philiosophies and religions & are expressed in this Brighton (& South Coast) based Timebank as:

('Triangle Illustration' here)
Apex -Compassion
Left base - Learning
Right base - Team-building

1) Compassion (led by the example of the Buddha, who his closest friend described on his passing as "he who is so kind")

2) Learning (informed by the Buddha's teaching, which included a team-based generosity economics)

3) Team-Building (With our development of wisdom and compassion through working together and mutual generosity we become a stronger "Sangha"; setting a collective lead in troubled times, where ego-leading & greed have led to the un-economy.)

The un-economy was described on Radio 4's Sunday programme (27th November 2011) in the following terms:
Unfair
Unstable
Unsustainable
(& making lots of people) Unhappy.

Have you considered shifting your economic activity so that:
1) No more than one third of your economic activity is in the monetary economy?
2) As much as one third of your economic activity is traded through Timebank credits (free from money & yet able to pay for food, rent etc)? With creativity and good connections Timebank credits are even more potent and flexible than monetary credit in obtaining a wide range of the the things that matter.
3) All the rest of your economic activity becomes generosity- the "sharing and gift economy", whereby things flow freely without expectation of reciprocation.

People have the capacity to support each other meet not just their basic needs. A guy called Maslow wrote of our highest needs as our need for 'self-actualisation'. The more we go beyond 'self and other' & see "your needs (as) equal to mine", the healthier our communities become.

For all the benefits granted by late-modern society and competitive, debt-based economics, we can do better still.

If you want something better than what we've had to date, spend time finding out how the creative and socially-just application of timebanking (founded by Edgar Cahn) transcends the limits of money, the limits of barter & the limits of those local exchange schemes that have no brokerage-team to make wonderful things happen with no money.

The Moneyless Man, Mark Boyle, in his book of the same name celebrated with us at Buddhafield festival 2009 what could be done to lift the human spirit and re-connect us outside our monetary relationships.

Now in 2011/2012 the same organisation that founded freelender.org*, is coming of age, renaming itself Freelending & Timebanking CIC and seeking to build a strong team that makes a difference to many. Start by registering your interest via http://brightontimebank.info

(*Celebrated by Forum for the Future -alongside Landshare & Hospitality Club- as ahead of it's time in generating the low carbon economy)

Dear friend,
How are you?

Kind regards
Paul
Thank you to so many people in Hastings & St Leonards; most recently Patrick Glass, for his searing critique of the 6 months work I did here in setting up this 1st Happiness Group in Hastings;
http://actionforhastingshappiness.blogspot.com/p/those-who-have-made-good-week-happen.html

Tel 0780 70 66 202 - if a call will work better for you than an email?

P.S. I hope you have time to arrange a time to pop into the Hastings & SL AfH & Mediation Support Centre for tea & chat this week? Ideal for me would be
Thurs or Fri.
And, cheesy though it sounds, is there anything that I can do to make things (even) better for you?

And do let us (at the Timebank etc) know of your interest in happiness & sharing, if any:
http://stleonardssharing.info

"St Leonards Sharing" Timebank videos & press release at:
http://actionforhastingshappiness.blogspot.com/p/ideas-bubbling-out-of-happiness.html

Monthly updates on Paul's juggling of so much (seriously playful) stuff at: http://additionalinfo.blogspot.com

Thank you for your time reading the whole email and following up what you were moved to do.

The future of lending & borrowing schemes relies on a healthy combination of on & off-line systems

St Leonards Sharing - Timebank