Spring

2005

BOOKSPlusNorwich

BOOKS PlusNorwich trading at the

Norfolk and NorwichUniversityHospital

BOOKS PlusNorwich is very different from the Cardiff shop. As we have yet to secure a permanent trading position at Norfolk and NorwichUniversityHospital, we trade for 3 consecutive days per month. “So how does that work” you may be thinking? This is how it goes!

  • Our merchandising team arrive, after work, at Outpatients East and spend about 2 hours turning an empty space that has a few cupboards and shelves, into a shop! During the Christmas period it takes a little longer.
  • For the next three days we trade, serving fairly equal numbers of staff and patients. It is all very hard work, but enjoyable and worthwhile.
  • On Friday afternoon, our stock goes backinto boxes and is returned to our storage unit.

The Norwich team are very committed to seeing BOOKS PlusNorwich established on a permanent basis. We are all volunteers and come from several local churches. We would like to see the volunteer team develop and are constantly surprised by the skills and talent people bring to the project.

Getting to where we are has been a long journey. Trading on a daily basis was and is the only option open to us at NNUH as permanent retail space is very limited at the present time. We began with a 3-day trading experiment in spring 2003, having formed BOOKS PlusNorwich Association the previous autumn. Once the experiment was over, we set about preparing to trade monthly from July 2003. Initially, we would arrive early Thursday morning to set up for the day. This soon became impossible and we began setting up the night before. During 2003 we traded all day Thursday and Friday until lunchtime, packing up in the afternoon. From January 2004 we added Wednesday to increase our trading base. We will continue along these lines until a permanent shop unit becomes available.

As an Association, we have a growing support base. Many churches and individuals have expressed an interest and regularly receive prayer information from us.

So why do we do it? It has become increasingly clear to us in Norwich, that BOOKS Plusis a unique opportunity to show God’s love in a context that touches many people’s lives. Most of us will visit hospital at one time or another. Here is an opportunity for people to look at, or even buy a Christian book or Bible in a non-threatening environment. We think the vision to see BOOKS Plusdevelop in NHS hospitals is worthy of our time and effort.

If you haven’t visited us yet, next time you are in the Norfolk and NorwichUniversityHospital come and see if we are there. Or you could email us for details:

Alexis Lloyd

‘The Word’ at Gloucestershire Royal

A new door is opening for "The Word" at the GloucestershireRoyalHospital

A new entrance is in its final stages of completion at the Gloucestershire Royal. This entrance has retail outlets, all of which have been taken by WRVS. However they find that they have one unit to sub-let. We, Light on the Mount, are in positive negotiations with WRVS regarding renting this unit. …continued over page

BOOKS Plus - The shop of Light on the Mount Christian Bookshop Project at the University Hospital of Wales

Heath Park CARDIFF CF14 4XW tel: 029 2074 6294 email: web:

‘The Word’ at Gloucestershire/..continued

Could a future BOOKS Plusat the Gloucester hospital look like this?

WRVS themselves are already trading, however the main entrance will not be open until June 2005. Therefore the footfall at present is still low.

We would aim to open BOOKS PLUSGloucester in the run up to the full opening summer.

The trustees of Light on the Mount have made several trips to Gloucester to establish contacts with the chaplains and hospital staff. The outcome thus far has been the formation of a Steering Committee. The initial four Gloucester members of the committee are employed at the Gloucestershire Royal.

I was privileged to attend the meeting when that Steering committee was formed. This is history in the making - HIS STORY. The committee immediately started contacting the local churches in order to inform and raise funds. This was most encouraging.

Furthermore John Hubbard, their treasurer, has paid BOOKS PlusCardiff a visit and was duly impressed.

WE need to pray that more people in Gloucester will catch the vision. Gwenda Roberts

BOOKS Plus is run by Light on the Mount

Registered charity No 1074480 and a company limited by guarantee, registered in Wales No 3590949

Book Review

‘No flowers…just lots of joy’ - by Fiona Castle with Jan Greenough, 155pp, Kingsway Publications, 2003, £7.99

One feature of the modern world is the cult of the celebrity, be they film stars, footballers or TV presenters. Celebrities can exert amazing influence: through the media they have the power to determine what clothes we wear, what cars we drive and even what breakfast cereal we eat.

Not all celebrities choose to exploit their fame in such a cynical fashion. Fiona Castle has taken the brave step of telling the story of her life as a Christian, and more particularly, the story of how her faith supported her through the final illness and death of her husband, the show business entertainer, Roy Castle. I use the word ‘brave’ advisedly as it was an act of courage to write about this painful episode in her life with such dignity and transparent honesty. Roy’s illness could have been devastating both to her marriage and her faith since neither were initially built on firm foundations, at least before she truly came to know Jesus.

What shines through the entire book, however, is the ability of the Holy Spirit to transform an apparently hopeless situation into one which shows how the power of faith can demonstrate the extent of God’s love. For anyone who has experienced bereavement, the story is a wonderful example of the way in which that most negative of situations – the untimely death of a talented and beloved individual – can be turned to the good. It also exemplifies an aspect of God’s plans which we so often ignore, namely that what we want (e.g. the healing of a loved one) is not necessarily the same as what God knows is best for us. Finally it is worth repeating Fiona’s own spontaneous comment to the press immediately after Roy died, since it sums up her fundamental message. For her, his death required, ‘no flowers, no fuss, no mourning, just lots of joy’ – the phrase from which the title of this thought-provoking and uplifting book is taken.

Phil Bramall