Wanted - Welsh language speaking Buddhists

The Buddhist Council of Wales has received an enquiry from Lowri Williams of the BBC, appealing for Welsh language speaking Buddhists to help with the production of bilingual resources for GCSE Religious Studies revision. Can you help?

“I'm a producer for BBC Bitesize, an online revision resource for GCSE students. I'm currently in the early production stage of a brand new bilingual resource for Religious Studies (Wales only). The resource will be based on the WJEC's new specification to be taught from September 2017.

The WJEC’s new specification mentions the importance of including a Welsh perspective, and as it will be a bilingual English/Welsh resource, would you be able to recommend any Welsh-speaking Buddhists or centres where there are Welsh speakers please?”

Organ Donation Wales looking for case studies

The Organ Donation Wales campaign are looking for case studies of people from different faith group communities in Wales who have organ donation stories to tell. They would like to be able to include responses from Buddhists in Wales. Do you have a relevant case study in your Buddhist community? 

Research has shown that BAME communities and some faith group communities have a notoriously low engagement / understanding of the new organ donation system in Wales and the need to opt in or opt out.  As part of their communications activity, Organ Donation Wales wants to find case studies of people of all ages from communities who have:

-       Discussed their organ donation decision with loved ones
-       Been a living donor (of a kidney)
-       Or been a donor recipient of an organ
-       Or have been touched by organ donation / transplant through a loved one or close friend

The purpose is to use the stories to inspire more people across faith communities to make time to talk about their organ donation decision with those closest to them, whether it is to opt in, or opt out, of being an organ donor. 

Organ Donation Wales want to hear your story. They will require a good quality photograph to use with the case study on the campaign website; on social media in November and in local newspapers.

You can find more information about the campaign and examples of case studies here: http://organdonationwales.org

If you would like to be involved in contributing a case study, please contact  Organ Donation Wales.

Buddhist representatives required for Vale of Glamorgan and Rhondda Cynon Taf SACREs

There are currently vacancies for Buddhist representatives on the Vale of Glamorgan and Rhondda Cynon Taf SACREs (Standing Advisory Council on Religious Education).

If your group or organisation is interested in representing the Buddhist faith in one or both of the SACREs, has someone based in or near the Vale of Glamorgan or in Rhondda Cynon Taf (it is a requirement for RCT that the representative lives in the area), or if you would like to find out more information, then please email the Buddhist Council of Wales and we will pass this on to the appropriate person.

Buddhist Festivals

The Welsh Assembly government recently enquired about the festivals celebrated by the faiths represented at the Faith Communities Forum. Buddhism is represented at the Faith Communities Forum by the Buddhist Council of Wales. The Chair of the Council, Ngakma Nor’dzin Pamo, replied that the primary Buddhist festivals are the New Year and Wesak (Vesak).

Does your tradition focus on any other Buddhist festivals? Is there a festival that your Buddhist organisation or group would like to have brought to the attention of the Welsh Assembly Government? If so, please do contact the Buddhist Council of Wales to let us know and we will forward the information.

Faith and Parenting survey

The Buddhist Council of Wales has been informed of a survey that looks into faith and learning.  The questionnaire is quite short and easy to follow if you wish to support this work.

As part of a University of Warwick funded research project we are investigating the links (if any) between parents' religious or spiritual beliefs and their engagement in children's learning.

Below is a link to an online questionnaire which we would invite you to complete giving your views. All responses will remain anonymous.

http://tinyurl.com/parentalengagementsurvey

Results from the survey will be used to inform publications and further research into understanding how to best support children's learning.

We would be grateful if you forward this link to any other parents you feel would be interested in the research.

If you would like any further information on the project or have any questions please contact janet.goodall@warwick.ac.uk.

Thank you for your participation.

Dr Janet Goodall University of Warwick
Kathryn Ghent Birmingham City University

Mindfulness study

A final year student of psychology is looking for volunteers to help with a study on mindfulness.  Please contact her if you are interested in taking part.  The questionnaire is quite short and easy to complete.  If you would like to help please email Claire Cotterill: cotteri2@uni.coventry.ac.uk

She says:

"I am a final year Psychology student at the University of Coventry. I am doing some research to ascertain whether being mindful (as gained through meditation practice) helps to reduce social anxiety, a common mental health problem. 

To date I have collected data from over 170 people, but only 6 participants have had any prior experience of meditating, so it is difficult to demonstrate whether meditating reduces social anxiety. I was wondering if you would mind disseminating this research to your members / sangha?

The questionnaire take no longer than 10 minutes to complete and in terms of data protection I don’t actually need participants to type their names on the consent form if they don’t want to (although I do need to know age, sex and mindfulness experience)."

Meditation and Attentional Control study

Kim Jenkins from Swansea University is looking for people to take part in a study:

LIKE TO EARN £8?

Take part in our study!

We are looking for males and females to take part in a study on meditation and attentional control. We are keen to recruit both individuals who currently practice meditation as well as those who have never meditated.

You will need to be 18 years of age or older, a fluent English speaker, and not currently dieting to lose weight. You will be asked to complete two computer based tasks and a series of questionnaires. The study should take no longer than 1 hour. Please also note that you will be asked to fast (i.e. consume no food) for 3 hours prior to taking part.

The study will either take place at Swansea University, Singleton Park, Swansea, SA2 8PP or possibly at the Palpung Changchub Dargyeling, The Chapel, 96 King Street, Brynmawr, Ebbw Vale, NP23 4SY (depending on participant numbers).

If you are interested in taking part, or would like to know more, please contact Kim Jenkins on 07908115403 or online at 290921@swansea.ac.uk

Tibetan Translator needed

The Buddhist Council of Wales has received the following enquiry from Azar Melville:

"I am looking for someone who may be able to help me with a small amount of translation from Tibetan to English. There will be a small payment and it is quite urgent."

If anyone can help Azar please contact the Chair of the Buddhist Council, Nor'dzin Pamo, via a blog comment or the website contact form.