Vegans & Vegetarians making a difference!
Profile Information
- Are you Vegetarian, Vegan or something else?
- Vegetarian (eating fish)
- About Me:
- Before I start
I need to mention a special friend Tatcho the office hound -dog
Tatcho shares my world almost 24/7
he helps my work immensely and sends you all a big woof!
I live and breathe a non profit organisation based in the UK called PHI.
Our organisation does several things but at the moment has 2 main focuses.
Firstly we work to integrate Complementary Medicine into traditional doctors practices.
We do this in several ways. Ona practical level we are involved in a large medical centre, working with the doctors to help them to prescribe Comp Med alongside the traditional medications.
We also are building a stron research team of university professors to research health projects we are running.
Secondly we have setup a social enterprise Cafe called Cafe PHI. These Cafe's are run as professional quality Cafe's similar to the chains you see all over the world.
With one difference
As a social enterprise trading profits we make go to the community.
And we are creating therapeutic work programmes for people who are recovering from a mental illness, from substance abuse problems, just been released from prison or homeless.
These programmes provide health education, and therapeutic assistance to help people empower themselves to find a new way of going forward in life.
Our first Cafe PHI opens in the UK in January inside a large £3.5m new health centre.
Although we have the support of many 'top' figures involved in healthcare, we are at heart a radical organisation and beleive that the time has come to really get to grips with the crazy inequalities that exist in the world.
In the UK. for example. it is nuts that in the year 2007, people are sleeping on the streets. (similar in the US I am sure) while people have so much wealth and abundance to spare.
Our mission is to give people who are really at the 'edge of life' the same chances that those not struggling have.
To give people, who have nothing, the chance to find out what they want to do in life and to seek ways to make that happen.
PHI is also unique in that it was started by a woman, Christine Crowstaff.
She created PHI, as a direct result of things that happened in her life, including living in semi-poverty with a husband with severe mental health problems and her baby son, Roderik, dying aged 2 days.
PHI is a huge journey of discovery and a huge adventure. We don't have big backers and don't go down the traditional charitable 'begging' route.
We just go out and tell people what we are doing from the heart and why we are doing it.
People either think we are nuts or love us. Mostly the latter, though people with 'reputations' to keep intact get a little scared.
Everything is done on a shoe-string and we are always looking for people to support us.
It is also crazy because people are already talking to us about setting up Cafe PHI's in other countries. It's like an unstoppable snowball.
In the meantime, myself and Christine who are the 2 full time volunteers, have a ball, risking everything, living on the edge and just trusting that we are meant to do what we are doing.
The most important thing is to have a sense of humour as well as an open heart.
We make sure both of these remain firmly embedded on the surface!
Love and light to you all
- Website:
- http://www.phihealth.org.uk
Andrew Sampson's Blog
Humming to a cow
Hello friends
This is a true story from my working life today.
This morning I went with my colleague to a meeting with a pretty influential man who we were eager to get involved in the work we are doing.
It turned out to be a a very positive meetin and something arose from it which was very exciting and we decided we needed to share it with one of the peopel we work closely.
Now we couldn't get an appointment with Mike for an hour and a half so we had some time to…
ContinuePosted on November 2, 2007 at 4:51pm —
Wow what a friendly place
This evening Chris invited me to this portal.
Now, I have some experience of these NING portals, and if someone wants me to join something I am a little selective these days
There are only so many hours in the day after all!
Anyway so I joined, Chris seems a good man.
So I filled out my profile, an interesting experience because I have probably done this 15 times and each time I never know what I am going to write.
Anyway I finished up decided to get on with…
ContinuePosted on October 31, 2007 at 6:49pm —
SUPPORT OUR COMMUNITY!
Spotlight on Veghaven
Learn how you can help us help animals!
Chat
Latest Activity
![Miranda [TerraFire]](http://api.ning.com/files/c3NX1Zm--mdEb1DCAE1QY2dOEoj*QPIZokmbJtWZcBc_/p2.JPG?width=32&height=32&crop=1%3A1){kind=small}
49 minutes ago 
1 hour ago 
2 hours ago 
4 hours ago Our Sponsors
Forever Green
Organic, Whole Food and Raw. Discover a the most nutrient dense food on the planet.
Forever Green
FREE VEGAN STARTER KIT
Right Livelihood
Learn about a Vegan home based business helping people. [Learn More]
Organic Energy Drink
Most Energy Drinks are full of chemicals, harming your health health. Discover an organic, natural energy drink. No Crash. No Caffiene.
[Learn More]
© 2009 Created by Chris Tinney
Comment Wall (7 comments)
You need to be a member of VegHaven.org to add comments!
Join this network
And a happy turkeyless thanksgiving to you too. Whatver thanksgiving is!
Isn't it about celebrating throwing the Brits out of the US?
Anyway I had a bit of fun researching all you are up to yesterday. Wow what an amazing web you weave.
The best bit I found was:
...................
Not everything is here. I don't know where stand-up comedy fits or a relationship yet. I do know I can always count on surprises!
...................
So hoping you have at least found where stand-up comedy fits!
Here is a little taste of one of the UK's better comedians. Dr Phil Hammond talking about Complementray Medicine.
.......................
Others prefer the power of positive thought backed up by fairy dust. There also seems to be a basic human need to believe in the unbelievable. The success of Harry Potter isn't entirely due to the prose style. Medicine used to be magic, doctors used to be ‘other'. But conventional medicine is now endlessly demystified in the media. We're like magicians who's tricks have all been explained. So people are flocking to complementary therapies. ‘I've got too much jitsu in my tsubo, you say? That'll do nicely - here's £50'.
You can make up your own complementary therapy today and it'll work if you carry it off with enough conviction. But placebos only keep working if you keep the faith. And the best way of doing that is to serve them up with a big dollop of love. That's why I think these therapies are so popular. Doctors aren't very good at love. If we're not emotional cripples when we leave medical school, it only takes a year or so in NHS. Americans talk about having ‘unconditional positive regard' for patients but you're more likely to get that from your dog than your doctor. We don't do love.
Complementary therapists, by contrast, are full of it. They listen to your pain, they acknowledge it, they individualise it, they interpret it. You're not just a number in a randomised controlled trial, you're a unique, overweight ginger stress puppy with lot of emotional baggage. Let me carry it for you. Let me stick a pin in you. We will get better. Together.
The magical power of medicine has always been in the human effect. You need time and continuity with a lovely doctor, like Dr Clooney, to really carry it off. Split medicine into little bits and you destroy its magic.
I've tried a whole range of magic, out of professional interest. My favourite was inversion therapy, which had me dangling upside down, suspended on an acrobat's feet over Glastonbury Tor, while he chimed a Tibetan wedding bell. I'm still not sure if I felt better afterwards, but he really cared for me. And technically we're married.
..................................
Have a great day
Andrew
Just cruising by to say hi..... Hi!
Dhyan Sammoda
which means Delight and Meditation
and it was a hunch and then I looked on the internet and just hunched more
Love and light
A
I actually thought that www.EnergyisHealing.com
woudl be even more interested in it!
Thanks