Charity is what you make it - not always what you give!

So my coffee was almost spoiled, but I asked for a shot of caramel in it to take away the bitter taste of the twitter and things immediately felt better after that! (after all if life is about choices then choosing not to hold on to anger should probably count as a good choice! even with the extra calories attached!).

So I found out one (the main one! - you know the one with the systems issues, yes them - IdiotBuiltSystem-StuffedTheLeadtimes!) of the Christian book wholesalers over here are going to be chainging their name soon it would appear!
(Thanks to Fellow Twitter @notbovvered Fuller info can now be found on his excellent blog - Christianbookshopsblog.org.uk)
But also they are doing things like looking to lay off staff and then seemingly doing a recruitment drive and asking for volunteers, in what seems to me to be to in effect fill those paid staffers positions, and then claiming to be 100% Charity!

Well sorry to me that's playing a foul semantics card.
100% charity does not involve looking for ways to make your life/business better at the expense of people you are meant to have a duty to care for!!
Add to that given it is a commercial business (albeit a registered charity!) it's trickery to try to convince the customers that through supporting them 100% goes to charity - actaully it doesn't as most of it goes on admin, stock, overheads etc - very little of the customers spend makes it to the charity component - I should know I spent 14 years working for the same sort of retail/publishing/worldwide charity as these folks - and believe me the final sum going to the missions was less than 5% ! So again it's misleading and unfair to make these sorts of claims and do this sort of thing.

Heck my business isn't a charity - it provides for me, my family and staff with not much left over - and then most of that goes to the taxman as I render unto ceasar, but I give willingly to charity from that money because yes it is the right thing to do - and yes I have a nominated charity for my shop, and this year even though times are tough I am still giving - and last year I gave too, twice in fact! This is not to brag, but it's to point out that saying 100% charity is not saying anything if it isn't backed up by real action, (Mark 12:42) if you have thousands and give little, or have little and give as much as you can - well draw your own conclusions.

Again this issue is the unfairness and biasedness of the situation, the misuse of words and ethics to deliberately report something in a way not absolutely honestly truthful, but rather its propoganda marketing and spin if you ask me and if that makes sense! Seems to me some Christian Bookshop Chains & Charities seem to be loosing the concept somewhere, as this one seems to using the same secular and what to me seem to be somewhat ethically dubious activities such as we last saw demonstrated by SSG (SPCK/SSG as they were when they first tried the volunteer trick!). Shame that really.

So the question I ask all of you - and please do comment! - is:
Is it fair for charities running commercial & retail businesses to compete claiming 100% charity?

Oh and let me clearly state that in this I refer to businesses other than pure 'charity shops' that sell on only donated secondhand goods for the most part!
I mean businesses that really are full on retail and commercial businesses operating exactly the same as their secular counterparts - except of course for their registered charitable status.

ok, last thing, I am now truly a twit!
that is to say i am now on twitter.com, so if any of you are also on there and want to chat/follow or be followed then you can find me at: @unicorntreebks

Anyway that's it for now - see you in the shop tomorrow and if you inhabit cybersphere only then don't forget you can shop through our A-shop and support us that way too - and feel free to donate to our nominated charity at any time!

This is what we Look Like!

This is our dedicated Religious, Christian Books & Church Supplies Section!

Christmas is here! Gifts, jewellery, Cards, Bibles and Kids Bible Books!

Nativity Sets now in stock! Bibles, Theology, Spirituality, Ministry, General Christian Life Etc

Church Supplies! Candles, Wafers, Church Stationary, Incense, Christian Music, Cards, Gifts etc.

Here are a few pictures of us for those who follow along on the blog but can't get in for whatever reason - as you will see we are a real bookshop for all we are open sided and open minded enough to be in a market hall.
Also you will note the picture of the Christian bit prove we have now moved into the pre-christmas season with lots of nativities and such now in stock - I challenge anyone out there who has recently been at meetings and have never been to see us to say we are not a real bookshop! Assuming makes... well we all know the adage! Come by and visit us and don't make assumptions based on the word Market - Marks & Spencers Started in a market! Starbucks started in a market and so did lots more! The market is fully enclosed and filled with specialist stalls as well as the mundane! A Science-fiction and Movie Memorabilia collectible specialist is the market! The Stamp Man for rare & collectible Stamps, Coins, Postcards and other such rare, treasured & exclusive finds is in the market! Artist Supplies & bespoke framing is in the market - Wendy the artist on artist supplies is a professional artist who is regularly commissioned for cover art and private work! She paints in the market and does art tuition in the market! Then of course there is us - not just a bookstall but a niche market book specialist - we import US fiction on a weekly basis covering Crime, Thrillers, Romance, Science-Fiction, LGBT and other markets - we are one of the few in the greater county and further afield that does so! We deal in specialist markets such as transport and military history - DVD's, Books & more! and of course there is my personal joy - our religious, christian & Church Supplies unit! Committed to serving Lincoln & Lincolnshire churches and faith communities, because no city should be without a Christian bookshop and resource centre.
Of course lets not forget Al's Arts & Crafty Bits also in the market and part of us - one of lincolnshires best papercraft suppliers for the last 5 years now!
Market is just a word, no one scoffs at going to the Supermarket but yet going to a Market Hall denotes something less worthy, something to be scorned and lessened - well put aside your preconceived notions and come visit Lincoln Central Market - you will be surprised at just how many upmarket (see there's that word again!) types pass through it and how many select customers it reaches out too - we have in the years I have now been here happily and repeatedly served on a weekly and monthly basis Judges, Bishops, MP's, Councillors, Doctors, Actors and just everything else on down. There's no shame in being in a market or visiting a market - the only shame is that some think there is and that's no shame on us, its just ashame that some can't work past a bias.
Ok rant over pictures following - enjoy and see you in the bookshop in the market tomorrow!

The Main Bookshop Pictures!

Science-Fiction, Horror, Military & Historical Fiction!

Large Print Books & Secondhand Crime & Thrillers Section

Our newest Niche Market -The LGBT Section - Small but growing!

The kids love to play in Pegasus Books! - Our Childrens section - almost impossible to keep tidy!

Autobiography, True Crime, and the beginning of Ladies & Saga Secondhand

Puzzles! Classic Literature, Secondhand Science-fiction & Horror

Always look up and not at your feet! Jigsaws, Paint-by-Numbers and lots more are up high!

Al's Arts & Crafty Bits, opposite the religious bit! Decoupage, Stamps etc - a papercraft heaven!

Hello & Welcome in!

Outside for Ladies & General Fiction, Westerns & Romance, The Entrance for Paranormal & Historical Fiction, inside for Pegasus Kids Books, Crime, Thrillers, Science Fiction, LGBT, DVD's, Audio Books, CD's, Jigsaws, Games and Arts, Secondhand Books Sections and lots more - oh and inside and passing through and across the aisle for Al's Arts & Crafty Bits and the Religious & Christian Books and Church Supplies!
Wow - not so little and yes very very real.

Happy Birthday or anniversary of something like that!

Today makes it exactly 2 years that I have in fact been the unicorntreebookshopboss!

Yes indeed on this day 2 years ago I did in fact sign over all the worldly goods I did not possess and indeed the hope of having them! in exchange for the messy little bookstall that was at the time browse awhile books! and now two years on it's not so messy, not so little and indeed not so bad!

I am still impoverished and tortured by minions, but at least its my poverty and my minions and in exchange I have the ability to read whatever book I want 'cause I have thousands of them!

I have a range of speciality genres and markets that match my likes!

The newest of these of course being the Christian Books (completely with its own unit! see not so little!) and I am so glad to have these on board, to be able to spend some of each day discussing a subject I absolutely love is phenomenal and a real dream continuing on.
Today's discussion was on the Shack and the imagery presented as to God and if it is indeed heretical and if so why?
This addition hasn't come without pain and heartbreak, but what it has come with is a continuing commitment and fervour to serve and reach out, after all pretty much all my book career had been in this section of the book trade and leaving it was painful (though also thrilling and enjoyable on another level as I was moving into the sphere of all books and not just one section!) but I remained resolute and with God's grace and a smidgen of faith in face of adversity it came to be that I got it back this year, lets hope that together we can all continue to grow it - oh and did I say that Advent Candles and Advent & Nativity Books and Christmas Play material came in this week?? No? well it did - so if you are a church then get in touch as we are now taking Advent & Christmas orders!

Then of course we have the Craft section - formerly an independent business in its own right this came into our safekeeping a year ago and now lends itself wonderfully to our creative talent discussions and displays - believe it or not I am in fact a whizz at tea-bag folding, usually after they have been dried out from the copious cups of tea needed to cope with minion antics! This is still called Al's Arts & Crafty Bits, but of course its now housed in Unicorn Tree Books!

Next is the LGBT section which is continuing to build a following and reputation and expanding as time goes on. The yaoi manga has been going phenomenally well.

All in all I am pretty proud of the changes that the shop has undergone and hope that in the years to come these will continue to grow and develop as we go forward together in faith, hope and community commitment!

So as its a new year we have old news to report on and new resolutions to put forward!
So old news - our sponsored charity, Great Ormond Street Hospital Childrens Charity was given £373.00 in the end, given our target was originally for £200 I think we did pretty well together!

Thank you all who gave their change, those 1p's soon add up, as of course does the tithe we make from our sales - actually truth to be told that's apportioned from the bookshopsboss wage as we still aren't quite there enough to say its from the profits - its a commitment I made and so its one I keep!. We really do believe it is right to give to others when we can, as in giving we receive, even when we don't know it or see it. After all sharing is caring!

So anyway this year we are continuing with the Children's Hospital theme but this time its Alder Hay hospital that will be the recipient of our donations and tithes:


(though of course come October there will of course be our Christmas Charity to give to as well - last years Christmas Charity was Habitat for Humanity and we gave £50.00, lets hope we can give more this year when we decide on the Charity!).

So anyway I want to say thank you all for using us, supporting us and following along with us - if you want to come in and celebrate with us, then please do and remember my favourite celebration tipple is a Caramelatte from Nero's or a Caramel Macchiato from Starbucks!

Thanks guys for the last two years, and I look forward to serving and working with all of you in the next few ahead!

Yes, we were included in Mr Brewers Cease & Desist Notices.

Dear All,
I can now confirm that this blog was indeed listed in a Cease and Desist Demand email issued on the 21st July!
http://spckssg.wordpress.com/2008/08/01/other-pages-mark-brewer-says-i-must-take-down/

However I can also confirm that I still have not actually been contacted directly by the person making the demand!! In fact I believe that in point of fact there may even be more emails than the first one in which this blog was mentioned, but they may be covered by confidentiality requests.

The first email was not only sent to someone within my sphere of livelihood but it was also copied and sent to a member of the British press! thus potentially having the repercussion of doing me more damage. Certainly some of the statements made are in all likelihood defammatory and certainly, as previously reported, they have had a knock on effect to my reputation and livelihood as demonstrated by my post on the 22nd - after all the news got around - of course this could well be because this initial email - to which I was not included either directly or copied into, thus not allowing me to take action, refutation or defense, - was not sent as a confidential email in any way! indeed as stated in point of fact it was sent to a member of the british press!

Now one of the reasons I may not have been contacted or included initially may stem from the fact that given how the email is phrased the sending party would like to claim they don’t know who owns this blog or who I am - how that could possibly be I don't know, and am sure no right thinking or reasonable person could understand either, as for goodness sake I give the name of my shop in the blogger header and blog title! I also give the place we are and the official website link there too! So there is no possible excuse for such a mistake or oversight to act as a defense in this action, indeed pretty much every blog headline is a direct link to my shops main website and my full professional contact details are clearly included on that site, as is a standard contact form. Indeed on that website my name is actually clearly reported on more than one page! Add to that the comments on this blog are not set to moderate so a message could have been left at any time, therefore there is no justification or defense for not having contacted me directly prior to the sending of the email, or my inclusion in the initial sending of the email, especially as the demand was for the total removal of my entire blog, most of which is entirely unrelated to the person, their company, their charity or anyone else within their sphere.

So what happens now?
Well I am going to be making contact with the Federation of Small Businesses legal department, as being a member of this I have recourse to their services for free - how good is that! I am also going to be getting in touch with the National Market Traders Federation legal department - another association to which I have membership - as well and asking them for some guidance on this issue.
Of course a letter of apology and retraction sent to me with an agreement it can be made public on this site, and a donation to our nominated charity, or a bunch of charities of our choice, might go quite some way towards mitigation! Oh and perhaps the donation to me of the remaining fittings, fixtures and stands and odds and sods etc. -or the equivalent- that are within the closed SPCK/SSG Lincoln shop that I note is listed as a Creditor in Schedule F of the SSG LLC Bankruptcy papers would be nice in way of compensation?

After all including my whole blog and therefore tarring me and my business with the unfounded allegations of wrongdoing, and bringing me under the threats made in the email, whilst completely keeping the email and substance of these threats from my knowledge may only be willful ignorance, but it is difficult to see how this could be interpreted as anything other than an act of malice given that he failed to do me the simply courtesy of sending the email to me directly, especially with the potential impact to my reputation and livelihood.

And I certainly am not a public company, charity or public individual - after all I am not currently involved in any actions of noteworthy legal proceedings or public interest either here in Lincoln or elsewhere, though of course as the individual that sent the email in the first instance is aware - I am listed on his schedule as one who has been involved in a prior legal issue with him, and resolved it. Therefore the failure to contact me -thus potentially occasioning much damage to myself, my reputation and my livelihood and my ability to trade - or attempt to inform or notify me in any way prior to contacting those within the sphere of my livelihood and the british press in what was a clearly unmarked email without even the most basic disclaimer attached as to privacy and confidentiality etc is surely without justification.

So there we have it.
Yes this blog was included in a C&D,
threats were made against it and therefore me and no I was not and still have not been contacted by the party making the demand and threats.
I shall be expecting a letter of apology and reparation in due course, meanwhile in case they should not be swiftly forthcoming I will be making contact with legal advisors and trade associations whilst we explore ramifications and options.

Uggh Ingrams!

You know at the minute this bookshopboss is not amused!
It would seem that the americans are conspiring against me this week - first the issue relating to the post before and now INGRAMS (this is said in the same tone and intonation as a very bad swear word at the minute!).
I have now been waiting for nearly a week for a delivery to leave the US warehouse and make it to these shores so I can share the lovely books inside with you my lovely and desperate customers - well don't hold your breaths as US systems transpire again to thwart the UK bound.
They can't send it as the card details they have to transact the payment expires this month - and because in the US that would mean the card had actually expired, their cards expire on the first day of the listed month it would seem, and would be unusable their system automatically keeps declining my card - even though in the UK our expiry date means the last day of the month its dated! So they won't be able to send the books until the 1st of August when the new card becomes active!! all because of an automated system that does the payment transaction and the fact that it would seem they cannot overide the system and do a manual transaction!
UGGGGGGH!!!

So ok moving on - it has been unbearably hot in the shop for the last few days - well thats what happens when you work in a glass roofed building - its like being an orchid in a hot house - and yes as you all know I really am that dainty, delicate and blooming wonderful!
Still we have the fan going, the doors open and the books in to help you all keep your cool and enjoy the time basking in the garden, on the beach or wherever with your books!

This week we have had deliveries of more books - a great set of christian books, including some great kids ones and a snuggly sunday bunny! great fun and at good proces (*edit: that was my 'allo allo' british fake french accent in honour of my friend Aude, the continental market that was in town and the fact that I can't actually type!!)too. We also have an offer going on some NT to give away this summer - they are only £1.50 instead of £3.99, and we are offering £1.00 off Richard S. Taylors 'What every Christian ought to know' (9781853453168) as well! For a review of this book go here its a site I am very involved with and even review for on occasion and I heartily endorse it for impartial christian reviews!(but whatever you do remember to come back to me to buy it!!!) : http://www.thegoodbookstall.org.uk/review/1853453161/richard-s-taylor/what-every-christian-ought-to-know/

Oh we had gifts in too! Very Very cool wooden toys - a Noahs Ark! A Nativity Set in a String Bag and some square blocks - 26 of them with words and pictures of them - the people in the pictures look a bit like BOD! I love it. There are also some BOD like magnet sets as well - a nativity set and a Life of Jesus set as well. Honestly they are great - I am thinking of going over to the kids corner and playing with them as stress relief from the week.

In the craft section we have had in some new stuff too, Christmas Card making materials and a whole load of pens, glitters, glues and other fun stuff to make a mess with over the summer while you pretend to be getting ready for Christmas!

Ohh talking of Christmas Cards - I did the Christmas Card order this week, lots and lots of Christmas cards will be in at the end of August - charity ones and normal ones! and the Christmas nativity and gift order is going in this week too! they too will no doubt arrive much to soon - there are some lovely Christmas ornaments going to be coming in.
and talking of charity -

So anyway come by and see - bookshopboss vent and share over now! going to have a coffee now. See you soon.

Interesting times!

Hey all - who knew my blog was of such potential interest!
I say this because today I have recieved no less than 3 phone calls from people in the publishing and bookselling world asking me if I am ok?
Why would I not be ok I queried - well it would appear that there is a nasty rumour going around that I have been threatened with libel action due to some of my posting in regards to SSG.
I want to state quite clearly and catagorically here that I have not personally been contacted in any way shape or form, by phone, letter, email or posting by anyone representing SSG, ENC or any related bodies or peoples! If I had I would make known this fact and would of course take whatever legal action was necessary in such a situation.
Now it could be that all the people contacting me today are practicing chinese rumours or of course it could be that I have been mentioned in correspondence to other people but not directly contacted, all I do know is that supposedly someone has made statements and potential threats to/or about me or my blog to which I cannot respond as I don't actaully know what they are as they haven't been represented to me directly - however I do know they are doing the rounds within the arena of my business and could therefore potentially have serious import and repurcussion on my good name and ability to trade within the arena of publishing and bookselling!
I would be very grateful if whoever has caused this injury to my name, person and work could kindly cease please.
Now though i do not know exactly what has been said and put in writing directly - though obviously it has been serious enough to warrant concern from at least 3 people within my work sphere - I am assuming based on the references made to me about Dave Walkers blog and his shut down that it must be to do with the SSG situation to which I have made references and posted on - to this end I am practicing discretion to a degree and am editing some of the posts contained here to take out third party references - though i reiterate that currently no-one has contacted me directly to ask me to do this - again when they do I will let you know and will of course take all legal action necessary and as required to safeguard myself and my livelihood.
I am also making a quite clear and catagorical statement here that nothing in this blog in regard to the situations above is untrue, and every word written is proveable by witnesses, written records or directly through first person or party observation.
Also much of what is written here is personal opinion and fair comment based on the truths and statements of fact I know and hold to be true due to first party observation and corroboration of evidences from other effected parties, and/or moral and ethical beliefs.
Also I want to make it clear that any Cease and Desist Notices etc in regards to this blog will be sent directly on to: http://chillingeffects.org/ This is 'A joint project of the Electronic Frontier Foundation and Harvard, Stanford, Berkeley, University of San Francisco, University of Maine, George Washington School of Law, and Santa Clara University School of Law clinics', for their studies and database compilation.

electrical mayhem

HI all,

Well if you have been in this week, which I know of course you will have been! then you will know that the week was totally disrupted by the comedy duo and all round great guys - Dennis & Brian - the electricians who had the delightful job of trying to sort out something like 10 years of messed up wiring! we are talking attack of the killer cables, light switch from hell and find the hidden live socket! Its been fun and noisy, dusty and generally crowded in the space usually dedicated to browsers and books! still at least I can sleep well now knowing that my bookshop will not be an electrical short short of a blazing inferno!

I took this time to sort out some older stock that was cluttering up the place and got moved to make space for ladders and electricians and am now having a buster of a sale - hardbacks are marked at 20p each or 10 for £1.00 and once those are gone there will be no more hardback fiction taken in as it just is a dying medium to a larger extent ( though personal complaint here - I wish the darn publishers would stop with this stupid US type large paperback format - again its functionally useless as it don't fit a bag so wrecks the concept of portability, everyone complains at the extra price, and it ruins the look & flow of a bookcase - so come on guys can we just have standard paperbacks please, and if you ahve to keep a larger format then go with a special edition hardback for collectors!).
So anyway hardbacks done, overstocks of paperbacks - well there's the secondhand ones at 50p each or 5 for £1.00, and then on the unread and never owned before stock we have a yellow sticker offer going - any 4 yellow stickered books for only £5.00 - again top authors and titles.

I also rejigged the Jigsaws! as we had a new batch of over 6 large box loads in - new fantasy and gothic jigsaws in, a great collection called 'Wanted" where hidden in the wonderfully manic pictures are wanted characters you have to find - these are great!
For the kids we have glow in the dark scooby doo! (did I ever tell you all that the worst nightmare I ever had involved Scooby Doo! he was behind me as we ran up a never ending staircase trying to get away from what I now know to be the demon hoards of minions incapable of alphabeticising and the customers whose favourite puzzle mags got misdirected to aberdeen! I mean how do you mistake aberdeen for lincoln??), so anyway along with Scooby and gang there are some fantastic Famous Five jigsaws, which include the story that you read, a jigsaw to do and in the jigsaw the clues and answers that allow you to solve the mystery - again great concept fun. Jigsaws just seem to get cleverer!

On the Christian Side, well ok the 2009 Church Diairies are in -out - and in again!!, The 2009 Lectionaries are in - and there's a shed load of new books in this week from SCM-Canterbury, Church House, SPCK and Alban, along with Jeff Lucas's new book - well worth a read though at the minute I am reading his 'Prodigal Friendly Church' (Zondervan - 97803102678249 - £8.99) which is an excellent read and really speaks volume I can agree with!
Lots more cards now in and all in all the shelves are pretty full - but luckily people are beginnning to come in more now, oh yeah and Book Agents are now being canvassed for, there is a cool new leaflet all about the schemes we are offering on this one, but we are offering the service not just to churches but to Schools and other community groups and ventures too!

News - SSG declared Bankruptcy in the US Courts under Chapter 11 protection, but then founded a new managment company called ENC Management and told all remaining staff there jobs were gone and they would have to apply to the US courts if they wanted redundancy or their currently owed wages, however they could apply for their jobs to ENC and this would not be covered by TUPE - there are questions as to the rights of this situation, and at last report they had recanted on the last part whilst they sort a legal opinion! http://www.thebookseller.com/news/61032-st-stephen-the-great-files-for-bankruptcy.html & http://www.thebookseller.com/news/61032-st-stephen-the-great-files-for-bankruptcy.html & http://www.chesterchronicle.co.uk/chester-news/local-chester-news/2008/06/13/jobs-worry-at-bookshop-59067-21065437/

cool or what - this raises a wonderful ethical question - how many ways can be found to hurt people and continue to try it on??
So anyway its an interesting proposition going on here - I tell you if this was fiction non of us would buy the book as it would be just way too unbelievable!
More details on all this can be found here:
http://christianbookshopsblog.org.uk/2008/06/04/new-name-for-ssg/#comments
and here:
http://www.cartoonchurch.com/blog/category/save-the-spck/

OHH and we want to say congrats to the minion no.2 also known as Snowflake (and Eunice to her mum!) as she just got a new full time job (though she assures me she will still be available for saturday cover - after all she is the only minion that doesn't sing the alphabet whilst tidying the shelves!!). As I am sure you will all remember she was one of the staff sacked by email without notice by the SSG bookshops directors based in Texas! well done Eunice and enjoy - we know without doubt that you will be an excellent edition to your new employers team and will excel at the job as thats just who and how you are!

So that leaves one of the four that were so wrongly treated by them still looking for a job - again I put out a plea to you all that if you know of a job for a hardworking dedicated member of staff that has excellent office based, and shop based, skills, that was in charge of SPCK Lincolns Goods Inwards operations, then please get in touch and I will pass the details on! I can personally vouch for this member of staff and can assure you she is well worth hiring and a committed team player but more than able to organise herself and others (yes even bookshop bosses! so that just shows you what amazing skills she has!).

Oh yeah and we now have our LGBT Fiction section up and running now - we are intending our shop to be one that really serves the needs of Lincoln's Communities and outreaches, networks and welcomes everyone - after all its through our actions that we build community and show the light! - especially now the electricians have put new fittings and tubes in.

Ok other news and worthy mentions -
i want to wish my cohort Pinky ( who is also of course the teams Childrens Section Advisor) a big hug and get well soon as she fell off her Scooter last week (probably practicing dangerous curby stunts as pinky knows no fear!) and has broke her leg in two places and is in plaster to her knee! As you can imagine this puts a bit of a damper on our regular schemes to take over the world during the next 6 weeks while she heals up - but we are sure we can find other things to do to amuse ourselves! ( the colouring books are incredibly good fun and amazingly therapeutic, but we are not sure what people mean when they keep telling us that there are other colours to use then red, black, purple & Pink and we are meant to colour inside the lines!)

Minion no. 1 might provide some enjoyment for us yet! though of course she is taking up her Counselling Placement in the next few weeks (don't panic this has been arranged as a day off thing, so she will still be in store three days a week for you all to torture!) - for which we wish her all the best - we are sure that she will find all the help she needs!
oops of course we mean we are sure that she will recieve lots of assistance as she continues to grow her own skills as a training counsellor! No really we are sure minion no.1 will rock at this and many people will benefit from her assistance and we wish her all the best and are proud of her.

Anyway so ok then thats about all the news from the bookshop for now and the bookshop boss seriously needs a rest after all the activity of the week - yay sunday!, so I shall see you all in the shop next week!

(This post has been edited as a safeguard - for the reasons as to why this may have been necessary visit http://www.cartoonchurch.com/blog/category/save-the-spck, Oops now wait you cant - I guess you better go here instead: http://www.mattwardman.com/blog/series/cease-and-desist-notice-on-dave-walker/ Should I be notified personally and directly by the concerned parties of anything then I will of course let you know and then take any further necessary actions as may be required)

Edited!! opens!

Just to let you all know that the Lincoln shop was open today - with the alarm system blaring!!
I ask that you consider, should it be open again, not to make use of their services - and not just because I want you to use my services - but because of the way that the four long serving members of Lincoln Staff were treated in the employ of SSG and then in their uncharitable dismissal at the hands of SSG, and of course for all the other staff at all the other shops that have been treated in such a shameful manner.
(If you need to know more about the, shameful and morally dubious to my way of thinking, actions of SSG then click on the title to go to Dave Walkers Cartoon Church blog as he has done a fantastic job of reporting on this issue!)

Anyway the shop was manned by two gentlemen - one from York and one from Birmingham.
I was phoned on my mobile phone by one of the gents to ask for the alarm code!!
Whilst one of the original Lincoln - and so uncharitably treated staff - was in the shop, The locksmith asked 'Should I make the invoice out to SPCK then' to which one of the young men, not sure if it was the one from York or the one from Birmingham, said yes - the ex-member of staff immediately informed the locksmith that no he should not as SSG are not SPCK and do not have the right to use the name.

I would suggest SPCK really needs to crack down on this one soon - there surely must be something that can be done about this use of the name over the shop, when in point of fact both by SPCK's own statement and SSG's Statements this name is not supposed to be being used by the shops!( http://www.churchtimes.co.uk/content.asp?id=46788I & http://www.spck.org.uk/ & http://www.thebookseller.com/news/47694-book-chain-drops-spck-name.html ) I know from today that a lot of people do not realise it is not an SPCK Bookshop and that their money is not going where they believed it was, but is in fact going to a whole different charity with a whole different set of aims! come on SPCK at the least you are loosing out on your own potential donors let alone the continued damage to your name and reputation.

The young man from York later came into my shop to again ask for the code. I would tell you the conversation that ensued but I saw red when he told me he worked for "SPCK Bookshop" York, was a member of 'my team' and also in the union.

I pointed out all my team had been dismissed by SSG and our union was involved in trying to safeguard their rights in relation to SSG, and that SPCK had no bookshops.

I have to admit there was a certain word that came to mind! union members that act against their union and other union members due to concerns only for themselves - hmm but that is uncharitable so I would like to say here, that I do understand that the gentlemen from other shops do have a need of a wage themselves and that I forgive them for stepping all over my friends who have been so shamefully treated and for not thinking of them when choosing to come into and open a shop where all the staff were dismissed in so wrong a manner.

I do understand the need to earn a wage and am sorry if anything I said caused a feeling of guilt or made the gentleman from York feel bad, two wrongs don't make a right and I could have been more charitable myself - but then the young man in question could have given some consideration for others and thought how his action might have made them feel before phoning us or coming into our places of work and asking for the codes for the alarms.
One of the other ex-members of staff was also contacted by another SSG employee on her mobile asking for the Codes for the shop! the sheer audacity of these people begger belief - you do not contact members of staff after you have terminated their employment in such harsh manner - this is surely a form of harrasment and not really very acceptable to my way of thinking.

Interestingly though is that although at least three people, not in the employee of SSG and with grievances against SSG, were badgered for alarm codes no one had the codes to the shop as most of us have let such useless info drift from our frontbrain with many other much more pressing issues to think on!
(oops and talking of pressing issues that keep slipping the mind I need to take this moment to wish the Subaru a happy birthday! see not just regular minions get remembered and mentioned on my blog!)
So in the end the power leads were yanked from the main Fire System Zone Alarm box to silence the internal alarms that were set off after the locksmith popped the locks! this in turn set of the very loud and shrill external alarm ( its a failsafe!! hooked up to the main electrics, after all any thief can pop the electrics to a Zone Box!) so anyway in the end a hammer had to be taken to the external alarm box to smash it into silence after a couple of hours, and all this when the shop keys had been sent to the solicitors by the landlord, so they shouldn’t have needed to pop the lock anyway as their solicitors should have been able to give them the keys, and the owners of SSG should have had the alarm code as they had been supplied with it quite a few times!
There is now a glaringly obvious hole in the casing where once there was a perfectly innocent and intact (if occasionally noisy but with good purpose!) Alarm box. I do believe I was also informed of smashed glass in the large window of the back office where online and goods inwards used to be housed, I guess they did not have keys to those locks either!
Sums up the SSG management technique perfectly if you ask me!

However this aside I still could have handled my reactions better and again apologise for what I said whilst he was in my shop and I genuinely do forgive him for the harm and pain caused, I like to believe and am sure that it was not intentional just misthought.

Like I said I offer up humble apologies and do indeed sympathise (well ok I did once I cooled down a little!) with the gents - especially as one did say he felt he had no choice but to go where sent if he was to keep his shop open and the jobs of the others at his shop as that was the bargain he had to agree to to keep the shop open - I suggested he speak to his union rep. as what could possibly be percieved as blackmail, bullying or threats against staff to ensure compliance and make them do things they don’t want to do for fear of being responsible for a whole team losing their job is probably not pucka play!

One of the wrongfully treated ex-SSG staff works for me on a part time basis (the minion known as snowflake or minion no.2) and was in the shop when the gentleman from York came in to try to get the alarm codes again, his words and actions hurt her deeply as she needed and still needs the income that she has been cheated of - she did not in any way resign or quit, she said she would continue working under her old contract as was her right.

I know at least two other staff were also very distressed by this whole situation as I spoke to one almost immediately after I was contacted by mobile by the gentlemen in the shop, and the other made contact later that afternoon, again they did not in any way resign or quit, but said they would continue working under their old contracts as was their right.

Her need now is great, as is that of the other staff now without jobs, and though I offer what hours I can that is not enough to cover her mortgage, and for everything she earns from me she loses in respect of benefits and entitlements, thus unless I, or someone else, can offer her 30 hours a week she will continue to struggle.
As I said back last month - it is my hope to be able to provide employment where possible for my old staff, but I cannot do that yet so if anyone does have a job or three going then please contact me so I can pass on the info to these able people (on a lighter note - Being utterly selfish - I would appreciate it if one of these jobs I know you out there have to offer is mon-friday only so I can keep my excellent Saturday staff please!)
Just to remind, this particular member of staff had worked at the SPCK/SSG shop for over 6 years - the new girl! the other members of staff had all worked there for time frames between this 6 years and going up to 14/15 years! Dedicated, committed and hardworking people who served the Lincoln Christian Community with real commitment and faithfulness in this time.

I know, I worked with them, and we all would most likely still be working there if not for the way we had been treated by these employers. Our commitment to this community never wavered, our faithfulness to the message and job of Christian Bookselling as embodied in choosing to originally work for SPCK never altered, however we are not now there - not by our choice but by cruel circumstances that need never have been. Still we continue to serve where and how we can with a hope for the future!

So given all this, again I would ask you to consider should you support any ventures of SSG?? even if they are still pretending to be SPCK and trading on the good works of that institution and our, and our predecessors, work in Lincoln and for this community??


Speaking of Jobs, I want to congratulate Debbie on her new Job as Dr's Receptionist, she will do an excellent job as she never does any less! and the Surgery made the right choice in taking her on as she will be an asset to them! Well Done Debbie - you rock girl!
Now come on people we need 3 more jobs here please - at least until I am in a position to and can take some of the staff on more permanently with your kind support!


By the way I want to say a REALLY BIG AND HEARTFELT THANK YOU to Father Phillip of the local Orthodox Church for asking his congregations to support our endeavours here, and also to all the other members of Clergy and their congregations, including Bishop John Saxbee, Rev'd Ian Silk, Rev'd Richard Billinghurst & Rev'd Simeon Bishop to name just a very few who have been so supportive and wonderful as we have endeavoured to get the Christian Component fully up and running. I also want to thank all of the customers who have just "found" us and offered kind words and prayers! This really means much more than you can ever know and I do sincerely thank you all.

"Unicorn Tree Christian Books & Church Supplies" now has its own dedicated stall (Unit No. 3 - just opposite the rest of the bookshop) with Candles, Wafers, Incense, Hymn Books, Service Books, Bibles, Reading Notes, Stationery, Christian Books, Gifts, Cards and More now. Watch this space - PDQ is now in and Church/institution Accounts will be ready to be applied for and opened in the next few weeks!

I would also like to thank DLT, Kevin Mayhew, Alban, Church House Publishing, SCM-Canterbury, SPCK Publishing, Charles Farris, F.A. Dumont & Shinglers of Sutton amongst other publishers & Suppliers for being so fantastic in the last few weeks and helping get things moving.

Okay that's all for now - see you in the shop on Monday!

(This post has been edited as a safeguard - for the reasons as to why this may have been necessary visit http://www.cartoonchurch.com/blog/category/save-the-spck, Oops now wait you cant - I guess you better go here instead: http://www.mattwardman.com/blog/series/cease-and-desist-notice-on-dave-walker/ Should I be notified personally and directly by the concerned parties of anything then I will of course let you know and then take any further necessary actions as may be required)

SPCK CLOSES!

On tuesday my old work team and my friends were treated in a most reprehensible way, they turned up to work at the SPCK Bookshop as it had been (it still said SPCK outside but in point of fact it had been renamed as the SSG Bookshop some months ago by the current owners), to do their daily work at the Charity just to open the email system up and find that their employment had been terminated - effective immediately - by the Chairman of SSG from his base in Texas.
This I find to be a totally reprehensible act - to fire people by email - especially such dedicated people. The irony of it is that just the week before they had been out having a meal that was from the £100 they had been given by Mr P. Brewer when he awarded for the them the first 'Third Space' award in the chain. This was explained as being an award for having such an attractive, welcoming and well presented shop! the first two spaces being, our homes and our places of work - places we feel inately comfortable and welcomed - the third space and hence the award is a space other than these two where a similar feeling is invoked!!!
Well there will definitely be no third space awards going to SSG and their owners in my estimation.
So anyway if anyone out there knows of jobs going for some extremely talented and dedicated retailers, who are also skilled in customer service and office work, then please do let me know so I can pass this info onto them.
If I had the ability to give them jobs I would but currently the situation just does not allow for this - however as I am now the only retailer in town doing Christian Books and Church Supplies it is my hope that in the next few months I will have been able to grow this side of the business to such a level as was at the old SPCK and then be able to take on my old staff! so please assist in enabling this (that is if you haven't got a job you can give them yourselves!) by supporting me in growing this business!
Much more information on the goings on of SSG can be found at Dave Walkers wonderful Cartoonchurch blog here:http://www.cartoonchurch.com/blog/category/save-the-spck/k/
So thats the most of my news, though if you haven't been in since the last blog update then there is a music sale on - all cd's currently half price - this will only be on until the end of this month!
We have Jigsaws out on display and doing well - there will be a new delivery of jigsaws in by the end of the month, and also a full top up of Paint by Numbers, Scraperfoils and the Like at the end of the month too.
If you are a Church then let me know what Paschal product you want! and can you give me a clue as to the main size candles you want for every week use as well. On saturday i will have some palm crosses, baptism candles and votive stick candles in stock, along with basic church stationary ie certificates, registers etc. let me know what you need and i will get it!
Ok blog done for now, please again I reiterate either support me so I grow quickly and can give the spck crew jobs being out of their tree with me again (think of it as recycling! recycling staff now there's a green initiative for you get behind this lent!), or offer them a job yourselves if you can - they are great people and did not deserve this treatment.
(This post has been edited as a safeguard - for the reasons as to why this may have been necessary visit http://www.cartoonchurch.com/blog/category/save-the-spck, Oops now wait you cant - I guess you better go here instead: http://www.mattwardman.com/blog/series/cease-and-desist-notice-on-dave-walker/ Should I be notified personally and directly by the concerned parties of anything then I will of course let you know and then take any further necessary actions as may be required)