Correspondence with Shekinah

 Dated :

Re: Safeguarding investigation meeting

AV

Artby Valerio

To:

John Hamblin; Peter Woad

Fri 25/03/2022 11:59

Good morning John 

I fail to understand your capacity to be affronted by what was a relatively concise , albeit abrupt response 

Your perfectly reasonable question wasn't received until after the point of the proposed meeting had taken place  ( as disclosed and as formerly mentioned , is common knowledge amongst your staff ....that my means of picking up and or responding to email correspondence is limited wholly to the facilities at Shekinah 24 , ) ....can you see the failing here ? 

Having sent an email instruction to attend a meeting with yourself  , despite severing the means to intercept said email with the request to not attend the premises while this questionable investigation was being undertaken ( without suitable opportunity for rebuttal to date ) 

So in the interim weeks I have been making suitable use of my time with extraneous projects , not checking my emails ....but managing to conduct suitable business without being reliant on this single means of communication , but in lieu of hearing any feedback from your organization other than the assumption that I should have received an email via telepathy presumably I have been left in a confounded state of frustration , given the nature of your organisation I would feel you might have resilience to accommodate an emotionally charged response resultant from such poor handling 

My concern for your attempt to de legitimise my pursuits while in this state of imposed hiatus is limited ... And I have no need to offer additional justification to assuage the palpable distrust that comes across in your discourteous handling of this debacle 

Seeing as I am not being given suitable opportunity for defense against this ' complaint ' which still has not been fully explained to me , I'll write out my concerns here and we can see where we end up 

The allegations : 

As I understand it , It was considered a 'safeguarding ' concern , that some of the images displayed in the art room 

From the cursory discussion I had with Roseanna in the office of 24 the week before the suspension occured , she raised concerns , based on a site visit from a member of Plymouth city council ( an absurd organisation I have a chequered history with ...including the specific individual that has snowballed this triviality to its current state ) that impressions of ' life drawing nudity ' within the art room were able to be deemed as inappropriate , potentially triggering materials for specific individuals that may well be attending the proposed course 

The images themselves : charcoal renderings of figurative studies - by no means gratuitous of expletive ....on this count I did concede ! I agreed to remove the potentially offending art works ( despite it being a perfectly valid visual demonstration of some of the skillsets I have become proficient enough in to actually be able to offer instruction for ) 

I finished up that week , concluded the Thursday and Friday sessions 

By the following Wednesday , Roseanna had attempted to contact me via e mail , but was able to use her good sense when she hadn't heard from me via that means to follow up with the courtesy call that same afternoon to ensure that I had received to instruction to not attend the following day ( that would be the usually scheduled Thursday on to Friday rotation that I have maintained despite zero encouragement for the entire 3 years of our ' working relationship ' 

Another aspect of concern was I believe a visual ' probably ' one of the semi political signages that I have had to use in genuine real world international pop up scenarios that have demonstrably ensured that I have remained clothed, fed and housed at times that social support structures have left a great deal to be desired , again this would equate to an aspect if a tried and tested portfolio that offers a means to attest that I am in fact qualified to offer insight or suggestion within the discipline i am offering instruction 

I understand that ' eat out to help out ' and even 'Brexit refugee ' are issues being contested , in previous conversations with Nabs regarding these same issues I have issued the ultimatum " if you wish to offer a written list of things that I am not allowed to broach - then I would certainly be willing to consider those terms " but this was sidestepped and no formal resolve was reached 

Chronology : 

I feel that if you were actually investigating this issue ...the fact the ' street art signages ' i.e what I am assuming the other potentially offensive materials to be have in fact been in situ since they were originally stuck to the wall ....about 8 months ago , when we were in a nonsensical lockdown and any bit of humour was worth its weight in gold .... I simply did not have the time to censor my own creations , I didn't consider it a priority as for every single one of those 8 months we have been working in the assumption that we are dismantling this building and moving to another asap 

The fact that I don't actually have any contractual terms , despite being in receipt of payment for services rendered is really the original point of my offense to this whole scenario, the level of assumptive disciplinary authority despite the fact that I am not beholden to any contractual obligations ,

As it stands , I am not impressed ! And as such would be more than happy to take this opportunity to cease all and any collaborative measures that have been taken to date ...

But these are trying times , and I do believe in maintaining civility as and where possible 

So if you are willing to discuss this matter further , sensibly and with suitable structure then I certainly would be too and indeed feel it would probably be the most prudent course of action for all parties concerned 

I look forward to hearing from you

Regards 

Aaron Valerio 

---

From: John Hamblin <john.hamblin@shekinah.co.uk>
Sent: 24 March 2022 15:32
To: Artby Valerio <artbyvalerio@hotmail.co.uk>; Peter Woad <peter.woad@shekinah.co.uk>
Subject: Re: Safeguarding investigation meeting

 

Dear Aaron

Thanks for getting back to us. After considering your comments I would like to respond.

Firstly, I have to say I am disappointed at the tone of your email. You were asked a perfectly reasonable question (i.e. why you had not attended the meeting), in view of the fact that we had not heard from you. I see no reason for the discourteous response.

Secondly, the email inviting you to the meeting was sent on 10^th March, the day after you were requested to stay away from work whilst the safeguarding issue was investigated. Since I was on annual leave last week, the meeting was arranged for as soon as was reasonably practical. 

Thirdly, I am not persuaded by your explanation for failing to attend the meeting. The invitation email was sent to you nearly 2 weeks in advance, thus giving you more than sufficient opportunity to see it. You were also requested to let us know if you were unable to attend.

I have however been able to complete the safeguarding investigation to my satisfaction and have concluded that the safeguarding complaint should be upheld. In view of this, I have decided that it would not be appropriate to use you to deliver training courses at 24 going forward. 

If you would like to arrange an appointment to see me, I am more than happy to discuss this further. 

Regards

John Hamblin

John Hamblin​ Chief Executive t. 01752 203480 m. 07889683010 Website    Email

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Shekinah Mission (Plymouth) Ltd is a company registered in England number 04687832 & a registered Charity number 1097409. The company's registered office is Bath St, Plymouth, PL1 3LT. This message contains confidential information and is intended only for the intended recipients. If you are not an intended recipient you should not disseminate, distribute or copy this e-mail. Please notify the sender immediately by e-mail if you have received this e-mail by mistake and delete this e-mail from your system. E-mail transmission cannot be guaranteed to be secure or error-free as information could be intercepted, corrupted, lost, destroyed, arrive late or incomplete, or contain viruses. The sender therefore does not accept liability for any errors or omissions in the contents of this message, which arise as a result of e-mail transmission. If verification is required please request a hard-copy version.

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From: Artby Valerio <artbyvalerio@hotmail.co.uk>
Sent: 24 March 2022 09:09
To: Peter Woad <peter.woad@shekinah.co.uk>
Cc: John Hamblin <john.hamblin@shekinah.co.uk>
Subject: Re: Safeguarding investigation meeting

 

Good morning Peter , 

I have found your adopted standard procedure as somewhat lacking in efficaciousness 

It was quite by chance that I happened to phone Rob in the office of 24 yesterday afternoon as I have found the lack of engagement over the passed weeks to be somewhat disconcerting , it was I am you can imagine quite a surprise to me to hear that I had in fact had a meeting scheduled with yourselves for that same Wednesday morning ! Remarkable that almost every member of staff seemed to be aware of this meeting other than myself ....

Do you not consider a confirmation of a meeting to be a pre requisite to said meeting ? You might find this to be a beneficial step when conducting these proceedings in the future

I think a cursory aspect of your investigation should have rendered the common knowledge , that due to a series of administrative failings during the pandemic I am located out if the city and that my usual practice for e mail correspondence is to use the facilities at Shekinah 24 for these purposes , I do not have a reliable signal due to transience and indeed there are extended windows where I am unable to access online content at all , which is why I always insist on a follow up call for matters of urgency ( all if this is ,as I say common knowledge within the Shekinah administrative staff )  

First and foremost I take exception to the erroneous nature by which these claims have been made and also the seemingly haphazard follow up in this unfathomable protocol 

Second of all , Wednesday 23rd I was flying back from Amsterdam so it would certainly not have been possible for me to attend your presumptuous summons 

In light of the three year history and in some cases progressions that have been made in that time , I would be willing to meet to discuss these and additional matters but I hope you find the means to entertain how prudent it might be to ascertain a mutually suitable window 

I can offer you Monday afternoon or Wednesday morning at a time to be determined by yourselves 

I have subsequently had to take great pains thus morning to secure a suitable terminal with adequate signal to be able to compose this e mail , but I do feel that at least one if us should be seen to be making suitable efforts to resolve this utterly absurd hiatus 

Regards 

Aaron Valerio 

---

From: Peter Woad <peter.woad@shekinah.co.uk>
Sent: 23 March 2022 15:54
To: Artby Valerio <artbyvalerio@hotmail.co.uk>
Cc: John Hamblin <john.hamblin@shekinah.co.uk>
Subject: Fw: Safeguarding investigation meeting

 

Dear Aaron

Please could you let me know why you did not attend the safeguarding investigation meeting this morning with John and myself.

Regards

Peter

Peter Woad​ HR Manager t. 01752 276923 m. 07582 583705 Website    Email

Consider the environment. Do you really need to print this email?

Shekinah Mission (Plymouth) Ltd is a company registered in England number 04687832 & a registered Charity number 1097409. The company's registered office is Bath St, Plymouth, PL1 3LT. This message contains confidential information and is intended only for the intended recipients. If you are not an intended recipient you should not disseminate, distribute or copy this e-mail. Please notify the sender immediately by e-mail if you have received this e-mail by mistake and delete this e-mail from your system. E-mail transmission cannot be guaranteed to be secure or error-free as information could be intercepted, corrupted, lost, destroyed, arrive late or incomplete, or contain viruses. The sender therefore does not accept liability for any errors or omissions in the contents of this message, which arise as a result of e-mail transmission. If verification is required please request a hard-copy version.

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From: Peter Woad
Sent: 10 March 2022 15:11
To: Artby Valerio <artbyvalerio@hotmail.co.uk>
Cc: John Hamblin <john.hamblin@shekinah.co.uk>
Subject: Safeguarding investigation meeting

 

Dear Aaron

As part of the Safeguarding investigation currently in progress, I am writing to invite you to attend an investigation meeting on Wednesday 23^rd March at 10.00 a.m. at Shekinah Mission, Bath Street, so that the matter may be discussed with you.

In attendance at the meeting will be John Hamblin, and myself to take notes. Please bring with you any information that you think might be useful to the investigation.

If you wish, you may be accompanied by a trade union representative or a colleague. However, your companion will not be able to answer questions on your behalf.

To ensure that the investigation can be conducted as fairly as possible we request that you keep the matter, and anything discussed at the investigation meeting, confidential. Any breach of confidentiality may be considered to be a disciplinary matter.

If you are unable to attend the meeting please contact me as soon as possible, so that alternative arrangements can be made.

Yours sincerely

Peter

Another labor counciler

 Good Afternoon to you .....

Update on vague summary so far 

 well that's fantastic ... You would both be welcome of course ☺️

That's quite alright , I can relate ... It's important to make time for yourself amongst all the things that have to be done 

Well , it's an interesting little set of circumstances down in Plymouth it has to be said ... I have my own little skewed perspective about what's going on , there seems a lot of infighting amongst the candidates that are left running so I can't see a functioning coalition being formed after the next election .... Everybody is trying to take public credit for pretty much anything and everything... Whilst trying to distance themselves from various precedents ...

It's quite amusing to watch ... 

At the moment I'm just muddling through some paperwork - the council have yet again - seemingly disregarded my FOI and are being incredibly evasive in all matters ...

I think my next step is to issue ultimatum for compliance or I will escalate the criminal complaint to include intentional perversion of the course of justice on top of the outlying charge sheet ...then I'll get some summons out ...

But there's a lot going on🤔 

It seems myself and others have accumulatively moved some of the rigidity in our acts and statutes ...it's taken some work to ensure that the individual at executive level can now be tried outside of the official position of their office responsible for administrative failings...so , I don't know if you remember me mentioning it in the train , but it basically means that both the organization and department can be held to account through scrutiny if professional conduct and adherence to statues such as duty if care etc 

But also the individual at the point of the executive decision can now also be directly challenged for conduct in office ...even if they are out of office ( obviously with the election coming up - that's a big factor ) 

I can't imagine where Bingley went ( I'll show you my last poignantly dated message to him ) 

Or why former leader Kelly is having heart issues ....

There seem to be a couple if councillors that are running campaigns but really don't want to be left holding the position 🤔 

So I think , between myself and straw , despite us not being in direct collaboration ...have managed to rattle the cage 

I would be curious to know if you have any official or unofficial opinions about the circus in the city though ...

Very best wishes and I hope to catch up soon

It's a long road out of Eden

 " Ciao Aaron, I was thinking of you as I was trying to put the last 7 years of my life into a "hero's journey"... just playing a writing game, a little exercise, call it what you want...and when I was wondering who was the "mentor" figure that helped me flip some things in my life you came up naturally. And I realised I haven't replied to your message more than a year ago! " 

                           -----------------

"Sometimes there are things that people like me would not like to share even with their therapists.. even would not like to be discuss with myself ..so better feel like to ask someone who might have an opinion and welcoming the topic natural as well.."

                           ---------------------

" Always a challenging conversation , a nice cup of tea ....usually insisting on walking through the woods, even when it's raining cats and dogs -  which is not my go to activity , but always worth it " 

                             -----------------

" Sorted my housing dispute in 5 weeks - the council have been promising for 3 years , can't thank you enough " 

                               --------------

" Living in the city , I thought I was happy ...went to see Mr Valerio for a few days - this guy's like something out of Waldo's frontier ! Thoroughly recommend " 

                                -------------

" Sailed from Falmouth to Looe in a squall - one of the best days out I've ever had , genuinely thought I might die - only time I've ever felt ok about it " 

                                  ---------

Life travels in loops and cycles , sometimes great big loops spin by , other times it's little cyclical funnels ....but it's always nice when even through the mists of time someone dear to you offers you such accolades ...

It's funny how coincidences can align ... When the world gives you a bit of a kicking , you kick right back - make it a first fight , a bar room brawl , a melee ..... If you are fighting for the right reasons - you'll at least get a beer at the end of it x

I've recently been working through some legal cases , it's been a different paradigm to usual , usually I have to spend time at the end of an exhibition circuit dealing with legalese, not that often that I start an exhibition this way ...

So I recently switched the nature of my business from " Art Gallery and creative practices " to " non profit creative practices " 

I mused over this for a long time before deciding to commit to it ( although when I changed the category - the entire listed catalogue under the " products and services " vanished ....

I suppose I should have thought of that ...never mind 

Non Profit - community orientated enterprise delivering instruction and tuition in empowerment and self definition through the application and engagement with ' creative practices ' 

I think that just about covers it - first class course in legitimate non compliance ?! 

The encouraged addiction of the age is the blind frenzied , obsessive compulsive acquisition that I have previously coined and written about , in this age of incessant cost cuts and profit margin maximisation through expensive outsourcing outfits and consultancy ...

Ive spent many an hour in many a varied terrain and social dynamic - I like a humble little day , simple things ...

Despite the inarguable fact that the cumulative value of the products and services within my little catalogue of hobbies and commercially viable pastimes is demonstrably extensive these days ... 

If I go ahead and earn too much money in a year , then I am eligible under threat of penalisation to kick a larger proportion of my income ( derived through perpetual nervous breakdown - ) into the government's consolidated fund ...

Anyone that is familiar with my notion on this subject will of course be well aware that I did my utmost to avoid (where possible) paying into this fund 

The Arts Hole - was borne in the back of the idea , if I can control my product , I have the means to have full control over my income , I can accept and refuse sales of product or service to maintain the lowest obligation possible for paying into the Iraq war or the financial crisis bailout ....but if a government looks like it might actually fix a road or suitable fund the NHS and the additional infrastructure staff of this country ....well , then I'd be happy to reconsider, but otherwise , don't bother me , I'm stressed enough as it is ! 

Now over the past decade and a half or more - I have had to ' official complaint ' - ' matters in dispute ' - refuse to offer compliance on the grounds that ....

There has been loads of it , in fact I'd wager that over the past ten years I have easily spent as much time in litigation as I have in the studio - which is why I suppose days off feel so foreign to me these days ...

Over recent months and weeks , the underlying sense of civil I'll ease has become more and more palpable , on top of the escalations of the imposed austerity from the previous decade ...  I have made my observations as they have unfurled ...

I think  this is an interesting little time in history ! 

And best we can do ...is what we can within our means x

The Arts Hole and the Last S.T.R.A.W

 What a fucking eight odd weeks it's been ...

Odd, odd is definitely a good word for it , fortunately, I know who I am and I know what I'm about ...it'd be bloody easy to loose your way otherwise....

I recommend keeping notes too ...

I don't know about any of these other people ....

Ok - wtf ?!? 

Let's put a lid on this last little sequence of events 

Feb 14 - misvelleanous personal circumstances 

March 2 - miscellaneous personal circumstance 

March 2 - follow up conversation with councillor ( as detailed in previous post ) 

March 4 - message sent to councilor Richard Bingley ( as detailed in previous post ) 

March 4 - message sent to Tudor Evans ( as detailed in post ) 

March 2- 

March 5 - meeting with former manager from my position as tutoring for the probation and rehabilitation services 

March 5

March 5 -  into look pollard Labour MP involved in previous disputes during lockdown 

March - instruction issued and pursued to cut down trees in armada way - intervention by court injunction - only a few trees saved !

March - Richard Bingley Tory leader resigns from position 

March - TUSC ask a rather meek , pre written question to the former council leader , who of course is no longer in office 

March - former Councilor Kelly steps down due to heart related health issues 

March 13 - additional council resignations 

March - Devon charities to have funding structure halved and expenditures scrutinized 

March - Cornwall council decide against the appointing of a mayor for the county 

March - additional invitation extended to straw to collaborate in efforts to remove potential common enemies from public office - 

April - run up to the election - candidates announced 

Now look at em run , jeez what a fucking shit show , Tudor Evans Labor cabinet and the whoever's Tory cabinet ( formerly a coalition with interchangable positions anyway ) a sort of ramshackle remnants of whoever hadn't quit 

And a few independents , although as I understand it - they may have messed up on some of the categorization stuff and so might now technically be running against each other ?! 

The greens -  Tories on bycles ( also seem to be heavily steeped in the STRAW campaign ) and the trade union and socialist coalition - which I am becoming more and more sceptical about as the campaign runs on as they just seem desperate to align themselves with the STRAW campaign and well to win notoriety and votes 

It's a proper cat fight out there ...

I wonder where it has left to go in the closing days of this election run up - personally , well, personally I hope everyone realized that day the difference between democracy and voluntary suffrage ....

I hope the only people that turn out for any of these clowns are the sad act sycophants and family member that have basically been the ballast that has kept them in the game so far ....

I hope they scrape in less than a measly 10 % of the vote and are left scratching Thier heads and Thier arses wondering if they can mandate anything anyway - I doubt any of them could seriously manage such a task anyway ....

....wondering , even if they did try to mandate something - would people even take them seriously ?

A little break in this bullshit carousel of nonsense might not be such a bad thing ...

A little hiatus while we figure out where all of these fucking people even come from ...these career politicians , might not be such a bad idea to figure out where and how the shits getting in before we start to lay a new carpet ? 

Messages to TUSC Plymouth

The first message is from the 27 Oct 2020 - to a comrade of mine that is involved with the Trade Union and Socialist Coalition in Plymouth - we met during the occupy movement and I hope that I consider him a friend .... But who knows in this crazy age of the charlatan ..... Of gaslighting and smoke , mirrors , cloaks and daggers .....

" Yo man ..... How the devil are your domesticated tribulations you utter rapscallion 😇....what's your jazz like at the moment ? Just wanted to remention this X Good Evening , I do hope that you are fairing well through all of these current absurdities...... I do hope you will excuse the message out of the proverbial blue .... But I am getting in touch with a few of the interesting individuals in my Plymouth contact list and so wanted to send you a little notice that as of Monday next week I will have a little 'acess to Art and Design course ' running here in Plymouth . Based at the training facility at 24 Stonehouse street ....a six week course with funded places available for anyone you know on low income or U.C .... A great little intro into using creative tendency to circumvent these weird times .... As a therapeutic outlet and a viable economic tool , personally I am calling it a first class course in rebellion ... And there is actually an accredited educational award to be gained from completion .... Please do feel free to put anyone you know that might be interested in touch with me directly or via Shekinah .....very best wishes and big hugs . Stay safe etc X "

This second message was sent on the 05/ 03/2023 

 " Good Morning to you R.

I consider it noteworthy ...that I have not heard from you regarding my current legal position i e. Intentionally coming for some demonstrably dead wood within the ranks of this cities administrative capacity .

One might consider - since our original meeting all those years ago during occupy, that your apparent vying for a desk job - might not carry the merit that my own bloody determined fighting to simply maintain a little creative integrity - here in this funny little city 

That you have foolishly pooled a property interest in , despite my advise to the contrary - a man I have heard say " but I've got to think of my family first " ....

I can't help but wonder sir , I am sorry to say ....whether perhaps your moral compass may have become compromised to some degree 

I do hope that you and the family are indeed well 

And despite a wry look in your direction at present , I do look forward to catching up soon ....

The Original Arts Hole Vs Plymouth city council and the broader support and education services -the culmination of a ten year legal battle against one of the funniest little local authorities in the land

Exhibition and workshop series 2023 

A fine example of why it's probably better to just have a functioning complaints and accountability procedure x

Oh p.s # did a cross dressing socialist just poach my girlfriend ? 

.....🙄 Politics 😤 " 

But of a change in pace I guess ....what's the pandemic fine to us as a people ....jeeezuz