The Church of England has set a bold vision to double the number of children and young active disciples in church by 2030. Below are stories of three projects in the Diocese of Winchester that are flourishing in their work with children, young people and families:
Weston Church Youth Project
The Weston Church Youth Project is a charity working on the outskirts of Southampton in partnership with Holy Trinity Weston, Hope City Church Southampton and Kings Community Church in Hedge End. It has positively impacted the lives of hundreds of young people, many from disadvantaged backgrounds.
The charity runs three programmes offering fun, faith and support. The fun programme offers access to youth clubs, trips and activities to promote community, confidence and social skills.
The support programme addresses issues of behaviour, mental health and increasing resilience. It works with local schools to identify children with below average attendance, disengagement and self-esteem issues, engaging them in mentoring and group work sessions to improve attendance, attitude and achievements. Groups such as ‘Rock Solid’ and ‘Resilient Kids’ reach out to different age groups and different parts of the community.
Weston Church Youth Project (WCYP) also gives young people the chance to explore Christianity through a number of groups including ‘Bouldergang’ for ages 7 to 10, ‘Connect’ for 11 to 16 years old, and ‘The Venue’, a chill out space and free youth café for 15 to 18 year olds.
Revd Daron Medway is vicar of Holy Trinity Weston and chair of trustees of Weston Church Youth Project. He said: “Our work is all about the welfare of the whole young person, and it’s based on the mission and call of Jesus. Some of the groups are small, particularly for children who are socially anxious. So those faith-based groups meet a particular pastoral need, whereas the fun-based open access groups, tend to be much more vibrant, knockabout, and fun. We try not only to serve different age groups, but also different personal needs. We’ve seen huge numbers of young people, particularly since lockdown. We find that young people are in some ways desperate to reconnect with adults who will give them the time of day. One of the things that I’ve often heard is that children will generally gravitate to the oldest person in the room who will take them seriously, so it’s not always young people serving young people, sometimes it’s older members of the congregation who have love to give, a listening ear, and can perhaps be a grandmother or a grandfather type figure. We are finding that young people do gravitate to them.”
Ellie de la Cour is Youth Development Co-ordinator. She said: “Lots of children don’t have church connections and may have never thought about God, and we’re able to have that opportunity to share our faith and give them the opportunity to listen and to ask questions. Youth Work in Weston is different. We have a lot of young people who come from chaotic backgrounds and it can be a challenge. Many don’t know faith, but they are open to it. Some come to multiple groups a week and it’s great to see people change. It’s like a family.”
‘Connect’ meets after school on a Tuesday from 4 to 6pm with games, crafts, food and with a bible story and discussion, often told in a way to attract young minds. The Parable of the Talents has been acted out and the Parable of the Good Samaritan becoming a story of Pompey v Saints! Solid friendships have been made within the group.
13-year-old has been going to ‘Connect’ for several months. She said: “I come here as I get to hang out with my friends. I learn a lot of new things about God and Jesus. It teaches me a good life lesson about what to do and what not to do. It helps me think about friendships, (spiritual) discipline and manners. I’ve learnt a lot of new things here.”
James has been coming for 3 years. He said: “I found it hard socialising and getting to know people. It’s calm here and it’s good to wind down after school and it’s not too loud. I’ve got to know a lot more people and I’ve learned to trust people. I listen so I can understand about what people believe. I find it interesting.”
Jack, who is 13 years old, said: “It’s relaxing here and calm. I have a lot of friends here. It helps me focus on school work and it’s interesting to understand what people believe in. It’s important for me to come here each week”.
Riley is also 13 years old and had this to say: “All my friends come here. I learn quite a bit and I think about God. It’s good that I get to come here after school and relax, so it means a lot to me”.
Weston is one of most deprived Anglican parishes in England with high rates of mental health problems, social economic needs and school drop-out. Weston Church Youth Project aims to work for the benefit of the whole community by building relationships to meet the challenges of the area.
WCYP was registered as a charity in 2017. It has a number of employed youth workers and a team of volunteers. Prior to the Covid pandemic, the project saw an average of 200 young people each week at its open access youth clubs and over 50 regularly engaged in faith-based activities. The numbers are steadily rising again.
Project Lead Matt Cranston said, “WCYP gives young people responsibility and a chance to experience positive change in their lives. Not many of these young people would attend church but it’s encouraging to see that more and more are hearing a Christian message each week. We try to give them positive role models and to motivate them to achieve their potential. It can be challenging with behaviour, but we can support them with boundaries and encouragement. Our number one focus is pointing people to Jesus, but as part of that we want to support their holistic development, including their social, emotional and mental health, their education and raising aspirations”.
Youth Pastor Carolyn Terry said, “I’d love the young people to come to faith. Even if we are that seed at the beginning, it might grow. It’s like a hard shell and we are chipping away. We often see their behaviour change. To have people who love and accept you for who you are can make a difference. It’s special to see that.”
Many of the groups meet at Holy Trinity Church while others take place outside the church environment, including at a local adventure playground. WCYP is partly funded with strategic development funding from the Church Commissioners, as well as funding from Southampton City Mission, and regular giving from the congregation.
Revd Daron Medway added, “We are proud of what we’re achieving and it’s one of the things that gives our church a sense of purpose, we feel like we’re making a difference. It’s not just about having lots of activities, it’s about creating a sense of shared purpose within the congregation, a vision that everyone can feel excited about, and see church life change because of our work with the community. One of the things that we find is that the church is great at serving children. So, we’ve tried to emphasise our work with older children and teenagers so that we don’t get that drop off at age 16. We try to keep hold of them in the Christian community with a hope that they make the transition into church life later on. We are seeing young people come to faith, so much so that we’ve just started a church plant which is aimed specifically at 19 to 29 year olds. Covid affected us quite seriously, but we found that God has rebuilt the congregation and is continuing to do so. We have seen a lot of young members too and we’re starting a teenage group on Sunday mornings. We’ve also had to restructure our services to include more all-age services. We’ve had to adapt, but the excitement of adapting and seeing things grow and flourish has been great.”
Andover Parish‘s Life Bus
Andover Parish’s Life Bus gets a lot of attention as it drives around the town! It’s a mobile mission supporting several ministries and in particular youth work, ministering under the motto is “somewhere to go, something to do, someone to talk to.”
Andover Parish is made up of Andover St Mary, St Michael & All Angels West Andover and Knights Enham. The bus is part of the church’s work to reach out into the community and support young people with physical, mental and spiritual needs.
The ex London double decker is equipped with games, music console, a nail bar, art, colouring and computer games. It visits Andover College, Harrow Way School and Winton School, helping pupils who are young carers, those who are dealing with stress and anxiety, and those who struggle academically.
Sarah Wilson works in student welfare at Winton School. She said:” These are students who find it difficult going into English, Maths and Science and can be under the radar, so coming on here, once a week, is literally their saving grace, and they look forward to it. They get to meet other people that they wouldn’t necessarily mingle with in school. We’ve had new friendships formed from this bus, we’ve had boyfriend and girlfriend meet on this bus and it gives them confidence. This bus means everything and we could not be without it. The team on the Life Bus are wonderful too. They understand the children, they never push conversation, it either comes about naturally, or it comes about through playing games, or drawing together, or colouring. It’s another pair of safe ears and it’s invaluable. The power of just coming onto the bus, being distracted, having things to do, having people to talk to, makes them feel better, it’s fantastic.”
The bus has become a vital safe space for many young people, giving pupils a place to de-stress before heading back into lessons.
13-year-old Matthew said: “The bus helps me to relax when I get stressed in lessons. It helps me work off my anxiety. Student Harrison added: “It’s just really fun and social. I meet new friends and I like playing on the equipment. If I’m stressed, I can come and it feels safe. And Maisey said: “I find it helps me relax and de-stress. I struggle with anxiety but there is so much to do on the bus, drawing, nail painting or just sitting and relaxing. I feel happier and relaxed when I leave and can get on with my day without worry and stress.”
Veronica Brewer is a youth community lead for Andover Parish. She also runs Kintsugi Hope youth wellbeing groups in schools and colleges so has built many bonds with the young people.
She said: “The bus is well known to the youth and they get really excited when they see it out and about and if it parks up somewhere; it’s a job to keep them off sometimes! The feedback from the school has been incredible and to see the students come on the bus apprehensive and then go away skipping and smiling, is a beautiful thing. They’re very open to chat and that will sometimes lead to faith conversations. I’m a member of the young person’s mental health forum in Andover, and when I go to meetings, all they talk about is the bus, which is amazing and I just love it.”
On Monday afternoons the bus parks up outside St Michaels West Andover with a team on board, and cakes baked by church volunteers. Students, on their way home from John Hanson Secondary school, pop in to get a cake and often stay for a chat. Some families also visit from the local primary school.
Paul Blowers is a volunteer driver. He said: “We get a lot of children who come at the end of school, they often grab a cake and go, but we find an increasing number now stay and chat and get involved in discussions about faith. Some of the pupils now want to set up a Christian Union in school. People often ask why we volunteer and so we are quite open to tell them. It’s about creating a positive image for the church, and as Christians we want to bless people in the community.”
Students have a space where they can write and draw on the back windows of the bus and questions are sometimes posed to spark conversations such as “what brings you hope when you’re low?” or “what gives your life meaning?”.
The Life Bus also makes a monthly visit to the Andover skatepark, and that sometimes draws people along to the Wednesday night youth group at nearby St Paul’s Church, which is growing in numbers. The Life Bus is also invited to festivals and events in the town such as the Andover carnival. The challenge though is the age of the bus and the running costs. It’s funded by the church and donations.
Veronica says: “The bus is often the first encounter the young people have with church and it can lead them on a journey with Jesus. There was a young girl who came on the bus a couple of years ago, and she came to Wednesday Night Youth for a while, and then she went off the radar for a bit. Then, when the bus was at St Michael’s West Andover, she visited with her grandmother, and now she’s come back to Wednesday Night Youth, and she’s coming on our Christian summer camp. Another young girl came to the bus and now she’s been baptised and is one of our young leaders. We’re seeing God at work and we’re hoping for many more stories like that. There are definitely people experiencing something on the bus that they can’t explain, but we know what it is! Meeting young people where they are makes a difference, whether that’s a church car park, a school or a skate park. It’s being there and being a safe space for them as well. They can see it’s for them, they can see it’s kitted out for them, so they take ownership of it, and that’s really important. We are all just faithfully witnessing and sharing our faith where we can.”
After-School Drop-In in Kings Worthy
St Mary’s Chapel Hall in Kings Worthy is a perfect location for an after-school drop-in as it is situated next to the bus stop where the buses for the local secondary school, Henry Beaufort School, pull up at the end of the day.
The drop-in is a partnership between St Mary’s Church Kingsworthy and Wildfire Youth Project. It started in October last year and is open each Thursday during term time for students in years 7 to 11. It’s a place for young people to chill, play board games, ping pong, pool or computer games, and chat with their friends or to the team. There’s a tuck shop and free toast and drinks for the much needed after-school snack.
Ellie Payne, leads the Wildfire Youth Project. She also works with young people in St Mary’s on a Sunday morning.
“We talked to the young people when we first started and said ‘what do you do outside of school? Do you go to any clubs? Are you part of any groups?’ Most of them said ‘we just go to the park and kick about with our friends but now we’ve got this.’ It’s really lovely that they feel this is their space now. There are so many reports about young people feeling lonely and their mental health not being great, so I think it’s important to provide a place where they can come and offload, be themselves, and there’s a friendly face who they can talk to. It sounds simple, but I think it makes a big impact. St Mary’s wanted to reach out to young people in the parish and that is our vision at Wildfire too. So, we’ve come together in this project to reach those young people who maybe we don’t see on a Sunday morning and just let them know that they can come here and they can feel loved and cared for. That’s one step in the direction of them knowing that God loves them and cares for them, and that we’re praying for them every week.”
Volunteers from St Mary’s Church work alongside Wildfire volunteers and team. Word about the drop-in is spreading. Some of the Wildfire team visit Henry Beaufort on a Wednesday with the Vineyard Church bus and are able to invite pupils along.
Joe has been coming to the drop-in since the beginning. He said “You get to play games. It’s fun coming straight from school here. It’s a safe place to come”. Friend Eli added “It’s better than just going to the park. There’s pool and ping pong. I know everyone here and I can chat to Ellie and the team about life and other things.” Angel said “I come with my friend Abi. She told me it was a really good place. I like coming for all the games and food. It helps me unwind and relax after school.” Abi added “The leaders here are really nice and it’s fun. There’s a good variety of games. You can’t sit on your phone as they want you to socialise which I think is important.”
The after school drop-in is all about building relationships with the young people of the village and giving them a safe space. They can stay for 10 minutes or for the full 2 hours.
Ellie added; “Wildfire partners with Scripture Union who have what they call a revealing Jesus pathway or the steps that a young person might take towards faith. It might start with connecting with people who are Christians, to then engaging in asking questions and then moving on in growth and discipleship. So I feel the drop-in is the connecting point. It’s us building a relationship first, way before we start talking to them about the Bible or God, with the aim that once we get to know them better, they’ll ask questions and we can share with them. We’re making relationships with them that we can then hopefully build on. Some of the young people that we’ve got to know here, have come to other Wildfire events that we run in Winchester where there is a message and they can ask questions”.
It’s hoped that the connections being made now will stay with young people into their futures. Ellie added “I was talking to some older youths recently, and they said that some of their core memories were of fun things they did with a youth worker when they were younger, and how loved and supported they felt. When they look back, that’s what they remember, and that’s what we’re hoping to create here each Thursday.”
