Report: Sept – Dec 14
Drop in/Open Access on
Wednesday evenings:
On Wednesday
evenings, we are seeing very good development through activities and numbers
attending. We had the first real incident in September, when we had to close
and re-assess our aims and objectives. This was the first time in two years,
which I thought was pretty good. Since then, the young people have responded to
the rules, which were put together by them to give them a bit of
self-ownership. We see a regular attendance of 30 young people and we have good
relationships with each of them.
The partner
organisation working with us is ‘One in a Million’, who have given a 2-3 year
commitment to the area and are bringing good youth work and resources to
enhance the project. We have just started a School of Rock where we have drums,
guitars and keyboards and this is being taught to the young people in six
weeks. This has had an excellent start and will also be a boost for Friday
Live.
Friday Live on Friday
evenings:
This had a slow
start but is now really picking up momentum. The idea of the project is that it
teaches skills to young people e.g. media production, soloist skills and performance
skills, with a view to performing before an audience.
The project is not
open access, as it is a development programme. The young people sign up to a
twelve week programme and longer and hopefully gain a qualification and skill
through what they learn. One individual has done this and gained a
qualification through One in a Million by attending each week, outside of
Wednesday evenings. He has just attended a celebration at The Midland Hotel and
gained recognition for his achievement. Friday Live has worked very well as a
follow up programme from the Wednesday evening and it is bearing a lot of
fruit.
Extreme Explorers (St
Anthony’s Primary School):
This is a Christian
programme that is delivered every Wednesday, as an after-school club seeing an
attendance of 30 kids each week. This has run successfully for the past 4 years
and seen approx. 120 kids come through the after-school club, regularly
committed. Each week we sing songs, develop their faith and challenge the young
people to be like Christ in their community.
Development coaching in
Schools (Christchurch Academy & St Anthony’s):
This is a tough
delivery programme dealing with individual issues ranging from severe behaviour
to social interaction with their peers.
The programme has been very successful over the last few years and has
been a good method for building lasting relationships with young people. A BIG
positive is that I have started in Christchurch Academy in the past two weeks
and begun to make a difference in individual lives. The young person I worked
with last Friday showed excellent development within the playground and good
work, that was fed back to the headteacher. The young person said to the head
that I was the best teacher in the school! This shows good working practice and
relational working at its best and a good foundation for future work. I would
ask for your prayers specifically for the head, as she is doing a very tough
job and doing it very well. It is a pleasure to work alongside such a caring
head, who treats them as individuals and shows a caring spirit. This is showing
Christ’s love to others. Also from the Wednesday drop-in at the church, a lot
of kids in the school already know me, which is fantastic.
Development Centre (A Dream):
Finally I want to
share with you a possibility for the future, as I feel we are taking steps in
this direction. Dealing with young people in the area, I have found that they
have significant issues such as
self-esteem, confidence etc. They currently receive very little support or
advice in this area. I have recently started working with one or two young
people, but what I would like to see develop is a Development Centre, where we
would take young people and give them advice in three key areas of life:
career, emotional development and exploring faith. Giving the young person
skills for the future, through gaining qualifications, giving support and
advice regarding their emotional state and sharing with them about faith. Through all this, the young people would gain
hope and a future in the kingdom of God. This needs a lot of prayer, so please
would you pray for this!
Finally a big Thank
You to all who support, pray and encourage the work in this area. It is a great
help to know that I have an army of supportive people.
God Bless
James S,
Emerge Youth Worker
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