Autumn Newsletter 2020

Partners’ Newsletter Autumn 2020

Director Writes Throughout December, up to the 24th, we have challenged ourselves, our supporters, and the young people with whom we work to walk from Bath to Bethlehem (not literally) as a sponsored fundraiser. As I stepped out for my first walk of the challenge, I reflected on Joseph and Mary’s journey to Bethlehem.

The gospels do not give us much detail about the journey, but it is estimated to have been about 80 miles. They would have travelled with very basic clothing and belongings not the sophisticated footwear and equipment we have today.

So, Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. Luke 2:4 Working with young people there are always highs and lows on the journey and throughout my time as a youth worker I have come to realise that the importance of consistency and being present for young people. This means we need to forgive them and teach them to forgive. Also, if the young person with whom we work gets involved in something we know is not going to be good for them, we stay by their side and continue to pray for them, trusting God that change will happen.

Leading up to Jesus being born, Mary and Joseph would have had their highs and lows.

Maybe on their journey to Bethlehem they had a few setbacks and disagreements, especially when tired.

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To see the lives of young people changed by Jesus requires us to be willing to walk through the tough times with them. The celebration of new life in Christ for these young people is not just a moment in time, it requires commitment on our part to see this happen and then continue the journey of discipleship with them.

All our staff team and volunteers are committed to changing lives for Jesus and throughout this time it has been amazing to see their resilience, courage and dedication to being there for young people in Bath and the surrounding area. We are still moving forward and God is opening new doors, which you will read about in this addition of Partners, including ‘United’ and the work at Bath City Farm. We also have two new members of staff who are bringing new enthusiasm and creativity.

Finally, could you join with us this December to help us get to Bethlehem virtually?!

Perhaps you could use the time to reflect on the Christmas journey and think about the young people who are struggling and really need Jesus in their lives to bring hope and change. Details of how to get involved can be found on page 7.

God bless and keep safe Dave Joyce

A new partnership As a charity, we love to find ways to partner with other organisations to increase opportunities to reach the young people of Bath. Since September, Katie Little has been involved with the work of Bath City Farm and here she describes her experience so far.

Partnering with this great community charity just around the corner from our office, helping to run the after-school farm club sessions, has been such a joy and a refreshing experience for me as well as the young people. After being cooped up in the first lockdown, to be outdoors in nature and surrounded by very cute animals and young people desperate to learn new things and help look after these animals has been so much fun! Baby goat cuddles, apple picking, and grooming ponies are but a few activities we have got up to over this last term.

Mo, the youth worker for Bath City farm, is so great at providing opportunities for young people and families in the city and areas around the farm! We are super excited to see

where these opportunities take us and what more can be done for the young people of Bath!

Developments at Riverside Youth Club We have continued our commitment to the young people at Riverside Youth Club through this year, working in different ways as necessary. In addition to our partnership with Mentoring Plus, we have started to expand our team through working closely with St Swithin’s, Walcot whose Youth Worker, Yein and intern Emily have joined us recently.

In lockdown one we met the young people outside Morrisons under the shelter to maintain the relationships we had established and to support the club. In lockdown two we delivered one to one sessions on a Wednesday evening and detached work in Snowhill on Thursday evenings.

At a detached session early in November, one of the club members shared that it was her

16th birthday. Her response to our question about presents certainly exposed the reality of poverty in our city. Her reply was……

“I haven’t had anything yet as I have to wait until the end of the month for my mum to be paid”. We organised a card and small gift for her and praised her for being patient and understanding about such a challenging situation.

This young person is also a member of Motus Dance Academy where we share our faith more openly. As for many young people, we believe that this girl is on a journey to discovering faith for herself. Demonstrating our care for and commitment to her can be a powerful witness. Please do pray for relationships at Riverside and the young people who attend the club.

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City-wide Youth Ministry In our last newsletter we introduced a new city-wide initiative – UNITED - an inter-church group of youth ministries, united together in love, support, and the worship of Jesus.

Here Eden tells us how it has impacted young people in the city.

Since May, UNITED has grown and become more established in the City of Bath. We used lockdown to continue to connect with more youth ministries and the young people involved have spent time preparing for gatherings in this academic year.

UNITED Live happens on the last Friday of each month. A gathering or service provides the opportunity for a number of youth groups to come together for some fun, games, worship, and a bit of teaching. During lockdown, this happened on Zoom. As soon as we were allowed, a number of us, including young leaders, pre-recorded a UNITED Live to stream to the young people. Games were played, we had a time of worship and heard a message from Simon Gillebaud. We even had our own Great Batholian Bake Off! About 100 youth viewed on the evening it was streamed.

You can watch it here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjIEXXMBfU&t=12s

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The following testimony shows just how important it is for us to provide something like UNITED for Christian young people.

“I’d say it’s a great opportunity for someone like me. A lot of my friends are quite atheistic, and I do not spend a lot of time with Christian young people. For me, it is a great opportunity to have a bit of fellowship with other believers. The Church isn’t a building, but it’s a group of people, and I think it’s great to get a community of young people together so they can feel less alone and recognise there is a thriving community of Christian young people.” Luke, 16.

In addition to UNITED, a once a month Youth Workers Connect meeting has recently been established with the vision to be a place to gather Youth Workers across the City, providing encouragement and support.

We are excited to see what comes from these times.

Back in School

From March we were not able to continue our schools work in the normal way. Gradually, since September, opportunities have started to open- up. Here, Sam P recounts her experience of being back in St Mark’s.

Although life in the school is different it is all good. Teaching in year group bubbles in the same classroom certainly makes finding children SO much easier.

Plans are in place to re-start Breakfast Club before Christmas with the help of Fare Share & funding from the local church and individual donors, meeting with year group bubbles in the Hall.

has also been great to catch up with the staff again. It is important for us all to remember how hard they have worked throughout the duration of the pandemic. I am privileged to be involved with the planning and delivery of a Virtual Christmas Service which is such an important part of the School Festivities.

Thank you for your continued prayers for the Staff, Children & their Families, it is a joy to serve them & I thank God for the opportunities I have been given.

I have been able to meet students again for mentoring & have re-started Shine with the new Year 7 girls, and I have been so encouraged to be able to continue with the work I have been called to do. As much as I appreciated Lockdown 1.0 and being furloughed, giving me time to explore other avenues of being Jesus in my community, I did really miss the young people at St Mark’s. It

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Prayer points for Bath December> • Bath2Bethlehem event, that it will be a fun event for those who take part and that it will raise the profile of the charity as well as funding for our work.

• Please pray for the success of providing virtual Christmas assemblies to schools • School Staff having to manage current Covid regulations • Pray that families would find joy in the Christmas season & stay safe • Pray for Schools & their plans for Christmas to include Jesus • Please pray for God’s favour with the council in order to be able to open the Hive building in Peasedown and begin both the youth & community work in the New Year. Pray for the negotiations and for us being able to wait on God’s timing.

• Pray for resourcing of our youth work open day and a great response to the upcoming publicity. May the Holy Spirit be tangibly present at this event and may young people be drawn to committing to booking open access sessions.

January> • Pray for young people returning to school after the Christmas break • Prayer for the current Year 11 students working hard for their GCSE’s in uncertain times 6

• New Accompanying children meeting Sam P & Sam L, and making plans for moving to Secondary School • Pray for vulnerable students finding life tricky. Pray that through mentoring and accompanying projects they would feel supported and find strength to cope with the challenges they face.

• Please pray for our detached work, especially for the outreach into Whiteway and for the success of the project to improve Rosewarn Park • Those struggling with mental health issues exacerbated by the Pandemic

February> • Please pray for the work at Peasedown that it will be a catalyst for the development of a sense of community especially for young people. Thank God for Chris, Meg and the volunteers for this project. We ask for unity, equipping and for more people to feel urged to join in.

Pray for the impact each individual team member can have discipling young people.

• Pray for continued good relationships with the churches in Bath, for existing connections and new ones • Please pray for our staff, school staff, young people and families to have a restful half term break.

• Pray for the Roundhill Development project, for finances, direction and favour with the community and other stakeholders.

• Pray for divine appointments of young people coming across our social media accounts and that they will interact with Kingdom content on there.

March> • Please pray for the success and development of our partnerships with other organisations including Amor, Mentoring Plus, Bath City Farm and Southside, that they would provide greater opportunity to reach young people and our communities.

• Pray for ongoing financial provision through grants, individual giving and fundraising. Pray for fresh ideas and favour with donors.

• Please pray that our staff, volunteers and trustees remain in good health • Pray for the team as they plan and deliver Easter services and activities, that they will be inspired about how to present this wonderful message in a way that young people can engage.

Black Lives Matter At Bath Youth for Christ we always want to be well informed about the issues facing our society, specifically how they impact young people. With this in mind we invited Sam, Youth Worker from Gloucester Youth for Christ to talk to us at a team meeting in November about Black Lives Matter. Here Sam shares his thoughts.

Lockdown 2020! Besides the devastating health crisis that faced the world my immediate thought was the impact that this pandemic would have on freedom.

The recurring question of when is this going to end has presented itself in most conversations through all generations, cultures, and gender.

This is a question as a black man I have had to ask myself throughout my life. The invite from Bath Youth for Christ to share at a team meeting provided an opportunity to communicate to them some of the injustices I have endured in my life as well as talk about how we could help change the narrative. So, how is it possible for us to reach out to the black community without looking as though we are trying to save them? I believe that making a change requires boldness and not feeling guilty about expressing a desire to work with the black community. My advice to

the team is ‘change the narrative with them, not for them’. Just as importantly, change will come through educating ourselves on this issue, asking tough questions and being brave to speak up when you see injustice.

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Bath Youth for Christ AGM 2020 Our AGM, like so much this year, was different!! However, the wonders of Zoom allowed us to share such positive stories of our projects including Peasedown, detached work and Bath College Chaplaincy. We certainly sensed God’s presence as we shared about His faithfulness throughout the year. In the summer we were still able to engage with over 100 young people a month and build new relationships in new areas, so there was much to celebrate. Attendees were treated to a pre-recorded Motus Dance Academy presentation, which gave the evening extra energy and a strong presence of the young people with whom we work regularly. Finally, Kenny Nelson (Pastor at Elim Bath) prayed for Bath Youth for Christ and its work across the City and surrounding area.

We would like to thank all those who joined us for the evening and their continued support.

Welcome to a new trustee At the recent AGM we were delighted to welcome Cath Knight onto the board of trustees. With her wealth of experience, we are sure she will be a great asset to our team.

Cath has more than 15 years’ experience of passionately serving as an HR Practitioner in healthcare, including 5 years’ experience at senior Board Level. In church she has led Worship Teams, started a Youth Worship Team, and served on Prison Ministry Teams, including working with young offenders.

Born in Wales, Cath ‘crossed the border’ in 2000 to study at Bath University. Now married and having become “mummy” for the first time at the start of 2020, Cath is happily settled in the Odd Down area. She and her husband are active members of Life Church Bath and facilitate money management courses through Christians Against Poverty (CAP). In her ‘spare’ time Cath sings in a jazz/ soul band and loves to travel.

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Annual Report 2019/20

Can you help us get to Bethlehem

by Christmas?

This year we are going on a virtual journey from our office at Roundhill to Bethlehem to raise funds to support more young people through Covid-19 and beyond. We need you to help us travel those miles. You can walk, cycle, dance, scoot or travel in any way (with no motor). You can do it by yourself or with your household or a friend (please follow government guidelines). We are looking to raise at least ÂŁ1 for every mile travelled so you can either donate for the miles you have travelled or set a challenge and do it as a sponsored event. All funds will help us

support local young people through our mentoring programmes, dance academy, youth clubs, detached work, chaplaincy, and discussion groups.

For more information or to register to join us on our advent journey go to: https://bath.yfc.co.uk/b2b/ If you want to donate you can do that through our website.

Throughout December we will be posting videos and blogs to social media to inspire and encourage us as we travel to Bethlehem.

Reaching young people in the community Detached work is an excellent opportunity to reach out to young people in our community.

During this time of potential stress and isolation, staying connected feels invaluable.

It has been a privilege to meet young people in the city and engage in conversations with them. We partnered with Project 28 and Frontier Youth Trust to deliver this work. Here a couple of workers share their experiences of the last few months.

Having lived in Bath all my life, I was led to believe that all of Bath was as clean and well made, from roads to climbing frames, as the areas in which I was privileged enough to have lived. Working with some wonderful people on a shared partnership in Whiteway has shown me another side of Bath. The side that has been forgotten or shunned, through no fault of their own, by the council and the school system. BUT for no longer! We have partnered with a group of professionals to support the community; to shine a light on what is going on; to bring hope. Amy Austin – Bath Youth for Christ Youth Worker A shared partnership approach to detached youthwork gave an opportunity to hear the stories of young people living in Whiteway and Southdown. There were stories of a loss of pride in their communities and in themselves. They felt let down by the school system and local decision makers. As a result of this listening, we are planning to revitalise a rundown park area with the young people’s support. There is a way to go but it is a start 10

to restoring hope and changing the narrative that we encountered.

Ian Spence – Frontier Youth Trust Here, Dave Joyce shares about a 13-year-old girl the team met at a skatepark in the city, which highlights some of the challenges young people are facing.

Maddie (not real name) shared with us just how difficult life was for her; her inability to meet school expectations online since sitting at a computer all day did not work for her which led to her getting into trouble with teachers. As she shared, Maddie was on the verge of tears, but she began to realise we were there to listen to her with no expectations and a sense of relief dawned.

The initial part of lockdown 1.0 had been difficult socially, missing friends and just wanting to have fun again. Maddie was clearly very appreciative of the time we took to listen and be present in that moment.

Jesus spent time with people, often in places others would not go, such as with the Samaritan woman (John 4). I believe Jesus was present and with us during the conversation we had with Maddie.

We have seen her several times, she is no longer a stranger and we have engaged in conversation again. I am sure God has a plan for her and believe this connection will develop and she will learn more about the character of Jesus through our conversations.

Together we can see young people’s lives changed by Jesus.

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New additions to our team Even though it has been a very unusual year, we have been able to welcome two new members to our team in recent months. Here they share their stories I am proud to say I joined the team at Bath Youth for Christ in September as Motus Dance Academy’s Assistant Co-ordinator. Motus has been my family for over 10 years, joining the academy when I was in my teens myself.

The impact of being a part of a community like Motus was incredible, providing the opportunity to teach and choreograph. When I turned 18 I stayed on as a volunteer. I headed off to university and graduated with a BA Honours in Artist, Designer, Maker, a degree which allowed me to specialise in wood working, more specifically in wood turning.

Since then I have started a small business, making, and selling sustainably made wooden jewellery and homeware. I also returned to Motus as a volunteer. Dance is an important part of my life, a way to let off steam, to be creative, to connect with myself and I feel it is so important that we are able to give young people the opportunity to find that out for themselves.

Hello! I’m Meg and have recently joined the Bath Youth for Christ team! I am 20 years old and I have been a Christian for about 6 years.

My favourite Bible book is Revelation, and my current favourite snack is midget gems from Aldi!

I originally come from Yeovil in South Somerset and I am currently living in Peasedown St. John, working as a trainee youth worker in a community project called ‘The Hive’. This is my placement whilst I am studying for an applied theology degree with Moorlands South West.

Starting this placement during a pandemic has been really challenging, but I have still managed to meet some young people and get involved with various things both in the village and in Bath. I am super excited for when we are able to open the Hive to the young people of the village and start building relationships with them!

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