Partners’ Newsletter Spring 2022
Director Writes I recently read a book by Mark Herbert on leadership, which is ironically titled I’m not a Leader. It is a good inspiring read that captures the essence of leadership. Developing leadership in an organisation and empowering others are the foundations of youth work. Jesus’ ministry was a clear demonstration of leadership. In the gospels we read how he empowered his disciples to go out and meet the people in their communities. In the same way as we spend time with young people trust develops and we start to see change happen in their lives. Consistency and being willing to understand different worldviews without being judgmental are key to seeing these transformations. In the past few months, we have seen several volunteers come forward expressing their desire to mentor young people in schools, providing support and a listening ear. As you read the articles in this addition of Partners
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you will hear from volunteers who are delivering mentoring in Bath schools and how they are empowered to do this through our mentoring training and the support of team members. Making a difference for the young people of Generation Z requires working together and a willingness to step out of our comfort zones into youth spaces and schools. Could you help us do this by coming alongside a young person in a school? If you are interested in finding out more, please get in touch.
Developments at The Hive The Hive project is continuing to develop and here Meg, 2nd year theology degree student working in Peasedown as a trainee youth worker, shares about the project. The youth club in Peasedown started around 6 months ago, with 15-20 young people coming each evening. Regrettably at the beginning challenging behaviour led to us having to close the club early to ensure the safety of young people and leaders. Whilst this was a difficult decision, our priority had to be safety and establishing boundaries for the groups. In the past couple of months, less young people have attended but it has been a consistent group for both the Monday and Wednesday sessions and there has been a huge decrease in difficult behaviour. Young people have said they enjoy having a place to come inside with their friends, instead of having to be outside in the cold, as well as enjoying the free food and music! Alongside the youth club, a mentoring project has been launched recently with the aim of providing the opportunity for young people to share their journey with an adult who can guide and challenge them when appropriate. We hope that this will also help to build trust between the team and young people. So far, 3 young people have officially signed up, and many more have expressed interest. We believe this will be a real turning point for the work in the village.
We are also working with young people from the local churches and are in the process of developing a discipleship group to commence in September.
The team has also been involved in a Bath project – A2 - which gathers all youth workers and young people together. It is inspiring to see young people from various churches in the city come together to have fun, hear more about faith and worship together. It certainly provides ideas for us to develop in PSJ in the future. So far, we have worked with 80 young people, and in the coming months we are confident for more!
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The Motus ‘family’ In the last few months our dance project, Motus, has gone from strength to strength. Here Sam shares some of the highlights. Motus Dance Academy have been flying through choreography lately as we begin to think about our annual dance show. The academy has not had a show for the last 2 years and is very happy to announce the date - Saturday 2nd July, when we will once again be on stage at St Phillips and St James Church, Odd down. Pop it in your diary! In the last newsletter we announced the start of Mini Motus. This is now well established, and we have a group of 10 dancers in years 5 & 6 regularly attending sessions. It is very exciting to see some of the older Motus girls come along to help each week, teaching some of their own choreography. Motus has always been described as a ‘family’ and this certainly reinforces how that is for many of our young people. Mini Motus will also be performing at the dance show.
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We have some new faces with the academy so pop over to our Instagram to see how brilliantly the young people have bonded and how well they work together! I will leave this update with a quote from a letter that one of the new members sent after her first couple of weeks with Motus. ‘I just wanted to thank you and let you know how much dance means to me. Dance brings out my true colours and I feel like I can be myself. Before one of the sessions, I had a falling out with a friend, was upset and didn’t want to go to Motus. However, I turned up, put on the Motus hoodie, and came into that room feeling like me. I want to thank you for your welcome, showing me I shouldn’t be embarrassed because I am worried what people think or say when I am dancing and that it is alright just to be (little) me.’
Children and Young People’s Network (CYPN)
CYPN, of which Dave Joyce has been chair the last year, was established to support voluntary sector organisations who work with children and young people across Bath & North East Somerset (BANES). As well as Bath Youth for Christ the member organisations include Youth Connect, Off the Record, Mentoring Plus, Bath Rugby Foundation, Project 28, and Bath Area Play Project. The voluntary sector has grown significantly over the last few years due to reductions in government funding, particularly in the youth work sector. Networking is so important
to enable collaboration, particularly when applying for funding for projects. Working with Gilly Samuddin, Bath Area Play Project, Dave has developed a new strategy for the network with the vision statement. “Through partnership the Network aims to empower and raise the profile of the sector, which is improving the lives of children & young people in B&NES.” Joining with CYPN is allowing Bath YFC to impact a wide range of young people and children throughout the whole of BANES.
Developing creativity The young people at Riverside youth club have recently been invited to work with a local artist to create an art installation at the Holbourne Museum tapping into their interest in animation. The project will culminate in a presentation on Saturday 16th April at the Holbourne Museum –we would love to see you there. In the next newsletter you will be able to read more about the project and the impact it had on our young people.
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Prayer points for Bath April> • Pray that staff, families, and young people will have a good Easter break and return refreshed. • Pray for good health and for the stop of the spread of Covid. • Please pray for Timsbury Youth Club to be a safe space for young people where they find hope and a place where they feel loved and supported • Please pray that the young people at The Hive youth club become less destructive and start to show greater respect for the building and people. Pray for relationships with volunteers to develop and improve. • Please pray for more girls to attend The Hive Monday night sessions. • Thank God for new volunteers who are helping us to develop our schools’ work. • Give thanks for God’s ongoing financial provision and for continued provision during what is likely to be a difficult time financially for everyone as living costs rise.
May> • Please pray for the ‘Pizza @St Pete’s’ initiative in Camerton to be a doorway which raises questions about faith. • For discernment and wisdom for a potential new Youth Street Pastors project aimed at keeping young people safe. • Pray for good relationships with local schools in the Radstock and Midsomer Norton area to allow us to start delivering mentoring and other projects. 6
• Pray that boys at The Hive show interest in mentoring to allow us to support them in a deeper more meaningful way. • Thank God for the runners in the Bath Half and the sponsorship that this will raise for our work.
June> • Pray for school pupils taking exams this month. • Pray for our young leaders’ programme, that it will help young people to grow to be who God has made them to be. • Thank God for our trustees and for the recruitment of a new member of the board. Please pray for the appointment of a new Treasurer. • Thank God for financial provision to enable us to continue to develop our work. Pray for new funding streams to become available for the future.
July> • Prayer for mentoring in Peasedown: that young people would really benefit from it and build trust in their mentor to allow them to share openly. • Please pray for the successful transition of our financial reporting to a new system. • Pray for the end of school year events in schools that they will be a fun time for all involved. • Pray that the school holidays will be a time of rest and relaxation for our team and school staff. • Pray for young people for whom school holidays are not necessarily a positive experience.
Ways to Support We are so grateful for the support we receive to enable us to continue our work with young people. There are many ways in which you can support us.
Pray see pages 6 & 7 for prayer points
Volunteer could you spare some time to help deliver any one of our projects?
Fundraise from cake sales to running the Bath Half, get creative and let us know your ideas so we can help publicise your event. Donate through our website - https://bath.yfc.co.uk/donate/ sign up to Amazon Smiles to give when you shop by BACS – contact admin@bathyfc.co.uk for details
More opportunities in schools video, craft, and discussion activities, we have explored topics as well as had fun. Seeing the girls at the end of the six weeks smiling and choosing positive words about themselves for the top of their cupcake, was a memorable moment for me. One young woman said “I will not compare myself to others anymore. I am my own person” whilst another said, ‘I have learnt how to “be a better friend, watch out for bad friendships and accept that we are all different”. Sarah Sanderson (our latest recruit) shares her reasons for joining our mentoring team. Since our team have been able to return to working in schools, we have seen an increase in referrals for mentoring and running group sessions. We do not always have the capacity within our staff team to meet demand, so it has been encouraging to see several new volunteers come forward to help. Here Rachel Hornsby shares her experiences in Hayesfield School.
Coming back to youth work and volunteering for YFC has been fantastic, working with young women again and of course the fabulous Amy and Sam. Amy and I have been running the Girls Friendship group (Shine) in Hayesfield Lower School, working with identified year nine girls in groups of six. We have been looking at issues such as their dreams for the future, their uniqueness, and friendships. Using icebreakers, games,
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Having worked as a family and children’s worker at a church I am now currently training to be a vicar and will be starting my curacy in June. From walking with my children through lockdown and the return to school I realized the large need for mentors within secondary schools and am excited about getting involved with Bath YFC to support a couple of students. I see this role as helping them work out who they are and what they want to become through listening, building a relationship with them and finding achievable goals.
St Marks Sam Packer, our East Bath Schools Worker, was appointed as Chaplain for St Mark’s School 6 months ago. Here she shares some of the changes this new role has brought for her. I have been working at St Mark’s for several years, so some things are very familiar, but the new role has meant new challenges. I, and the school of course, survived both SIAMS & OFSTED inspections two months apart! Due to continuing Covid restrictions I was required to deliver five Carol Services in one day which was a stretch but a privilege. Breakfast Club continues to thrive and the weekly delivery from Fare Share allows us to offer a variety of options to the young people. Currently I mentor seven students on a weekly basis which provides the opportunity to support individuals who may be struggling. It is so encouraging to see how it makes a difference. One Year 8 girl who had been quite anxious about a few things going on in her life shared that after the sessions she felt less worried. Some Year 10 boys shared what the mentoring sessions meant for them:
‘I find our sessions useful because they make me calm’. ‘Mentoring is fun because I get to spend time in The Sanctuary & play games. They are enjoyable & help me de-stress’ Collective Worship on Mondays is now able to happen in person for the whole school rather than remotely. I am also planning a transition group for the year 6 children from St Saviour’s Junior Church School who will be coming to St Mark’s in September. Based on the It’s Your Move book from SU it will look at Friendships, Worries & Concerns and Finding your Feet at a New School. It is a real pleasure to support the whole School community including the staff and we have tea and cake together after School on a Wednesday. At the time of writing Covid is still rearing its ugly head amongst the staff so please do pray for it to cease.
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Building Hope in Timsbury
Jane vanHaaps, Youth & Community Worker, shares the impact of providing a space for young people to gather, have fun and find support where needed. Timsbury Youth Project brings together both the Church and the Community providing a space for young people to meet with Jesus. Our aim and strapline of “Building Hope in Young People’s Lives”, so needed during the pandemic, is needed now more than ever as events unfold on the global stage. We offer a safe space where these bigger issues can either be forgotten as we have fun or discussed to try to alleviate fears. Typically, about 30 young people attend Friday Youth Club sessions. Recently the local PSCOs joined us providing an opportunity for them to get to know the young people in a fun environment, playing football and UNO! A highlight of recent weeks was making pancakes with a particular lad who has troubles at home: making the first pancake with him and then watch his growing confidence as he made the next one by himself. The following week, he specifically asked if he could cook something. He doesn’t join in so well with his peers but is happy to play football with the leaders and to get 1:1 time with a consistent and positive male role model. He comes back every week and if he was the only one there, it would be worth it! Over half term our Wednesday Young Leaders group, planned, prepared, and cooked a meal for 12 people, including their families.
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Valuable skills were learnt, and it was a lovely sociable occasion with good food. It has been so encouraging to see how one of the girls, who doesn’t talk much and was one of our younger members when covid started, has started trusting us much more and is so much more confident. One week she just turned up to help with the younger group on a Friday night and has continued to come consistently each week since. Using her own initiative, she went into the kitchen and asked the young people if they wanted hot chocolate. She has a sense of ownership and knows she is needed and can make a difference. Most of our groups meet at Timsbury YMCA, but last year we started a new project in St Peter’s Church, Camerton. It has given an opportunity for a church with seemingly no children or families to connect with the local population, offering a space, fun activities, a meal, and love at no cost. To me, the following quote sums up our commission from God. “Christ has no body now but yours. No hands, no feet on earth but yours. Yours are the eyes through which he looks with compassion on this world. Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good. Yours are the hands through which he blesses all the world. Christ has no body now on earth but yours”. Teresa of Avila
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A Life Transformed We are not always aware of the difference we have made to a young person’s life. Here Nick Blythe, Senior Youth Worker at The Hive, shares an encouraging testimony. I was recently asked to support a young man who some years ago, as a teenager, attended projects we ran at Bath YFC. In recent years he has had some struggles but remembered us and reached out for help. Through weekly mentoring sessions he has started to gain confidence and move towards a new path for his life. What a privilege to journey with him. Here he shares his experience: ‘Mentoring has really helped me to overcome a lot of fears in life. It has also made me feel
I have that extra person to connect and do activities with and be able to chat about my problems. It has really benefited me making me a lot more confident in myself and life in general. Before mentoring my life was a mess and I was in a very dark place in my mind, but Nick has really helped me to open up my mind and to paint a bigger picture. If it wasn’t for him supporting me through everything I most likely would just be hibernating in my room, uninvolved with what’s going on in the world and not being able to create a future for myself. I so appreciate all the support Nick gives me. He’s not only my mentor but a friend.’