Swindon
Taking Good News to young people in Swindon since 1950
Summer 2015
youthforchristnews
Registered Charity no. 274402
Award Winners! On the 6th March 2015 we at BIOS had the exciting privilege of being awarded the High Sheriff of Wiltshire Award along with our friends at Swindon Dance. This was an award in recognition of services to the community. It recognises not-for-profit groups who make a positive impact on the town and the needs of its community. On this exciting evening we were supported by trustees, friends, supporters and five young people who were invited along to celebrate with us on this achievement. It is particularly exciting that we received this award after only operating for 11 months! Chris Priddy commented : “It is a fantastic privilege and we are really excited to have received the award, it is a real testament to the work that we do – it is brilliant to be recognised. We have only been going 11 months and to be seen to be making an impact is rather exciting. We have some of our young people with us tonight and they are absolutely delighted to be here. We spend our lives working with young people to empower them to make positive life choices and raise their aspirations.” The young people that came with us were interviewed by a local radio station and they all talked about their experiences of the BIOS van and how they had all felt helped and supported by the BIOS team. It was lovely to hear the young people sharing about how good the BIOS van is and how they know that they can always come and chat to the team about anything. On March 19th we celebrated the one year anniversary of the van. This was an exciting time as we reflected on the past year and all that the van has achieved, the conversations we have had and the relationships we have made. We hope that you will join with us in thanking God for all he has done over the last year. 472 Sessions, 4055 miles, 1494 cups of hot chocolate and 10,293 interactions with young people = 1 year on the roads!
Directors Notes
We don’t do this for earthly awards, we do it for the Love of God and the love of Young People. So it was somewhat astonishing to find out that the High Sheriff of Wiltshire was so impressed by our work that he wanted to present us with an award - fantastic recognition of the work the SYFC team does and how it is helping young people right across town. This year our SYFC verse of the year is Galatians 5v6 where we are told that ‘what is important is faith expressed through love’. At Youth for Christ we demonstrate and declare our faith in God through love. This looks like offering a listening ear to a young person in need - showing them that we care; it looks like the fact that come rain or shine, snow or sleet we will turn up and be interested in them; it looks like sitting with a young person helping them discover who God created them to be; it looks like a school assembly on the theme of ‘Standing Up for Justice’; it looks like the gift of gloves to a young person whose hands are cold; it looks like sitting in a school classroom discussing verses from the bible on the theme of fear AND it looks like every moment, in every week when we speak to a young person. Please pray for each of these encounters, that they would bring Hope and Life and Love into young peoples lives here in Swindon. Please also pray for each member of the team as they serve God seeking to demonstrate and declare their faith in Him, through love.
Swindon Youth for Christ, P. O. BOX 2352, SWINDON SN2 1WE 01793 977676 office@syfc.org.uk www.syfc.org.uk
Schoolswork Update We love Easter! It is a time where we get to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus and share this celebration with the young people we meet
in schools. In the run up to Easter we saw every student at Commonweal school in assembly where we got to talk about the message of Easter. This year we looked at the theme of brokenness and the brokenness we can see around us. The story of Easter at first looks pretty bleak. Jesus had gone, he died and his disciples were left thinking about what they would do next. However we know and understand the fuller story. We see the bigger picture, we see that God sent Jesus to fix the brokenness and to save us, to give us hope. I talked about this hope that Jesus can bring and also encouraged them to be the hope in hopeless situations and to make a difference where they see injustice and brokenness. We were also invited into Uplands again to run lessons with every class again around the topic of Easter. We went through the Easter story with them and had activities based on the parts of the story we were sharing. We made Hosanna banners for Palm Sunday and sang and made noise to celebrate the arrival of a king on a donkey. We then told the story of the last supper and ate matzo crackers together. We created necklaces to remember the resurrection which we made out of pasta and wool with a cross to decorate and finally we made happy and sad plate faces to show how the disciples felt sad when Jesus died and then how happy they were when he rose again. This was a wonderful day which was enjoyed by students and staff alike. Through these activity days we have been able to build more of a relationship with the school and it is great to see the relationships building between students and SYFC staff through weekly detached work in the playground and termly assemblies delivered by Chris. Chris also had the privilege of leading a memorial service for one of the students who sadly passed away. We thank God for the students and staff at Uplands and we thank God for the blessings he has shown us as a team through working there. Through all of this we have continued with our usual lunch and after school clubs and have had the opportunity of running further assemblies in Swindon Academy. We had a couple of different assemblies a few weeks apart talking about standing up for others, and also on the election which is the highlight of the news as I write! It was great to share Jesus’ manifesto about preaching the message of good news to the poor, to pardon the prisoners, giving sight to the blind, to set the burdened and battered free and announces that it was God’s year to act. His manifesto talks about those who would have had no voice in society and how this message has inspired people throughout history to make change. - Laura Butcher
YFCone Departures Nathan O’Neill Well it’s been an amazing 2 years working with SYFC! It’s gone so fast it doesn’t seem that long ago that I got lost on my first day walking to the office. These two years have been awesome; I have learnt and grown so much. One of my highlights from every week has been Bradon Forest lunch club and RE lessons. It’s been great watching the lunch club grow over the past 2 years and seeing the young people every week asking questions. Another highlight has been Nova Hreod Rock Solid group and building relationships with the young people there. Working with BIOS has been great and I’ve enjoyed every session that I have been to. Friday nights (in Highworth) were part of the reason I wanted to be placed in Highworth for this year and it’s been great working in The Bridge and going into the Methodist youth group on a Friday and chatting to the young people there. I’m going to miss being in Swindon and working as part of a great team. My plans for next year keep changing so I’m not sure what I’m going to do next but I know God has a plan for me and I’m just going to see what happens.
Emily Stark As my gap year comes to a close, I can look back and say with confidence that this year has been the most challenging of my life to date but it has also been, without a doubt, the most rewarding. The experiences I’ve had working with SYFC have helped me mature into adulthood and feel equipped to make those big decisions about my future that I’ve been putting off for a very long time. It’s difficult to choose a moment in the year that specifically stood out for me because each day brought a vastly new story. That’s one thing I love about youth work, it’s tricky to predict what a session will be like and that’s exciting. God has fuelled my love for working with young people in each moment I’ve felt like giving up and going home. So often this year He has reminded me of the hope I have because of Jesus. That love and hope is such a massive joy to me that there’s no way I can keep it to myself, I have to share it, especially to the young people I’ve met this year that are so desperately searching for love. I am indebted to SYFC for all of the work and care they have put into me this year, from the laughter they give me, to truly caring and helping me through struggles. I will always thank God for the blessing the team has been on my life.
IMPACT on the radio!
SYFC Annual Showcase
The April IMPACT event was attended by 50 young people from all over Swindon and a BBC Radio Wiltshire reporter! The event featured a question time style panel who offered to answer the questions that the young people had about life and faith. The panel consisted of Rev. Mark Barrett (church leader), Richard Williams (theologian!), Elliott Chappell (young person) and Rosie GrantWillson (youth worker). They fielded questions about how we can be sure of our faith, how we can share our faith with our friends and the world around us, how we deal with doubts and struggles and what the bible has to say about various sticky issues!
The evening will include puddings and an opportunity to hear about and pray for the work of SYFC. Please rsvp to the SYFC Office.
A BBC Wiltshire Radio reporter came and recorded the worship band playing and interviewed some of the young people about what they enjoy about the event and what it’s like being a young Christian today. The interviews played out on the Sunday morning show on the 9th May. It was great to hear young people speaking confidently and positively about their faith and how helpful they found the IMPACT events, played out to listeners across Wiltshire!
Please join us for our annual celebration showcase event. Friday 26th June 2015. 7pm drinks, 7:30-9:30 event £Free At Freshbrook Church, Worsley Road, SN5 8NU
Time: Sunday’s 6:00 - 8:00pm
Venue: Elim Church [Near North Star Roundabout]
Osborne St., Swindon, SN2 1DA
Oct 12 : Dec 07 : Feb 08 : Apr 19 : Jun 14 Join us on
We want you to get involved in planning and running IMPACT if you are interested get in touch with us. Run in partnership between local churches and Swindon Youth for Christ info@impactswindon.com 01793 829795
Sunday Night Live at Costa Coffee Drive Thru, West Swindon. Every 3rd Sunday of the month 8:00pm - 10:00pm. Live Entertainment with a Twist of Faith. Aimed at Swindon’s young adults.
BIOS Van : 1 Year Old! The BIOS van continues to be a great success and the warmer weather brightens the mood of both the team and the young people. We have had a really great few months packed full of positive activities, conversations, encouragement and support. Our Thursday night session in Meadowcroft had been a particularly good session over the last few weeks. Most weeks we have seen around 30 young people aged between 8 and 18 and have been able to just sit and chat with a lot of the older ones about a whole range of topics including drugs, school, politics, family and community. This has been a really great opportunity as previously some of these young people caused us issues but now they have invited us into their lives and are completely happy to open up to us which is amazing. Over the last few months we have had the immense privilege and incredible opportunity to pray with several young people in the different areas that we visit. We regularly pray for the young people that we work with but often we don’t offer to pray with the young people that we meet. Over the last few months however we have been encouraged to go out in boldness and offer to pray with young people and often the young people are very happy to be prayed with. One girl in particular was having some teeth out the following day and was worried about it so Rosie and I chatted to her and offered to pray with her. After we had prayed with her she told us that she had recorded the prayer so that she could listen back to it when she was worried. Each week we have a question of the week, there are a couple of questions that have really stood out for me over the last term, firstly the question ‘What do you see or think when you look in the mirror?’ We received a lot of answers that really broke my heart like ‘maybe I am what people call me,’ or ‘an ugly girl starting back.’ Through this activity I was able share with the young people about how they have been designed and created in the image of God. Another question that we asked was ‘What is the hardest thing you face?’ A lot of young answered this with ‘school,’ ‘exams,’ ‘living up to expectations’ or ‘losing a family member.’ Quite a lot of young people answered with something to do with parents divorcing or parents fighting and then we had some heart breaking answers such as ‘my sister attempting suicide again’ or ‘my brother going into care.’ These young people answer this question completely anonymously so I wasn’t able to have specific conversations with them about their answers but it was an enlightening question to ask. Often we have no clue what young people are going through and it is such a privilege when they come and chat to us honestly. The fact that we are able to have these conversations shows the good relationships and the good environment that we have built up for young people. As we look forward to the summer we are excited to be involved with several community fun days, the West Swindon Mix festival, Pinehurst Fun day, North Swindon Fun day, Stratton Fun day and Gorse Hill Baptist Fun day. Each of these will be a great opportunity to advertise, meet new people, young and old members of the community and share what we do. If you would like to visit the van at one of these community fun days you would be more than welcome. -Amy Cox
Meadowcroft Community Centre - Our New Home!
On the 1st April the SYFC Offices relocated from Bethesda Evangelical Church to Meadowcroft Community Centre in Upper Stratton. As part of this move we now have a community centre attached to the offices. Every time we rent out this space we generate funds to support the work of SYFC. On the 6th May we held a Grand Opening event for the centre which was attended by the Mayor of Swindon - perhaps you saw the story in the Swindon Advertiser. Please pray for this new opportunity that has been given to us and that we can use these new premises as a witness to the young people who live nearby. See www.meadowcroft.org.uk for details of the Centre. And please note our NEW phone number: 01793 977676
Youthie Residential Before Easter we took 28 young people from our Pinehurst ‘Youthie’ Youth Club to the PGL activity centre up at Liddington. Simon Halls from Shine Pinehurst was instrumental in the organising and sorted all the logistics! It was an incredibly busy weekend with most of the young people experiencing their first weekend away without parents or school, for many of them the activities pushed the boundaries of their comfort zones too. We took part in abseiling, canoeing, giant swing, zip wire, problem solving and many more. It was great to see how the group gelled together and how deeper relationships were formed between the young people and the leaders. Being able to be outside of everyday situations meant that the young people were able to be themselves and opened up far more about home lives and things they face in everyday life. We also took a group of young leaders from the youth work course which is running at Swindon Academy and it was great to see how they developed over the weekend in their youth work practice and for us to be able to feed into their learning. Please pray for the ongoing work with this group and our work in the Pinehurst community. - Laura Butcher eq : Evangelism. How to share you’re faith with your friends.
Your Story : Their Story : Gods Story
This interactive workshop style youth group session will dispel the scary myths about evangelism, give you confidence in sharing your story and help you to realise that you are the person God has called to share your faith with your mates.
The 2015 Tour syfc.org.uk/eq eq@syfc.org.uk 01793 829795
The Swindon Youth for Christ team are taking eq on tour.
We would love you to invite us to come and share with your youth group. We’ll bring everything we need for this fun, interactive and multi-media equipped session, we’ll come whenever you’re youth group usually meets and we’ll tailor the workshop to the needs of your group. To find out more or to book us to come to your group please get in touch.
Volunteering with SYFC We rely on local volunteers to help run our sessions and are so thankful to them and the time, energy and love that they put in. 1 in 5 young people say they have no one to talk to about the problems they face. By volunteering with SYFC you can offer a young person that opportunity - someone who will listen to them, care for them and be genuinely interested in them and their wellbeing. If you would be interested in working with us to transform the lives of young people then we have lots of opportunities at after-school, early evening and later evening sessions. Just email volunteering@syfc.org.uk or call 01793 977676. Thankyou.
Introducing Beth Trendell Hello, I’m Beth Trendell and I am excited to have recently joined the team of trustees for SYFC. Originally from Manchester, I moved to Wiltshire in 2006 to work for the Ncounter Partnership (a project some of you may remember!) We worked collaboratively with SYFC to take the Good News to young people in Swindon secondary schools, using music and dance as our tool for communication. This was my first experience of SYFC and from the offset, I was really impressed with the commitment, creativity and dedication of the team. Since then, I have worked for a cluster of churches as a youth and children’s worker and currently work in a local secondary school providing pastoral care for Year 8 students. Within both of these jobs, it has been great to be able to continue to work alongside SYFC in a number of ways. I have really enjoyed taking young people along to their high quality events, have appreciated their generous sharing of resources, and am now in the privileged position to witness the positive impact that their schools work has on the young people in my workplace. I know that the team are working tirelessly delivering a well thought out and relevant programme of assemblies, lunch clubs, small groups and youth club sessions and am always in awe of the energy and passion given to each project. This is especially true at the BIOS van sessions delivered in my local community, as I know from speaking to young people, the love and respect given by SYFC workers and volunteers is really helping them to realise their God given potential and worth. In joining the trustees and hearing of all the great work and inevitable challenges faced by the team, I pray that I will be able to support and encourage them as they continue to bring hope to young people in Swindon.
British Youth for Christ
SUPPORT SYFC .....
Swindon Youth for Christ is part of the British and International Youth for Christ Families and we have strong prayerful ties with Youth for Christ in Zimbabwe. Here in the UK we are really blessed to receive great support from a National support team. Here Emma Kendall from the Local Ministries team writes : I am Emma Kendall and I work for British Youth for Christ as Head of Chartered Ministries for the South of England. I work as part of the Local Ministries team within BYFC, and we are responsible for supporting over 70 YFC centres and projects across England, Scotland and Wales. Although there are similarities between centres and projects, they are each focussed on their local context and aim to meet the specific needs of local children and young people. There are also differences in what other opportunities might be available and where the gaps in provision are. This means that YFC ministries include a wide range of activities in a number of contexts such as schools, churches, prisons and on the streets. For example, this can include demonstrating God’s love through provision of pastoral support in schools, detached work or drop-in youth groups; offering the chance to hear about Jesus for the first time through creative arts clubs, worship events and Christian concerts; giving young people opportunity to explore or deepen their Christian faith with offering Alpha courses, Christian Unions and discipleship groups. What connects us all as Youth for Christ is our heart to ‘take Good News relevantly to every young person’. As YFC, we think of ourselves as a family rather than an organisation, as our strength is in the relationships we share and the concern we have for one another. As well as the support we can offer from the national team, it is great to see YFC ministries supporting one another at national conference, through cluster groups and one-to-one meetings and offering each other encouragement, new ideas and prayerful support. This is particularly helpful for smaller YFC centres which may be driven by a small group of volunteers or one employed worker, which can be an isolated role. Swindon YFC is the longest continuously running centre in the country, having been set up in 1950. It is also a hugely valued part of YFC and a great example to other centres, particularly those just starting out. SYFC’s team has a wealth of skills and experience and do fantastic work with over 650 young people every week. Chris Priddy is a well-respected director and someone in whom YFC has complete confidence in the way he manages and leads the centre. SYFC clearly has a great reputation locally and we are extremely proud of the recognition they have received through various awards and offers of support. My prayer is that Swindon YFC will carry on for many years to come and continue to focus on taking Good News relevantly to every young person in Swindon. The work of SYFC is only made possible by the amazing COULD YOU OR YOUR HOMEGROUP SPONSOR A SESSION? generosity of churches and individuals like yourselves. £25 per month enables us to run Could you consider investing in the future ministry of SYFC? 1 School Lunchclub or 1 RE or LUSH lesson or 1 set of Assemblies or Perhaps you could consider becoming a monthly financial 1 Rock Solid Club or 1 support session with a young person in crisis. Why not choose a specific event to sponsor and pray for? partner or send a special one-off gift now, to help us develop the work over the coming months. Or could you commit to sending us just £5 or £10 a month. All you need to do is ask us for a Standing Order Form and Every amount donated makes a significant impact on our work. return it to our PO Box address and if you are a tax payer Visit www.syfc.org.uk/donate to donate online, we can claim 20% of the sum donated back from HMRC. or call us to request a standing order form.
KEEP IN TOUCH Yes I would like to be kept informed about all the fantastic work of SYFC, please send me Newsletters, Updates and Emails. Alternatively you can sign up online at www.syfc.org.uk Name : _______________________________________________________________ Address : _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ Postcode : ________________________________________ Email Address : ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Phone Number : _________________________________________ Church Attended : __________________________________ PLEASE SEND YOUR COMPLETED FORM TO: SYFC, PO Box 2352, Swindon, Wilts, SN2 1WE. THANKYOU.
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