event on the horizon

is the imminent move to our new

premises at the Salvation Army Hall.

This is being so ably pioneered by

Charles Norman, who is poised, with

his band of volunteers, to make

the necessary changes to make

PSL’s new home safe and welcoming.

The trustees are

sorry to lose Vic Pennington from

their number after 10 years of service,

and are grateful to

him that he is willing

to continue looking after the finances.

I’d also like to

I have just

completed my first year as chairman of

the PSL trustees and it has been such a

privilege to be able to help support the

hard work which is going on behind the

scenes and in the front-line by the

many who support and run PSL.

Andrew Frost and

his team’s dedication and

commitment to the young people of

Buckingham is admirable, and he

has some exciting

activities lined up

for the young people to look forward to.

The most exciting

express my thanks

to all the faithful friends for their

support of PSL and the various fund-

raising events.

The trustees continue to keep

things ticking over in the background and

they deserve our thanks for the time

and effort they put in and for

supporting PSL events and fund-

raising. Their latest move is to set up a

PSL website.

Exciting times! Good

luck to all for the

next 10 years.

Sheila Handley

PSL Chairman

Cha irman’s P itch

Special points of interest:

Check out our trip

to The Beacon in

September

New premises

coming soon—

watch this space!

Can you spare a

few hours to

volunteer for

PSL?

Project Street

Life

Project Street Life Newsletter

Inside this issue:

One Day… 2

God Needs You 3

Volunteer’s Report 4

Thank You! 4

Jan 2010

We’re on the Web!

Find us at:

www.projectstreetlife.org.uk

One day Project

Street Life will be

renting the Salvation

Army Hall on two or

three evenings per

week. As you will know,

the negotiations have

been going on for a

very long time, but

they seem to be near-

ing a conclusion. The

only known hold up is

for the Salvation Army

to repair an electrical

fault, which PSL’s

electrician has found.

Upon completion, the

agreed list of health

and safety adaptations

to the building can be

made.

When the Salvation

Army are using the

building everything will

appear to be normal,

but on our evenings all

will change. You will

know that you are in a

youth environment.

The health and safety

changes, the PSL staff,

the equipment, the

paintings, and the

sound and lighting, will

all shout out a wel-

come to our members;

past, present and yet

to be invited. There are

still so many young

people out and about in

the town and nearby

who need help. As we

all know from our own

experience, problems

to do with home,

school, behaviour or

friends just appear at

the wrong time; sud-

denly the world is a

very tough place. One

place to go is PSL. As

well as all the tried,

tested and successful

features of the club,

some kind people have

volunteered to offer

help with schoolwork,

job search, social skills

and even cooking.

Watch out for the

opening.

The Beacon weekend

If you are a young

male or female, read

on. On Friday 3rd

September, returning

on Sunday 5th, PSL is

off to a fantastic activ-

ity centre in north

Devon. There’s climb-

ing, ropes, loads of

challenges and our

own beach, complete

with sea. Andrew Frost

checked it out last

summer. Ask him what

he thought of it. See

you there.

Charles Norman,

Trustee

Page 2 Project Street Life Newsletter

One Day. . .

Salvation

Army Hall

“There are

still so

many young

people out

and about

in the town

and nearby

who need

help”

I knew straight away this was where God wanted me to be. It felt natural; I knew then what my past

had all been about. This is not excusing my past but God was using it for good. I could understand when the young people said they were bored and had nothing to do, the police keep moving us on, we

haven’t done anything, and we don't know what to do with our lives. I could remember all the peer pressure to do things wrong - smoking, drinking, drugs, stealing, fighting. It's tough at that

age. Be like your friends or be on your own and lonely; maybe with not much other real family to tell you right from wrong. I remember the first time I went down to PSL I was

nervous and excited at the same time. I remem-ber Sue the previous manager was so nice to me she made me feel comfortable as soon as I walked in. Sitting me down, telling me how things work and what to expect. Then the young people walked in and my heart started to race. I tried hard to make con-versation and I got a few words out of some of

them, played a little pool but not much else hap-pened and I got a little discouraged. It was either

Sue or Brian, the previ-ous youth minister of our church, who told me that it was all about building up relationships with the young people and that this doesn't happen over night, and then I started

to feel better. So all I needed to do really was to keep coming as much as I could, take an inter-est in their lives and God would do the rest which I did and He did.

Sue taught me a lot. She has a great manner with the young people and cares about all of them. We went out on the streets of Buckingham together to do outreach. She was really inspiring

in how she just knew how to connect with them. Nothing ever fazed her and she has some great comebacks at some of the rude comments we would get. I learnt and still earn a lot from Sue. I couldn't believe God wanted me to do a job where a person can have so much fun. As I spent more time with the young people doing outreach and club nights my rela-

tionship with them got better. They would trust me more and start to open up to me.

We also take the young people out on trips which is another excellent way of building up relation-ships whilst the young people are having fun .We are now going into a new

chapter of PSL where we are going to do some very exciting new projects .We are not just going to be a place for the young peo-ple to hang out and have fun. It will be a real place for them to learn new

skills and to better them-selves through the sup-port they need. God loves and cares for every one of the young people. He wants us to show his love for them

and show there are people who care. The Bible encourages us to go out to the people instead of waiting for them to come to us. Jesus sat and preached to the broken. People asked, why is this holy man doing this? He said “The broken need us more than any one”. Also it says we should go out and evangelise and use words if you need to.

Page 3

God Needs You

“I couldn't

believe God

wanted me to do

a job where a

person can have

so much fun”

Andrew Frost

PSL Manager

If this article inspires you in any way and you think you would like to get involved in Project Street Life we would love to hear from you. Contact me, Andrew Frost , Project Manager, on: 07794166131.

The young people need you. Thank you.

Andrew Frost, PSL

Manager

As from November 07 Project Street Life has survived during its time in temporary premises until a more

appropriate longer term solution is found. This has not deterred the dedicated people who continue to sup-

port the young people of Buckingham and surrounding areas.

I have seen many young people come through the doors at PSL over the years, the core group of young

people changing as one moves up and out and another moves in. Our aim is to provide a safe haven where

young people can talk openly about issues that may affect them. We provide recreational activities to help develop their appropriate skills. During my time working at PSL as a Project Manager, Frontline staff mem-

ber and now a Volunteer it amazes me how committed and passionate we all feel about the project and the

young people. They are amazing and I’ve seen so many changes within one person over a period of time and watched them show the ability to maintain a good relationship.

It’s important to remember how hard it can be to be young – we must emphasise the good things they do,

not the bad. We all went through similar issues but now is a different time with a whole raft of new pres-sures. If you can look into the eyes of any young teenager you may find it gives you a clearer understanding

of what is going on.

We constantly strive to improve Project Street Life and keep the needs of the young people at the forefront

of everything we provide. Without the help and support from our dedicated Trustees, Frontline staff and

Volunteers where would the young people go!

Over the years Project Street Life has gone from strength to strength based on the passion and commit-

ment of all dedicated staff and volunteers who work tirelessly to reach out to our young people. That is why

we always need new members to join us.

Can you spare an hour or two per week to continue helping and supporting our young people at Project Street Life? Sue Stevens, Volunteer

Project Street Life

Volunteer’s Report

Thank You!

Our heartfelt thanks go to the following groups who contributed to PSL funds in 2008/09 and continue

to be loyal and generous supporters of Project Street Life:

Buckingham Charity Ball

Buckingham Pantomine

Pampers Evening - Gawcott St Peter and St Paul Buckingham

Well Street United Church Tingewick PCC

Cream Teas Events

House and Garden Event

Waitrose Members of Lillingstone Lovell Mothers Union

Stowe Church Friends of PSL