SwindonRegistered Charity no. 274402

Swindon Youth for Christ, P. O. BOX 2352, SWINDON SN2 1WE (01793) 829795 office@syfc.org.uk www.syfc.org.uk

Spring 2013

For a number of years now we have had a burden for the young adults of Swindon. We love the fact that the Children who attend the X:Site events graduate to IMPACT when they reach secondary school, but when the young people we work with finish college, there isn’t a place where they can meet with Christians from other churches or a safe, welcoming environment where they can introduce their non-Christian friends to the Christian faith in an informal and relaxed way.As a response to this long held burden January saw the launch of Sunday Night Live in Swindon. SNL events are run in coffee shops right across the country by different churches and organisations. The event is run at Costa Coffee, provides some relaxed entertainment and introduces a ‘twist’ of faith. The informal setting provides the laid back atmosphere and gives the opportunity to meet new people from the town and surrounding area. The launch event in Swindon saw performer Stephen George playing an assortment of music, including pieces he has composed himself. It was an amazing evening attended by around 70 people, more people than chairs available, which was especially astounding given the amount of snow still around! The crowd gathered from Highworth right through to Royal Wotton Bassett and represented at least 12 different churches. The manager of the Coffee shop said that his staff were really impressed with the event and that he was very happy to continue to support it in months to come.Swindon Youth for Christ are privileged to be working with a team of people from different churches to make these exciting new events happen. There are many people in their 20’s and 30’s dedicated to their local churches, and this provides a great opportunity for them to meet other Christians in their area who share the same passion as them. We have been hugely encouraged by the amount of young adults coming together to meet new people and share faith with others. Katey Cook, joined us on the second event held in February, which was equally as successful, entertaining us with her incredible vocals and sharing her story of faith! Please continue to pray for this group as it builds community and seeks to invite others to the event. Here are some of the comments about the first Sunday Night Live Swindon:“Stephen George - Great night last night, thanks. Looking forward to Katey Cook next month.”“What a really good night & great music Stephen”“We all loved it, can’t wait till the next one”Twitter: @SNLswindonFacebook: facebook.com/SNLswindonWebsite: www.syfc.org.uk/SNLswindonIt’s also worth checking out @EthosUK, YFC’s new resource for young adults.

Taking Good News to young people in Swindon since 1950

youthforchristnews

Reaching the ‘Missing Generation’Recently the Princes Trust published a report which found that: 1 in 10 young people feel unable to cope with everyday life 1 in 5 young people have no one to talk to about the problems they were struggling with in life 68% wanted a real person to talk to when they were struggling, not an internet virtual mentor 19% felt they had no hope

What devastating statistics; almost 1 in 5 young people feel they have no hope in life, something God so freely offers us through the death and resurrection of His Son Jesus Christ. Others feel isolated, alone, desperate and unloved. Behind each of these numbers are real lives, every week at SYFC we seek to share love and hope with these young people, to change the statistics and see their lives transformed by the One who gives life in all it’s fullness [John 10:10].

As you read this newsletter my hope is that you will be blown away by the incredible work that SYFC is doing and supporting, and how God is using it to change the lives of Swindon’s young people. In the midst of such startling and shocking darkness light is shining and young people are responding to it. This newsletter offers you just a snapshot into some of the projects, groups and activities that SYFC are currently running right across the town and some of the lives who are hearing and seeing the gospel for the first time.

Will you support us in our mission; offering a caring, listening ear to young people who feel unable to cope with everyday life, sharing love and faith with those who are struggling and offering hope to those who feel hope is gone. Please pray for us, and if you don’t already do so can I urge you to consider supporting us financially, every small gift makes a huge difference, just £5 or £10 a month goes a long way and is used directly to enable our dedicated and passionate team to share Good News with young people in Swindon.

Please call us or visit the website -www.syfc.org.uk, to find out how you can be a part of the mission of Swindon Youth for Christ.

Rev. Chris Priddy Centre Director: SYFC

Director’s Notes

A Christian Witness in Every Swindon SchoolHi, my name is Abi Corry. For the last five years I have been based over in the East Swindon area of Parks and Walcot, Dorcan and the surrounding villages in the role of full time primary schools worker for the in:School project. My role was to work alongside ministers and church volunteers in taking the good news of Jesus into schools in a fun and relevant way, to have a strong Christian presence within the schools and also to serve our schools where there was a need. The vision of the in:School project was to establish, develop and sustain strong and positive links between the primary schools and their local churches. During this time we have experienced Gods faithfulness in so many ways. Relationships have gone from strength to strength with the doors of schools being open, welcoming and trusting. We currently have three strong church volunteer teams who have really grown in their confidence and ability in working with children and every year we have a high uptake and a great response to the festivals and trips we offer: “The children indicated that it gave them a fresh perspective on the Easter story”. “The children we’re enthusiastic and keen, many wished the session would go on longer”. We really have so much to praise God for.

I have now returned to work after being on maternity leave for 10 months and the in:School project has partnered with SYFC and SU so that we can work alongside more churches and serve more of our local schools across the town. One Head teacher, when asked about the support in:School provided commented “The support is great, I would love more, but I can’t be selfish, we need this everywhere”.Firstly I want to say a big thank you to everyone who took the time to complete our survey in 2012. This has helped us establish what links are already in place between the churches and schools and the work that is already going on. What is so encouraging to see from these survey results is that every single primary school in Swindon has a link with a local church; this is so brilliant and a sign of God really at work in this town. in:School hopes to see schools being served more, more churches encouraged, more children hearing about Jesus in fun and relevant ways and more volunteers inspired and motivated. If this interests you and you would like to find out about how we can serve you, please get in touch as we would love to support your ministry.

Loitering with intent!This term has been an amazing one for our Schoolswork. It’s incredible how many young people we have been able to have conversations with through our various work in schools. We have spoken about topics ranging from ‘how do you know God is real’ to ‘thinking big – ambitions’. Some of the best conversations we have had with young people have happened during our detached work sessions. Detached work is youth work without a ‘base’, it is out in the playground, on the sportsfield, or in the canteen. It gives the opportunity to meet with young people on their ground and at their level.

We regularly do detached work with three different schools, Dorcan, Kingsdown and Nova Hreod. At Dorcan we have lunch with the year 7’s every Monday, they have their own designated canteen so it has been great to get to know the whole year group. Each week we will take a different question to have discussions around, but what has been very evident within this group is that the more we build relationships with the young people over lunch the deeper our conversations become, and we have more opportunities to invite the young people to different groups we run.

This term has also seen the launch of our work with Mark Tidey at Isambard Community School. Kicked off with an assembly to get their faces known the team have started doing detached youth work on a Wednesday lunch time. Within the first couple of weeks they have had some amazing conversations about God and faith, Joanne writes... “Two girls from year 9 came up to us and asked who we were and what we were doing in the school. I told them we were youth workers and that we are Christians. One girl asked what sin was and her friend tried to answer, she said that God punishes us and that we go to hell if we’ve been bad. I asked if they had heard about God’s grace- they both shook their heads, so I told them that Jesus died on the cross for our sins then I quoted John 3:16 to them and said that we have hope through Jesus and so do you when we say yes to Jesus and repent for what we have done. I asked if they were interested in what I said and they said yes; which was amazing, so I said if they would like me to bring a bible in for them and they said yes. I told them I would be praying for them; their response was “awe thank you”. God uses us in these small ways which seem ordinary or sometimes feels unimportant. However, please be encouraged as it has me; these are extraordinary moments and God loves each of them, he uses us to let them know He cares for them- that’s powerful! Laura Rawson - Lead Schools Worker

Lost

Good NewsTaking Good News relevantly to every young person in Swindon since 1950.

Ephesians 3:17-19This is our verse for this year as the SYFC team. Our focus is on being strong and bold witnesses to the young people we meet every week. Within this we each have a prayer request, please would you support us in the following areas:Please pray for me as I work with the young people who attend the Rock Solid club at Nova Hreod School, especially in the build up to Easter as we focus on the cross. - AmyMy prayer for this year is that I can witness to the young people in Pinehurst and that we can build a community together through which faith can be explored. LauraMy Prayer for this year would be that we make the most of every opportunity and that the words we say would impact each young person towards giving their lives to God. JoannePlease pray for me as I seek to witness in Freshbrook and in Kingsdown School ChatRoom. - BeckyPlease pray that I would have confidence to share my faith with the young people that I speak to. - SimonPlease pray for witness of in:School over the coming months as we run our Easter Cracked Open workshops for year 5 children and as we begin to meet with more churches to find ways to serve the schools in more ways. - Abi.Please pray for my witness to the young people we are mentoring. – RosiePlease pray for the year 8 boys we are sharing Gods love with at Queens Drive Rock Solid Club - Chris

“Now I know, the bible is FANTASTIC”

“Now I know what a church is like, I might go to Sunday school”!

Faith

Broken

HopelessMissing

Hurt

Love

Joy

Peace

Hope

Safety

The cry of a generation - “Love Me”, answered by experiencing the love of God

Empty

Lonely

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Promise

Pinehurst ChaplaincyThis term has been a very busy one in Pinehurst. Simon Halls who we work very closely with, has been very busy within the school helping out with numerous productions and in his role as a governor. His work also continues with Shine, being a church for the community. One of the highlights of working in Swindon Academy throughout the week, is the ability to link all our work together. For example we have recently done an assembly on Bullying for anti-bullying week. We looked at a bullying story from three points of view, the victim, the bully and the observer. It was a powerful assembly and all the pupils could identify with at least one of the characters. From comments from teachers, students and conversations we have had in the faith room, it was a message which needed to be heard, raised awareness and encouraged young people to talk out about it.This assembly also had an impact on the mentoring that I do, it gave the opportunity for a young person to talk about the bullying that they were going through. We were able to talk about the issue, how it made her feel and the impact it was having on her self confidence. Our work within the faith room is a major focus of our work. One thing that we are looking to do is build a ‘church’ within this group, a ‘church’ for young people in this community. The young people are currently planning trips for themselves to go on, enabling them to get to know each other better, and for us to grow together as a group. Please pray that we can really speak into the lives of the young people in this group and that God will be visibly there for the young people as we plan and grow together. Laura Rawson - Lead Schools Worker

Supporting SYFCDid you know you can support SYFC by:

Texting ‘SYFC00 £amount’ to 70070. The text is free & SYFC receive 100% of your donation!

Donating online through our website. By using paypal.com and your debit/credit card.

Giving us your old car using giveacar.com Cars will be collected from you and sold or scrapped and the money sent direct to SYFC.

Selling unwanted items on Ebay and automatically donating the profits to SYFC.

Shopping online using easyfundraising.org.ukOnce registered, when you shop online at a huge range of stores SYFC will receive a donation.

Or simply send a cheque, payable to ‘SYFC’ to SYFCFreepost SCE 15917, Swindon, SN2 1BR

Goodbye - Chris DavisonIn 1993 we took some young people from our youth group to Sprint Harvest where we came across YFC for the first time. We were really impressed with the work that they were doing but unfortunately at that time there was no YFC centre in the area we lived. On moving to Swindon in 1994 one of the first phone calls we made was to David Howell the then Director of Thamesdown YFC asking there was any way we could get involved. As is so often the case, he was looking for more Trustees so my husband and I went along to have a look. Needless to say we ended up joining the Trustees (David is still on the board) and I took on a number of different trustee roles over the years including Secretary and Chair! Then in 2001 Lynne Mills decided it was time to give up her post as part time administrator so I applied for the job.

Over the last 11 years I have seen my job change as the needs of the organisation and its employees and volunteers have changed. At various times the journey has been exciting, hard work, frustrating, rewarding, sometimes all at the same time! I have had the privilege to work with many fantastic staff and volunteers who have taught me much.

In recent years as I took on the role of Centre Manager I also had the privilege of nurturing and managing young people who have taken a year out to serve God, it has been fantastic to see them grow in confidence and in their reliance on God as they have worked with us and served the churches and young people of Swindon. I have also had the opportunity and joy to meet many of our wonderful supporters without whom none of the work we do would have been possible, their prayer and financial support is key.

I am not leaving SYFC completely as I will be working one day a week in the role of Finance Officer which will fit nicely in with my new role as Office Manager at Freshbrook Evangelical Church and means that I will still be in touch with many of you.

41,000 OpportunitiesAt the end of 2012 we conducted some research with those in Swindon who are employed by churches or Christian organisations to work with children and young people in some capacity. The findings were astonishing:There are 22 individual youth and children’s workers employed by churches and Christian organisations in Swindon.In an average week they: Work with 826 children and young people Run 83 sessions for children and young people Deliver 204 hours of work with children and young people Work alongside 170 volunteers.This means that these workers are making 41,393 connections with children and young people every year. (1 young person attending a weekly group every week = 52 connections a year)The full report (which is only a single side of A4) can be read at www.syfc.org.uk/youthworkreport.In response to the report Bishop Lee, our patron said: “This report reveals and highlights the great depth and breadth of children’s and youth work carried out by the Christian faith community in Swindon. A huge contribution is being made at a time when services for children and young people are suffering serious cuts. This should be celebrated, supported, encouraged and recognised.”What an incredible amount of ministry is being done seeking to share good news with young people in Swindon, and this doesnt even include the amazing amount of work done purely by volunteers in churches. Please pray with us for this incredible work and those who are serving God in this way.

IMPACTIn December we had a fantastic night with Matt Ford from Highworth, he spoke about 1 Timothy 4:12, our verse for the year focussing on encouraging the young people to set an example in the way they live their life; and how people around us should be able to recognise that we are followers of Jesus. It was great to have him testify to us about his personal witnessing and that Jesus isn’t just a Christmas story for Christmas! We also attempted to break the world record for the number of mince pies eaten in a minute (currently 2!), but sadly we failed!At IMPACT we want to inspire the young Christians in Swindon to bear witness to those around them at school, college, clubs, home and places of work. In February we explored setting an example in love, Dan Jones from the Diocese of Bristol shared about Gods extreme demonstration of love for us and we attempted the pancake flipping world record (412 in 2 mins), but again we fell short. Simon writes: ‘IMPACT is always great fun, at the Christmas one I got dressed up as Santa Claus for the evening which was awesome. At the end of Matts talk, there was an opportunity for the young people to take a Christmas Bauble to represent that they want Jesus to shine through them. The young person sat next to me asked me what it was about so I explained and he went up to get one. It was amazing to see God at work in his life that night. Next Event: April 14th

Bibles - “yes please” Every week SYFC have the exciting opportunity of being able to do five lunch clubs in different schools around Swindon at the start of each term a plan is made of what themes we will cover over the term and a different person will plan the session. At the start of the year we briefly looked at an overview of the bible and what it’s really all about, during this session we were able to ask the young people if they would like a bible to read. In Commonweal School six young people asked for bibles and in Nova Hreod three young people asked for bibles, this is a really exciting opportunity for us. We are taking a few different versions of the bible and letting the young people choose which they would like. Please pray for these young people as they receive their bibles.

Lonely

Sad

BIOS - Streetspace workHi, I’m Rosie and I’m the new part time youth worker for the BIOS project. Prior to this I was working with Highworth Community Church, where my role was a mix of admin and outreach. Then the BIOS role became available... I saw the post as a huge opportunity, and was fortunate enough to be offered the post. Its a really exciting time for BIOS and I don’t know what part of the project I am excited about most. The role involves developing detached youthwork in local communities and mentoring young people in schools.My passion really is to meet people where they are at, and be able to see Jesus within them, so wandering around the streets in the dark and cold

really IS my idea of a good time. I am especially looking forward to the mentoring work in schools developing and particularly the work we are doing supporting year 10 students in Kingsdown School. For me it’s all about that one conversation, and the little bit of encouragement.

At one of our first detached youth work sessions we visited Grange Sports Centre in Stratton. As we approached a group of 8 young men who were playing basketball, one of them spotted us and shouted “Hey, it’s the

hot chocolate people!”. BIOS hasn’t visited the park for 2 years, yet they remembered us. We spent an incredible evening speaking with them, they remembered a school assembly Chris Priddy had done over 4 years ago and shared with us how they were trying to make the most of their lives now, recognising that they hadn’t always been most focused in school. At the end they said to us, “You guys were always alright, you always listened to us and were genuinely interested in us, you didn’t just think we were trouble like most people did”. We have also been doing detached work in Pinehurst, 2 teams go out every Wednesday after school to speak with young people, parents and community members and seek to shine light into often cold and miserable early evenings! We’ve had some incredible conversations about church, God and life with people and are working with a group of young people to arrange positive activities for them.My hopes are that I will get opportunities to bring light in to what might be a dark place for some of the young people I work with, to build valuable relationships and be an encouragement for others. I thank God that I have been given this great new and exciting adventure, I look forward to leading the BIOS work forward , and meeting with you along the way. www.settings4life.org.uk

Trustee Focus : Lianne SmithHi, my name is Lianne Smith and I have been an SYFC trustee for just under a year. I don’t have a lengthy history of involvement with YFC but having worked with Chris Priddy and other members of the team on projects like X:site, Pray For Schools and the Growing Young Leaders course, I have developed a strong relationship with them and am keen to support in whatever way I can. This relationship has been strengthened further by the united involvement of Scripture Union and SYFC in the in:School project. I am employed by Scripture Union (www.scriptureunion.org.uk) as a Church and Community Development Worker. Although I am based in Swindon I cover the whole of the South East of England along with a team of 4 other development workers and a host of amazing volunteers. My work mainly involves training and developing church based children’s and youth workers, both paid and voluntary, to engage with their communities, to identify where God is already at work and joining in that work. At the heart of Scripture Union’s mission is the desire to make Jesus known and with less than 4% of the UK’s children having regular contact with the church the task is a huge one. Over the last 7 years I have had the privilege of serving alongside so many people through holiday clubs, school clubs, residential holidays, X:site and Lifepath events. It is so encouraging to be able to see and be part of the work God is doing through his Church in every community. For the past 6 years I have shared an office with Abi Corry who is the Lead Project Worker for the in:School project. I have been privileged to have witnessed the work of in:School grow and flourish in East Swindon under her leadership. It has been a real honour and a blessing to support and mentor Abi during this time and I am very excited that the next chapter of the in:School project involves Scripture Union and SYFC working together in a more official capacity. God is doing so much in our town. There are so many people working together and coming together to pray and share resources and experience. This is the true picture of God’s Church, united in one aim, to make Jesus known. in:School; SYFC; Scripture Union; the 95+ churches in this town; Street Pastors; Willows, SPCC, Food Bank and all the other God centred projects are a wonderful and powerful force and I am excited to be part of it.

The work of SYFC is only made possible by the amazing generosity of individuals and churches like yourselves. Could you consider investing in the future ministry of SYFC?

Perhaps you could consider becoming a monthly financial partner or send a special one-off gift now, to help us develop the work over the coming months.

All you need to do is ask us for a Standing Order Form and return it to our freepost address and if you are a tax payer we can claim 20% of the sum donated back from HMRC.

COULD YOU SPONSOR SOMETHING? £25 per month enables us to run 1 School Lunchclub or 1 RE or LUSH lesson or 1 set of Assemblies or 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?

Or Do Something Simple for SYFC and commit to sending us just £5 or £10 a month. This may be simple but has significant impact on our work.

Visit www.syfc.org.uk or call 01793 829795 for a standing order form.SUPP

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