Taking on Tough Mudder

Wiltshire
Partners
taking good news relevantly to every young person in Wiltshire Winter/Spring 2016
Director Writes…
I wonder if you have ever found yourself thinking; what is God saying to me, to us?
I know I have both with regards to my personal circumstances and over the last year with
the work of Wiltshire YFC. It is not always easy to know. Over the last few weeks I have been
reminded that what is important is that we strive to listen God’s voice, even in our faltering
way, and I am then challenged as to whether I am willing to follow where he is calling me to.
In Psalm 81 the writer quotes God as asking his people to listen his voice, wishing they would,
urging that they would and that when they do God will shine his goodness down on them.
Since we launched Wiltshire
YFC we have strongly believed
God is calling us to support
and strengthen the work that
churches are already doing
among young people. One
of the ways that has been
happening is through Pulse
Youth Event, run for several
years faithfully by Jane and
Chris Smith. From February,
Wiltshire YFC will be taking
responsibility for Pulse under
Dan’s leadership. As a space
for young people to gather,
worship, experience God
and hear the gospel Pulse
provides a great opportunity
to support the discipleship
of young people in your
church and for those on the
edge of church that you may
know. We would love to see
young people gathering from
across West Wiltshire and
beyond and so I would like
to take this opportunity to
invite you to bring the young
people you work with to the
Pulse, 7.30pm on Friday
5th February at Holy Trinity
Church in Trowbridge.
We hope that Pulse will
continue what Chris and Jane
started by supporting local
churches in equipping young
people to follow Jesus.
As we start 2016 I would ask
you to pray for the team at
Wiltshire YFC, that we listen
to God’s good voice and have
the courage to obey where he
is calling us to serve.
James Vaughton
Taking on Tough Mudder
On Saturday 30th April a team of three supporters of
Wiltshire YFC will be taking on Tough Mudder alongside
Steve and James to raise funds for Wiltshire YFC to
impact the lives of young people. We will send more
details in the coming weeks but if you would like to sponsor our efforts
you can do so at www.give.net/wiltsyfcmudder. We are aiming to raise £2500 so if you can
help us do that we would be really grateful.
Hello
After school drop-in for all aged 14 +
Hot choclates, snacks, crafts and air
hockey will also be avaliable!
Every Tuesday 3.30pm - 5pm
@ Holy Trinity Church, Trowbridge
THE MIX
study
Since the beginning of December, Dan has
started up a drop-in at the Holy Trinity building
in Trowbridge in partnership with Chloe – an
intern at Maranatha church. Together they
have been looking for ways to create a space
for young people to meet after school and
engage with them in games, discussion and a
place to relax. A point of prayer is for wisdom
in finding the right combination of including a
broader range of pupils from the local schools
and a sufficient number of capable volunteers.
activities
The Mix
chat
Wilts YFC Football
Over the last few months Steve Dewar has
organised football matches between young
people from Potterne and the surrounding
area against a team from Trowbridge. The
matches, which have started with a prayer,
have seen young people come together and
encourage each other. They are keen for
more challenges in the future. The teams
are ad-hoc which allow for new people to
get involved easily. Playing for a Trophy,
the village team have come second in both
matches, but
the results
have been
close! We
are hoping
to arrange a
tournament in 2016 to bring teams together
from across the area. If you would like to get
involved in future matches or would like to
know more, please contact Steve Dewar.
Schools work in Wiltshire
We love working in Schools!
James, Dan and Steve
support local schools
across Wiltshire in various
projects.
Throughout 2015 Steve and
the Reverend David Howard
ran weekly assemblies in
the Potterne Parish at both
sites of Five Lanes Primary
school. Steve delivered
assemblies throughout
the term at Holy Trinity
Academy in Great Cheverill
and joined the Reverend
Maureen Allchin for an
assembly at Seend Primary
school. All these Primary
schools feed into Lavington
Secondary school where
Steve is regularly invited to
deliver assemblies and has
supported the school with
PSHE lessons and ongoing
discussions around other
initiatives including “The
Accompanying Project” and
pastoral support. Please
continue to pray for all the
projects that help YFC staff
engage with young people
and school staff in the
coming year.
The attached photo is of
Steve re-telling the story of
Jesus washing His disciples
feet by putting words
into action.
Mentoring in Trowbridge
Over the past few months
Dan has been mentoring
2 boys at John of Gaunt
school, both of whom are
in year 11 (GCSE year).
One, “Sam”, in particular
is at risk of being excluded
because of his fiery temper
– throwing chairs around in
the classroom, swearing at
teachers, and picking fights
with others.
Over the last few weeks Dan
been really getting to know
Sam and has discovered
that he loves computers,
to the extent that he wants
to build his own. After
one session, Dan went to
the I.T. department and
explained that he’s in school
mentoring Sam and asked if
they had any old computer
parts that he could use
with Sam to explore how
computers are assembled
and what parts go where.
The head of the department
loved the idea and offered
7 or so old computers and
said they could do whatever
they liked with them –
disassemble, reassemble,
work out how it all comes
together. He even offered
help with the installation
of software later down the
line. When Dan told Sam
the following week what we
were going to do together
with the help of the school’s
resources, his face was
priceless.
The amazing thing is that
mentoring has begun to
affect his behaviour in
school. The other week,
after asking him how his
week has been, Sam said:
“This guy was winding me
up just before my English
lesson started so I went to
punch him in the face but
then I remembered I was
going to meet with you the
next day and I remembered
what you told me about
trying to keep calm and
think about consequences…
so I didn’t punch him in
the end”.
Equipping people to build the Kingdom of God
One of the ways that
Wiltshire YFC has identified
that we can resource the
local church to work with
young people is through
training. On Saturday 5th
December Steve and James
delivered training for 15
volunteers from Potterne,
Calne, Trowbridge and
Warminster. The sessions
included; why working with
children and young people
is important, safeguarding
and how we respond to
challenging behaviour.
This is our third such
training event in Wiltshire
and we have now trained
nearly 25 people
as volunteer youth
workers. This was
our best attended
event and those
who came along
really appreciated
the event as their
feedback shows.
“It was great being able to
socialise with others who
wish to work with children /
young people.” Lots of the
group would recommend
the training. One person
said, “it was very open and
friendly with no pressure,”
another, “it was interactive
and thought provoking,” and
finally someone else wrote
that they “enjoyed that it was
delivered by people actually
involved in youth work.” If
you would be interested in
us delivering this training
with your church or in your
town please do get in touch
by emailing
[email protected]
?
Wiltshire
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