Chaplaincy at Stour Valley Community School (posted 8th June 2023)
This month marks the one year anniversary of providing a chaplaincy/listening service to the students at Stour Valley Community School. Sarah is there every Tuesday to meet with 6 students for half an hour each. The school organises who will come. They have the opportunity to talk about anything going on in their life that is a bit difficult, and common themes are mental health, friendships and family relationships and bereavements.
SPACE is spreading! (posted 8th June 2023)
Our weekly SPACE question boards continue to be really popular with the students and staff at Stour Valley Community School and Castle Manor Academy.
Sarah has shared what she does with other youth workers and the ‘question of the week’ format is now being used or trialed in a few other Youth for Christ centres and by a chaplain from another organization.
The questions that we have asked this term are:
Do you spend more time talking to friends… online/Apps or face to face?
Describe yourself in one word
Would you want to be the king or queen of the UK?
Will the world be a better or worse place in 50 years?
Would you rather be the best player on a team that always loses, or the worst player on a team that always wins?
Would you rather only ever wear flip flops or wellies?
We always have some good discussions. The most poignant has been about what our world will be like in 50 years. The majority of students from both schools think it will be a worse place.
There is so much need for hope right now for and within our young people. We exist to bring the hope of the Good News of Jesus to our local young people.
Mudflaps has come to an end (posted 8th June 2023)
After very nearly 30 years, the Kedington youth group Mudflaps has come to the end of its time. Brian and Jan Watts have faithfully run the group throughout, with Sarah helping for the last year or so.
We are so grateful to have been able to meet with so many young people over the years and tell them about Jesus and the difference he makes in our lives.
We have an office administrator! (posted 8th June 2023)
Following requests at local churches for some admin help we were very pleased to be offered a local business’s administrator for an hour or so a week. She is also called Sarah and started in March.
Sarah has been using her skills to reformat and update logging systems and mailing lists, help with the prayer letter mail out and update the website.
This is allowing Sarah to work more efficiently and frees up time for her to be planning face to face youth work.
We are now supporting Mudflaps in Kedington (posted 9th November 2021)
Sarah is very pleased to now be helping run the well established Kedington youth group called Mudflaps.
It has been in existence for many years and after a break during lockdown is now up and running again because the young people kept asking for it to restart.
Established and run by Brian and Jan Watts, it is a space for the local young people to gather for fun games and to hear a Bible story and Christian thought to go with it. It is a great opportunity to share who Jesus is and why we follow him.
Chaplaincy at Castle Manor Academy (posted 27th May 2021)
Sarah continues to provide a weekly Chaplaincy service to the school and has very much enjoyed and valued being able to meet with students and spend quality time listening to their stories.
She says “It is such a privilege to be welcomed into the school each week and sit with young people who need a pair of friendly listening ears and some gentle support when they are finding an aspect of their life tough. I see many of the students over several weeks and can see real positive changes in them, and sometimes their circumstances.
After they have left I pray for them and am now identifying answered prayers. The school express how grateful they are that I can come in and help support their students. They do a brilliant job of this, but the need is so high they say I could be in every day!”
Chaplaincy is currently provided free of charge to the school. Time with one young person costs Haverhill & District Youth for Christ about £12.00. Would you consider sponsoring a session per month or even per week to ensure Sarah can continue to be there for the students, demonstrating God’s love for them through the support she provides? You can click on the ‘donate’ button at the top of the page to find out how to give.
Illuminate returns to meeting face to face (posted 12th April 2021)
Government guidelines now permit youth work to return to meeting in the same physical space. We have soldiered on with Zoom, and it was a great way to be able to keep going. Not everyone is comfortable with online meetings though and it was wonderful to meet together properly last night for the first time this year. We went for a walking treasure hunt around Haverhill and had fun catching up and working out a variety of clues to take us to each new destination.
From this Sunday we will be able to meet inside (yay!). If you want information about Illuminate (Christian youth group for ages 11-17 years old) just get in touch.
Sarah to help with lateral flow testing
As schools return to being fully open next week (from 8th March 2021) Sarah will be at Castle Manor Academy helping to process all of the students taking lateral flow tests.
She says, ‘As the school chaplain I am keen to be a friend of the school by helping out in practical ways as well as supporting the school community’s spiritual and wellbeing needs. I’m looking forward to seeing some familiar faces, and hope I recognise them behind the face coverings!’