Andy and I applied for funding to do some work with smaller groups of young people, him with eight guys and myself with eight girls, and thankfully we got the funding!
What this project looked like is three (separate) community care projects, two lasting three hours, and the third lasting five, and two residentials (one for the lads and one for the girls).
The community care work was all based in a mainly council owned area – Rowdean close and dean close, which are almost exclusively elderly residents. We in total have worked on five gardens and done two litter picking sessions, and the results are great!
It was a lovely opportunity for us to spend time working with these young people and building up relationships with them. We were able to positively endorse them and what they were doing, and they were able to see that the work they did made a big difference.
The lads residential was apparently fantastic, and the girls one is in two weeks time, so watch this space for photos and more detail on those!

Sunday 13th was our family fun day, from 12pm-4pm we opened the doors of Turfpits Lane to the families and children on the estate.
We all woke up to the sound of rain in the morning, but stormed ahead and apart from the odd drizzle it was fine! We had a bouncy castle, gladiator duel and face painting, as well as a bbq, and the time passed really quickly.
There were a few parents who stayed around, and it was a lovely time of just having fun with them and the children. A few young people turned up as well, and we had lots of people helping out. It was a real success, and something we will definitely look into doing again.

The 5th August was the Kingstanding Carnival, which was a fantastic success!
On the 3rd we had the graffiti workshop (the results of which you can see in the photos above), and drumming workshop, both of which went well, although there was more interest in the graffiti!
The 4th was completely taken up with preperation for the next day, Mel, mum and i along with my dad, a mum from the estate and four children all pulled together to decorate the float, and then Mel and i had great fun in my back garden creating the t-shirts with the left over spray paint!
On the day we had an amazing time. We sounded fantastic (even if i do say so myself!) and the crowds were dancing away to the rhythms we played! On a personal note, it was so amazing to be doing something like this in the area i'm living in, along the streets that i want to impact, there was a great atmosphere, and everyone had a good time.
After the parade we had the YFC football cage set up which was also a great success, with lots of the lads from the area coming for multiple goes!
All in all, it was definately worth it. I'm glad we took that step of faith a week before the carnival in saying that we'd 'go for it' despite the obsticals, and if we were given the chance, i'd do it all again!

August Already!

This week we launch our summer community care projects as well as a football project. We will also be gearing up for the Kingstanding Carnival this Saturday. Pray that we will have positive relational time with the young people, that the carnival preparations would go smoothly and above all that we keep our eyes on Jesus amidst all the busyness.

Thanks!