On the Radio

The young people from mass@Barnabas also known as youthmass recorded the service for Sunday morning on BBC Hereford and Worcester this morning. They're using some of the prayers from my licensing as Diocesan Youth Officer which were AMAZING.

Tune in On Sunday between 7 and 8 or listen again here.

It's particularly exciting as it is the beginning of National youthwork week (1st-7th November) part of which encourages places to let young people "takeover" for a day. Have a look at the National Youth Association page for more information.

Young people in Halesowen and Cradley

Young people from Halesowen and Cradley are being asked to give their views on shaping future services in the area.Dudley Council's Youth Service has a team dedicated to the Halesowen and Cradley area and are inviting 13 to 19 year olds to join the youth forum.The forum will take on board the views of its members on issues affecting young people in the local area, including the services they would like to see provided.Two members will also get the opportunity to become representatives of Halesowen and Cradley on Dudley Youth Council, where they will join young people from other areas across the borough and take part in regional and national debates.For more information contact Dominic Tipping on 01384 816284.

Church Army Marches into the Future

There's a new website for the Church Army which looks very exciting with video blogs from Chief Exec Mark Russell. Go and have a look as it develops

Christmas resources

I know it seems rather early but there are some good Christmas resources for churches over at SGMLifewords. Have a look at the audio visual stuff as well as the crafty creations for children including a finger puppet nativity. Don't miss out seeing the liturgy including some great Advent/Christmas themed prayer stations.

There are some other resources here:

Pesterpower leaflet for families at Christmas.
Some ideas from "downunder"
Lots of ideas from over the years at rejesus.

more as I get them!

Job Opportunity

YOUTH PASTOR
Kinver, Staffordshire
£ 20,000 (plus benefits)

This is an exciting new post for an enthusiastic and passionate individual, with experience of and a heart for developing the Christian discipleship of young people.

Working as part of the alive and kicking leadership team, you will help to further develop the pastoral care and discipleship of a growing Christian community of young people. This will include furthering good relationships with local churches, schools and communities.

You will need to be a self-motivated, organised, flexible individual who can work as part of a team. You will receive support, training and guidance and in return you will be given the opportunity to inspire Christian youth work in Kinver and the surrounding area.

ad33 is a Christian charity established and supported by Churches
Together in Kinver and Enville.

For further details or an application pack please contact us
or visit our website.

Be Prepared

In the News today...The Scouting Association has issued some new guidelines for their leaders to assist in dealing with enquiries from young people regarding sex and relationships. They have issued a document for leaders and supporting materials (access to members only as well as establishing an online directory of links to agencies that can give young people further support and guidance. The guidelines for leaders do take into account that there may be some religious and cultural issues, especially for those groups which are sponsored (e.g. those attached/affiliated to churches).

Funding Opportunities

Futurebuilders England offer grants to voluntary agencies. Contact them for a pack.

CSV offer grants of £500 to young school campaigners and are currently offering 10 such grants under the banner od Crick Challenge. Awards support schemes run by young people up to the age of 16 which are designed to improve the world. See their website for details.

Fundng Opportunities

For those in the Dudley Borough there are some exciting possibilities for funding at the moment. Some of these may also be open to those in other districts. See the individual websites for details:


Community Spaces: Small and Medium Grants, rolling programme until January 2011
Size of grant available: £10,000 - £49,999 (100% funding available)
Funder aims: Availability of better local places which are safer for everyone
Funder outcomes: Better local environments with an increased number of people actively involved
Additional information: 2 stage application process for all, with availability of facilitator at 2nd stage to assist
Contact details: E-mail
Advice Line - 0845 3 671 671
Web Site


Community Spaces: Large and Flagship Grants, deadlines - Large 9th January 2009; Flagship 30th January 2009
Size of grant available: Large: £50-£100,000(100%); Flagship: £100,001-£450,000 (contribute min £50K)
Funder aims: More places for children to play and increased availability of greener spaces
Funder outcomes: Increase in areas of recreation/play and improvement in partnership working
Additional information: Mostly capital expenditure (25% maximum revenue costs allowed)
Contact details: as above

Access to Nature: through Big Lottery "Changing Spaces" programme/Natural England - rolling programme to June 2010
Size of grant available: £50,000 - £500,000 for capital and revenue funding up to 5 years
Match funding required: Grants up to £100,000 - 10%; grants up to £500,000 - 20%
Aims and outcomes of funder: Main themes: Community awareness, education and wild-life rich places
Additional information: Open to charities, community groups, statutory bodies, churches/faith groups
Contact details: Peter Loat, West Midlands Adviser - Web Site Address


Nationwide Foundation's Supporting Families: Small Grants programme - no deadlines
Size of grant available: Up to £5,000 (Registered Charities only with income below £500,000 per annum)
Average size of grant: £4,500 (2007/8 - almost £630,000 funding provided) across all 3 themed areas
Aims and outcomes of funder: Promote well being, improve quality of life, provide support through rehabilitation
Additional information: 3 themes to achieve aims: Domestic Violence, Prisoners' Families, Young Offenders

E-Mail
Web Site Address

Youth Music Open Programmes Awards: Closing date 15th December 2008
Size of grant available: £5,000 - £30,000
Target areas: First Steps (0-5 year olds) and Make it Sound (5-18 year olds)
Aims and outcomes of funder: To ensure that young people have access to music-making opportunities in England
Additional information: Support activities out of school hours/delivered by non-profit making organisations
Contact details: E-Mail
Web Site

The Gannett Foundation: Closing date Friday 24th October 2008
Size of grant available: £1,000 - £5,000
Aims and outcomes of funder: Various - youth development, disadvantaged, cultural, environmental projects
Additional information: All applications to be processed via Newsquest newspapers, e.g. Dudley News etc
Contact details: Telephone: 01384 444944 E-mail
Further details: On Newsquest site follow link to Gannett Foundation;

HBOS Foundation: No deadlines for applications
Size of grant available: Community Action Programme Awards up to £10,000
Aims and outcomes of funder: Money advice/financial literacy and developing/improving local communities
Application procedure: 3 page application form, download in PDF format from web site
Additional information: Only available in those communities where the HBOS bank operates
Contact details: Via Regional Co-ordinators - see web site for details


The Ibrahim Foundation: No deadlines, applications can be made at any time and grants are awarded twice a year.
Size of grant available: £500 - £10,000
Areas of interest: 4 preference areas are: community building; environment; strengthening "not for profit" organisations; supporting families.
Aims and outcomes of funder: Improve quality of life for people and communities
Additional information: Initially submit brief letter of enquiry, pending invitation to submit full proposal
Contact details: "Contact us" on web site or by e-mail
Web Site

Death of a Teenager

The Worcester News and BBC Hereford and Worcester have both covered the news of a crash yesterday in which a teenager died and three others were injured. My condolences go out to all family and friends affected by this sad news.

For those who may be looking to support young people who were friends of the young man you may find suggesting this site is useful as it has sections for young people, as well as for schools and those working with young people.

Residential Centres Update

If you are looking for somewhere to take your young people for a weekend away, I've recently stocked up on brochures from various places. Come and browse at the Old Palace.

Christmas in 30 seconds

The Church Advertising network have set up a competition for all you video creators out there.

all you need to do is create a video which tells the nativity story in less than 30 seconds and you could win £500! The competition closes on 30 November 2008.

Have a look at the video below to see the inspiration for the competition. Can you do better than the three wise guys?

Christmas Day Volunteer Opportunity

Are you free on Christmas day to lend a hand?

Maggs Day Centre in Worcester are looking for volunteers to help out at their day centre on Christmas Day.

The centre will be open from 7.30am-2pm and Maggs are looking for volunteers to work either 7.30-11 or 11-2.30pm.Volunteers duties would include helping with the Christmas breakfast and Christmas Dinner, sitting talking and listening to clients, playing pool, cards etc. We are also hoping to open the Night Assessment Centre (NAC) from 5pm to allow rough sleepers to come into the centre with the specific aim of playing games and relaxing in a fun and supportive environment. Volunteers for this session need to be enthusiastic and want to play games and help keep clients entertained. Maggs will also need volunteers to help with the preparation of a small buffet meal in the early evening. The times for volunteering here are 5-7pm and 7-9pm.

If anyone is interested then please can they contact Mel Kirk, our Volunteer Coordinator, on 01905 25027. Spaces fill up quickly so if anyone is interested then please contact Maggs ASAP.

Job Opportunity with YFC

YFC is part of Youth for Christ International, which specialises in communicating the Christian faith to young people.Residentials Coordinator National Office, Halesowen

British Youth for Christ are looking for an enthusiastic person to lead the 11-14’s ‘Fort Rocky’ Residentials - YFC’s programme of evangelistic weekend residentials for young people aged 11-14 held in various centres around the UK.

The Role encompasses the following aspects:
The development and running of the Fort Rocky Residential programme
Further developing the strategy for evangelistic Residentials within YFC
Developing teams to run the weekends and working within the wider National YFC team.
Liaising with hundreds of youth groups from around the UK

You would need to be:

• Passionate about reaching 11-14s with the Gospel
• Experience in Youthwork with 11-14s and a heart for Residentials
• An energetic self-starter
• A Good team-leader and gatherer of people
• Excellent interpersonal skills and some experience in leadership, communication, planning and administration.

Salary: £17,120 to £20,808 depending on experience
Closing Date: 7 December 2008


Contact Details
Application forms available from Chris Nightingale at Youth for Christ, Coomswood Way, Halesowen, West Midlands B62 8BH, call 0121-5029620 or email.

National Youthwork Week

It's National Youthwork Week from 1st-7th November. The National Youth Association site has details and a pack you can download. This is a great opportunity to raise the profile of your work with young people with the rest of the church, thank all your youth leaders or get people at your church thinking about work with young people. The pack contains ideas, encouragements and examples of work with young people.

Funding Opportunity (North Worcestershire)

WCVYS advised me about this available funding for voluntary and community group activities which help to increase community safety and reduce crime

What is it?
The North Worcestershire Division of West Mercia Constabulary is running a pilot project to offer funding to voluntary and community groups in North Worcestershire (Bromsgrove, Redditch and Wyre Forest). It will be offering grants of up to £500 from a £10,000 pot in 2008/09 for projects that can be shown to contribute to reducing crime, increasing the sense of safety in communities or supporting diverse communities.

Where has it come from?
This funding is part of a Community Safety budget held by the Division. It is working closely with representatives from the voluntary and community sector to make sure the application process is as simple and as fair as possible.

When must it be spent by?
As this is a one year trial period for the pot, the funding will be for projects running from January to March 09. However, the division recognises that this is a short time span so the funding can be used as match funding for existing projects, where organisations are struggling to find that extra bit of money.

What will it fund?
Examples of community safety projects that have been funded in the past:

· Providing purse alarms to reduce the likelihood of theft
· Crime prevention schemes
· Holiday activities for young people to reduce anti social behaviour during school holidays
· Financial support for community open days

These are just some examples of past projects but the West Mercia Constabulary welcomes all ideas that can contribute to the outcomes, which are:
· reducing crime and anti-social behaviour
· increasing the sense of safety in communities
· supporting diverse communities

How do I apply?
The application form will be available within the next six weeks on the West Mercia website.
The closing date for applications is 5pm on Friday 14th November 2008. E-mailed or faxed applications will not be accepted. Successful applications will be announced by 10th December 2008.

Where can I get help?
Your local policing team will be happy to help you. You can contact them by accessing the West Mercia website at www.westmercia.police.uk