One in a Million

The Frontier Youth trust have a great new FREE RESOURCE called ONE IN A MILLION to help churches think about the burning issue of Youth Unemployment.

This issue was discussed at general Synod in November. If you would like the church to reflect on the situation many young people face in the current job market why don’t you download their useful resource pack here or their summary of the research

Spring into Action 2013

Our annual training day for ALL those working with children and young people in our parishes returns on 27th April - this is a fantastic day of workshops and networking.

Get the date in your diary and

Keep a look out for further information soon

Confirmation Training

I will be leading a Confirmation Training session for Birmingham Diocese on Thursday 31st January at their new Diocesan Office right next door to Snow Hill station at 1 Colmore Row, Birmingham B3 2BJ from 7pm-9pm.

I’ll be encouraging people to consider the relevance of Confirmation, particularly in the light of the diocesan children and communion policy, and equipping participants to prepare young people for this important stage in their faith journey. explaining the process and principles of confirmation as well as sharing potential resources for preparing candidates for confirmation.

If you would like to participate in the course there is a cost of £5.

To book a place please email Jelena Cammack on
jelena(at)birmingham.anglican.org
or Telephone: 0121 426 0437.

CandY at Synod 2nd March

REMEMBER TO JOIN US FOR THE BIG SYNOD ON SATURDAY 2nd MARCH

This will be an opportunity for the church to listen to the voices of children and young people. The synod will be looking at issues of youth unemployment as well as reflecting on our calling to be Kingdom People and the recent survey completed by all the churches in the diocese and what implications that has for the future.

We want to hear from as many children and young people from as many churches in the diocese as possible so put the date in your diary.

Various Funding Opportunities

If you're looking for some funding for activities it might be worth checking out the following:

http://www.awardsforall.org.uk/england/index.html
http://www.foylefoundation.org.uk/small-grants-scheme/
https://www.giveachildabreakfast.co.uk/apply_for_funding.aspx
http://www.garfieldweston.org/
http://www.henrysmithcharity.org.uk/
http://www.lankellychase.org.uk/

Some specifically church focussed charities:
http://www.ccfund.org.uk/home/home
http://www.allchurches.co.uk/
http://www.churchcare.co.uk/

All trusts have specific targets so be sure to read all of the restrictions and information for applicants. You may find you can't apply but your local school or another partner might be able to.

Worcester Spirit Mark

Over the last few years, Emma and I have been so pleased to see churches engaging with the Worcester Spirit Mark. This scheme helps parishes celebrate their good practice with children and youth. It seeks to help parishes identify ways in which they could improve how they reach out to children and young people and the ways they are welcomed into and included within worship and day to day activities of the church. Recently we have awarded Bronze Awards to Drakes Broughton.

 The Bronze Award itself represents a set of minimum standards in children's and youth work and ask questions such as ‘Are all those who work with children and young people possess a Criminal Records Bureau Enhanced Certificate?’  For parishes which are going further in the way they include and welcome children and young people and the diocese will be awarding Silver where, for example training has been completed and Gold awards where children and young people are routinely involved in the planning and delivery of services.

Now that the scheme has been running for three years we are pleased to be able to promote these churches which are demonstrably welcoming to children and young people through our forthcoming Children and Youth Friendly Churches page of the diocesan website. All those who have achieved any level of the award will be listed as a church recommended for families looking for a church to attend. We’d love to be able to add more churches to this page so do have a look at the details of the scheme or download the Bronze award booklet. Do get in touch if you would like advice about exploring the Worcester Spirit Mark in your church.

Christmas resource

You might be interested to follow the progress of this new Christmas resource from SGM which presents the Christmas story for teens in a Japanese graphic style.