Voluntary and Community Sector Grants

The fourth round of the vcs grants is now open - see here for details.

Mentoring Training

Our own Paul Wilcox is part of a team delivering a series of sessions on mentoring young people. If you’re looking to train up some of your teenagers as leaders or looking for some advice on working in one to one situations then this would be a fabulous session to attend Saturday 28 November 2009 at CPAS , Warwick, CV34 6NG. The usual cost is £25 but I am happy to subsidise places to £15 for leaders from churches within the Diocese of Worcester. Details here.

Edinburgh 2010: Youth Competition!

Next year the world church will be celebrating the Centenary of the World Missionary Conference held in Edinburgh in 1910. Christians from all over the world will meet together in Edinburgh and explore different ways of "Witnessing to Christ today". In 1910 young people were not well represented at the Conference, even though it was mainly organised by student Christian organisations, so Edinburgh 2010 is setting out to be more diverse. There are already three ways that young people can participate, and for two of them there are prizes involved. Check out their site.

Child Protection training sessions 2009-2010

Here are the dates and approximate locations of this year’s child protection training events.
2009
STOURBRIDGE Christchurch, Lye, Wednesday 30th September 7.30-9.30pm
WORCESTER St George, Magdalen Room, Tuesday 3rd November September 7.30-9.30pm
2010
HALESOWEN Lapal, St Peter, B62 0BH, Wednesday 10th February 10am-12pm DAYTIME
WORCESTER St Martins, London Road Monday 17th May 10am-12pm DAYTIME
MALVERN St Andrews Church Hall, Wednesday 9th June 7.30-9.30pm
STOURBRIDGE St Peter’s Pedmore Wednesday 15th September 7.30-9.30pm
BROMSGROVE St John the Baptist Church Hall, Wednesday 20th October 7.30-9.30pm
BREDON Church Rooms, Wednesday 17th November7.30-9.30pm

Remember that all those working with children and young people in churches in the diocese should have attended this course recently. If you would like to book places or if you can’t manage these dates but have a group of you who would like to arrange an evening for training please contact Judy Baker or go to the website.

Peru Trip

I’m looking for up to 6 young people who will be aged 18-25 in August 2010 to come with me to Peru as part of our diocesan mission trip. The group will be helping build churches/ schools and there will be opportunities for running arts/music projects with local children. Those participating will need to be able to secure enough funding to pay for flights and some other expenses. If you are interested or know a young person who would be interested contact me as soon as possible to secure a place.

Prison's week

Resources are available for churches wanting to engage in Prisons Week. This year’s theme is Hold Fast to Hope. Check out this link for drama sketches, service help, stories of hope and a PowerPoint presentation.

Youth Evangelism Fund update

Over the summer I read through the many excellent applications for the Youth Evangelism Fund and can announce that we submitted bids for over £40k which far exceeded my hopes. There are some fantastic young people out there with ingenious ideas for sharing their faith with other young people and they will be getting some money to do just that. The national panel judging the bids will be meeting in October and we should hear the news then. In Worcester we’ll be having a grand funding award evening in the Abbot’s Kitchen at the Old Palace on Friday 20th November. We’ll be showcasing the work the young people are planning to do with the money and inspiring others too.