Hello,This month I would like to focus on the work of the Uttoxeter Area of Parishes Young People’s Trust (YPT).A Potted HistoryThe YPT was set up over two decades ago to fund a Church of England Youth Worker in the Uttoxeter Area. Money came from the diocese, local churches and individuals. Once the youth worker post finished, the YPT was left with a chunk of money which was used to fund youth work (led by Rev. Sue Willetts), Open The Book (storytelling in schools), grants for local church projects (such as Big Screen in Tean) and help support training. For the past four years, the primary focus of the YPT has been on paying 25% of the costs of a local Schools Worker.Schools WorkerJordan Lambert became a local Schools Worker about eight years ago. Originally, the post was funded by the Methodist, United Reform and Renew churches in Uttoxeter. The YPT then offered its financial resources. This has meant an outlay of approximately £10,000 per year.Jordan goes into 21 local First, Primary and Middle schools in the Uttoxeter area and beyond. This Spring Term he ran 220 sessions across those schools, including assemblies, worship team sessions and chaplaincy. He also runs specific programmes such as Think Tank, which encourages children to engage in ethical and faith issues, asking them to think for themselves about how these questions impact them and the world in which they live. Jordan also sits on four school governing bodies, providing a consistent Christian input.The big project this Spring was the Cinema Project, where Jordan arranged for over 1000 local schoolchildren to see the film, ‘King of Kings’ at the Uttoxeter Cinebowl.FundingOver the last four years the outgoings from the YPT have far outstripped the income. Some local churches and individuals have maintained a regular total contribution of £800 to the YPT and, after a fundraising push last year, that amount has risen to £2000. With a current bank balance of £15000, you can see that we need more money to continue funding the Schools Worker post, training, the new CofE Brick Church Project and – if affordable – other work aimed at our young people. Small (or large !!), regular donations help us to maintain our commitments and budget for the future. I can guarantee that every single penny donated goes towards the work.The Big Why?The Schools Worker post that the YPT part-funds does work that we do not have the money, staff or volunteers to do ourselves. For a relatively small outlay, Jordan reaches over a thousand children that we do not have in our congregations. He opens up possibilities of faith which, most importantly, helps to equip them for decisions they make now or later in life.If you’d like to contribute to the Uttoxeter Area of Parishes Young People’s Trust, please contact our Benefice Administrator on 01889 562915 or uttoxeterareaparish@outlook.comIf you’d like to talk about what the YPT does, please contact one of the Trustees, who are myself (joecant214@gmail.com, 07592 206706), Rev. Jules Walker, Linda Beech, Andy White, Toby Collins and Nicola Bagworth. Peace and prayers, Rev. Joe Cant, Team Vicar, Uttoxeter Area of Parishes.
Broken or Blessed? I recently had the experience of spending two nights in Stranraer hospital after a fall, being knocked out and having an intra-cranial bleed and concussion. The care I received at every level was excellent, from the student paramedic who meant me feel I was in safe hands; the A&E doctor who sorted me out with a CT scan, ECG and chest X-ray, all within a few hours; the cleaning staff who spruced up the ward on both days; the nurses who woke me up throughout the night to take observations. The only slightly iffy part was the salt porridge but if that’s the extent of my grumbling, then I’m not grumbling. However, politicians, commentators and journalists are regularly telling us that the country is ‘broken’. The NHS is ‘broken’, the welfare system is ‘broken’, the immigration system is ‘broken’ and now the prison service is ‘broken’. Such negativity is wearing and, I think, does a disservice to the people working in those institutions. Problems – yes; the need for more funding – yes; inefficiencies – yes; pressures – yes. But broken? The UK has the fifth largest economy in the world, the 6th largest average Gross Domestic Product, protects its citizens through huge welfare and heath budgets, an independent judiciary and a free press, parliamentary democracy and – apart from aberrations such as at the Manchester synagogue – the right to worship (or not) without recrimination. Broken or Blessed? It strikes me that politicians and commentators use that word to either dramatize a story, or to present a narrative from which they can then charge in like shining knights to fix, having blamed the previous government or the institution itself. Church often talks in terms of ‘brokenness’. An ongoing theme in theology is that we are all broken, we are all sinners, we are all a bit rubbish in relation to God. I don’t buy it. In my view God did not create us to feel a bit rubbish, to feel broken. In John 10:10 Jesus says, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” (New International Version) On the whole we are Blessed, not Broken. Problems – yes; pain – yes; hunger – for some at times; abuse – appallingly, yes, at times; joy – yes; friendship – yes; kindness – yes. We need to acknowledge what we are good at, what works well and deal with our difficulties better. Then maybe with a narrative of Blessings rather Brokenness, we can move away from a culture of blame and criticism. Peace and prayers, Rev. Joe Cant
Rev. Trevor Williams is spearheading a new project at Christ Church called Faith in Later Life and he would now like to take the ‘next steps’. The first of these is to gather together as much information as possible on what already goes in in Tean by, for or with older people. Trevor is happy for people to contact him with information on 07939 517354 or trevorjdw@icloud.com
