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Nat Stiles has recently left her role as Children & Youth Mission Enabler in Rutland Deanery to pursue training for ordination but she leaves behind an innovative youth project that has brought church and community together in an exciting way. Nat shares with us her story of how the youth project developed and the impact it has had.
“The youth project really started after I wrote a college assignment on the book of Amos, and I was struck by the concern for social justice. At the same time, there was a lot of talk in Uppingham about young people hanging around the local park and causing problems. With no youth provision in Uppingham, there weren’t many places for them to go. I met with a church member, who was also on the town council, to pray for God to guide our next steps. From that, we felt prompted to step out in faith and start a youth group.
I already had a good relationship with the local council youth workers, so I started walking alongside them doing detached youth work and we found out that the teenagers just wanted somewhere safe to meet. We had a church hall available, so we arranged a ‘drop-in’ session for young people to come and talk about what they wanted (we offered free pizza!). They told us the main thing was somewhere safe to hang out, and definitely pizza!
We recruited another volunteer, and the council loaned us a youth worker for the first 4 months. We got funding from local businesses, and a local charity, ‘Rutland First’ helped us with training, DBS support and applying for more funding. We then launched ‘Youth Space’ - meeting every Wednesday, 3.30-5 pm with pizza, drinks, board games, and crafts, all for free.
It wasn’t long before we outgrew the church hall and moved to the town hall with between 30-40 young people coming each week. We received funding to buy more equipment and involved more people like the local mental health team. We have secured funding to employ two sessional youth workers for the next five years which is needed more than ever as the local council is scaling back its youth services.
It has been such a blessing to be part of youth space and to watch how God has grown it. It has had its challenges and hasn’t happened overnight, but it has been such a lesson for me in seeing how God is working in our communities, listening for Him, and responding to His call. Praise God!”
The church are still involved and the volunteers remain a key witness to the love of Jesus and take opportunities to talk about their faith. One parent messaged Nat recently to tell her the impact she had on her 2 children:
“You have changed them. I don’t think you appreciate how, as a Christian, you have changed perspectives on faith. Everyone knows you are committed to God but you have never tried to preach at anyone. You show your faith through what you do. It’s built into you.”
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This story is truly inspirational and shows what can be achieved when we work in partnership with our whole community.