What hope for Young people?

Recently I met with 2 lads aged 19 and 22, both care leavers, both had been in prison on short sentences (6 months), both unemployed and both were homeless. Sadly, there was little we could do to offer hope to them, everything was against them; in their opinion there was no one able to help them out of the very deep hole that they found themselves in. As a housing manager and also a housing advice worker it is so frustrating knowing that we were unable to help them.

Add to this the latest overall unemployment figures showed an increase of 44K but when you look slightly closer there was a rise of 66K in the age group 16-24 which I think actually means that the 24+ age group had a slight improvement (?). Next consider that there are fewer 16-24 year olds in education than there has been for the last five years. Hold on a second!, this cannot be right, these totals should not both fall at the same time!! If numbers of young people working drops, the education figure should be rising! These figures tell me that more young people are dropping out completely and this spells significant trouble for our society. There must be more of an incentive to get work and education, the coalition is promising some investment in this area which, judging by the stats, may be too little, too late for many. Perhaps young people are right and there is no hope left so why bother with education.

So where is the hope? I have 4 children, I have to trust that the combination of the best parenting we can muster plus helping my children work hard at education and living good lives will help them overcome the challenges that they will face to enter the job market. But I have thought lots about those two young lads and wondered if they are just the start of many that will find themselves at the Jericho Road Project door asking for help. With the Youth service disappearing before our eyes, who will take up the slack? I do feel like the Church where I work plus many others, will be faced with the challenge of stepping up in areas that we have not previously considered, perhaps even Young Offenders!

King's Church Social Action Conference 2011

I am hosting a Social Action Conference at King's Church Centre on Saturday 30th April. The details are included in the flyer. This is an opportunity for all those interested or currently involved to meet together, be reminded about the importance of what we do and hopefully release people into showing compassion. There will be opportunities to serve on the day please email jrp@kingscentre.org.uk if you can help.

If you have worked out what Big Society is, then this is probably it!

40 Days

King's Church is almost at the end of the '40 days' that is leading up to the church becoming one church on 3 sites. The highlight for many has been the Wednesday meetings that have been powerful reminders that God is real and active. I have only had limited time in these meetings due to the Feast being on at the same time, but each time I have been in, it has been great! I think that as a church we are in a better state as a result of these 40 days, indeed we approach Sunday when we will be sent to the 3 sites with confidence that God is at work not just in bringing new people to us but also making us more like him and less reliant on ourselves.

And despite staying at the Catford site I definately regard that we are being sent. It is going to look very different after this Sunday.

Personally the highlight from the last 40 days is the preach Phil did on the 6th February on the Word of God. It had all the usual ingredients of Phil's preaching; humorous, relevent, accessable and full of truth. It was a fabulous reminder that the Christian life is a radical way to live. If you missed it click here for the podcast.

Well after these 40 days the church will definately not be the same! Bring it on!

Life in Catford - On the buses 2

Well, I am still not allowed to cycle or drive. Hopefully on Thursday I will be given the green light to get back on a bike (and start driving), in the meantime I have borrowed a training bike to strengthen my knee. However to get about I am still using the buses a lot. So here a few more observations -

There are many languages are spoken in the world and most are spoken in the buses of Catford.

Sometimes I am the only white person on the bus. I suddenly become very conscious of the colour of my skin.

The bus is great way to meet old friends and make new ones!

One evening a man, who I did not know, sat next to me with his can of
Tennants super strong, he says "you'll have to put up with me for a few
stops."

I introduce myself, he tells me his name.

He tells me he is off to a friends for a bit of herbal happiness.

I tell him I'm off to King's Church.

He tells me that they run the Feast at King's Church.

I ask him if he has ever been - he says no but his friend goes. He tells me her life story. So then I told him that I run the Feast.

So as you can see I will miss my bus adventure, miss bumping into Bob the Big issue salesman, miss bumping into the man who crashed his car into a parked car near my house. Although I won't miss the over crowding or the times the bus driver will not pick you up because his bus is already overcrowded.

Instead I will return to cycling where I will try to go faster than the buses!!

31st January 2011!!

It is 2 years ago that I broke my Anterior Crutiate ligament (ACL) in a football match.

It is 6 weeks since my operation to replace the ACL.

It is my Dad's 65th birthday.

It is the day my son went away for a week to a mountaineering centre in Mid Wales with School.

It is the day when we finally completed Rebekah's tax return.

Other than that it has been a lovely day off on a beautiful January day. We celebrated my Dad's 65th by taking him to Ikea, which is almost as big a treat for him as taking him to Wickes or Screwfix would have been but they don't provide Breakfast! The Allens know how to celebrate in style!

Rebekah and I then had a noodle meal to mark the completion of the tax return.

But an added treat to the day has been listening to Andy Kyte (son of Malcolm who works in the same office as I do) who has his debut single out next Monday called 'Your time has come'. Andy did a gig on a Sunday night at King's Church last year and I loved it! Let's get him back! Have a look at his website to find out more.

So it has been a very satisfying 31st January and I am going out later to meet a friend of mine from Bedford who is working in London today.

The Bridge Project

Last Thursday I visited the new premises for the Bridge Project, a crisis pregnancy centre managed by a friend of mine Julie. The centre is very impressive and the team have decorated it very well and these new premises will allow the Bridge to continue to help many people who are in despair and unsure where to turn for advice and help. Please click here to see their excellent website.

I would like to see a centre like this in the Borough of Lewisham that offers impartial advice to many people who are faced with very difficult decisions. It is therefore great that we currently have 5 people from King's Church who are on the latest training course.

2011 - 10 years of the Jericho Road Project

In 2011 the Jericho Road Project will be celebrating it's 10th year. And with recovery from my knee op slowing me down, I have valued some time recently to reflect on the many people that the project has been involved with over the last 10 years. The plan is for a Sunday celebration on the 2nd October and a lunchtime event probably on the 29th September that will promote all that we are involved in to the many professionals and volunteers that we work with. We will get to tell lots of the stories of people's lives.

This week I have spent time with 2 of our ex residents. One has recently celebrated being drug free for 2 years after well over 30 years in addiction. Another recently moved into his own flat after being a rough sleeper for 18 months, then staying in the winter shelter at 999 club who then referred him to the Jericho Road Project and then finally he secured a flat! Both stories are great to hear again and again, so we will tell these stories and many other later in the year at the celebrations. Don't miss the 2nd October, it will be a great Sunday!