Youth Project

The St Philip's Outreach Youth Project was dreamed of for years and was finally born in 2002!

Here's how it happened.

It started in the year 2000 with a phone call out of the blue from a man in London to the Vicar of St Philip’s church.

 ‘You won’t know me’, said the voice, ‘but I grew up in West Howe. My mother has lived there ever since but she has recently died. I have been left her flat and rather than sell it and pocket the money I would like it to be used for Christian work on the estate. Could the church make use of it?’ There was only one answer to a question like that! Couldn’t we just?! The church prayed with renewed enthusiasm.

Some months later a church member attending a youth work course met a young man called Chris Harwood and heard about his desire to find a house on an estate and start reaching out to young people on the streets. Could he be another part of the jigsaw? He was interviewed by a group from the project who were impressed by his understanding of and passion for youth work.

Now all we needed was the money! An individual outside the parish promised several thousand pounds and an application to the network fund provided the rest. God is good.

Chris worked with us from September 2003 until August 2011 when he left us to train for ordination as a pioneer minister in the Church of England. Over the years, with the help of various volunteers whom he trained up, young people have been contacted on the streets, others have joined a Friday night drop in, still others have joined a small cooking community - a group of young people who are learning to cook and who support one another as well. We were also able to get involved with mentoring young people at Oakmead College, particularly those who were at risk of being excluded from lessons.

In January 2012 Mark Burgess joined us to develop the work further: watch this space…!