There has been some form of youth work at St Edmund’s Church for at least 30-40 years. The range of youth ministry and involvement with young people has been varied, including groups during part of the Sunday services, youth bands, youth church bell-ringing teams, evening youth groups, handbell teams, Zoom clubs and WhatsApp groups during lock-downs, and after school clubs. The origins of the current youth work started in 2013, when the youth church bell-ringing team expanded into an evening youth club. They continued to ring and enjoyed a variety of other activities.
A borrowed set of hand bells also became a regular feature of sessions. They rang the church bells for Sunday Services and weddings, and the hand bells for Christmas events in town, nursing homes and for the church Carol Services. The group named themselves TotesAmazeBells (known by many as TAB). One of the girls, continued through both youth groups and left for university in 2021. Others who followed in their footsteps are currently in the older group.
The current younger group still has a few bell-ringers. Newcomers are offered the opportunity to ring, but it isn’t a regular activity. However, the name of ‘TAB’ is still associated with this group.
For further information about bell-ringing, please follow this link …………
TAB met weekly on Thursday evenings in the Parish Hall. Activities included a variety of indoor and out door games in a local park, crafts, quizzes, exploring the Bible, discussions, films, parties, learning new skills, BBQ’s and treasure hunts. They also had opportunities to take part in outings, local holiday clubs, activity days and holidays at outdoor centres.
The church has a link with Rukungiri Modern School in Uganda which takes in a large number of orphans. Members of Club became pen-pals with a group in years 6 and 7. We also raised funds for the school and bought musical instruments.
Three years ago, a few of the older girls became helpers, volunteering for their Bronze Duke of Edinburgh award. They were also ready to explore the Bible and Christian faith in more depth. So, the ‘Older Group’ was set up. Conveniently, the new Rector, who had recently taken up his post at St Edmund’s, arrived with 3 older teenage boys who joined the group!
For many years, there were usually more girls than boys. In 2019, we were pleased to welcome an influx of lively boys, which changed the dynamics somewhat. The highlight of that year was an activity weekend away at The Beacon’s Centre at Lee Abbey.
And then came the COVID19 pandemic!
We quickly learned the basics of Zoom and met online weekly. Only a few engaged with that medium, but we all kept in touch with the WhatsApp group. We chatted about all sorts of things, watched mini videos together, played games, Kahoot and other quizzes and shared photos of artwork and cakes made, and got to know their pets, who frequently made an appearance. During lock-down, some wrote to elderly parishioners living alone and received lovely letters in return.
The team were aware of mental health issues and had been supporting a few with various problems. We were planning to do the Youth Mental Health First Aid training course just as the pandemic started! We recognised that there were likely to be more manifestations of mental health issues during and post lock-down. Fortunately the course was run between lock-downs.
In 2021, we were successful in applying for a well-being grant from PAVO (Powys Association of Voluntary Organisations) and were able to buy 2 shelters which enabled the group to safely start meeting again outside, whatever the weather, as Covid restrictions gradually eased. We also used them for the young and elderly ‘Pen-pals’ to meet up for the first time. A short film was made about their experiences during and coming out of the lock-downs.
In 2021, we took up the opportunity to link in with Scripture Union, in particular, with their ‘Revealing Jesus Mission’, aiming to reach the 95% of children/young people not attending churches. A few of the youth team took part in the Faith Guide training sessions and have already started using some of Scripture Union’s excellent resources. We have been assigned their regional Mission Enabler for S Wales, Jack Newbould. He has occasionally visited and worked with us during club sessions and team meetings.