Churches Together in Leatherhead
Operation 'Youth
Cafe'
August 2000
What is there for teenagers to do
in Leatherhead? Yes, the Leisure Centre is great, and if
you're into cycling and long walks you're well away.
However, if you're 15, want somewhere
to go and just be with friends, listen to music, maybe
play some pool, you either have to put up with Mum and
Dad at home or you try and get into a pub. Going to
Guildford or London are perhaps the most popular answers
to boredom but can be very expensive.
Churches Together in
Leatherhead want to address this problem,
attempting to provide a service for young people which is
safe, cheap, local and above all, cool.
The answer, well one of them anyway, is this: a
cafe for young people in central Leatherhead,
specifically aimed at teenagers and run by a team of
professional staff and volunteers:
- a place where young people can
just exist without having to spend money or be
involved in any activities
- a place where there is access to
the Internet and to information about what's
going on in the area for under 21s, as well as
relevant services and facilities
- a venue which could show films or
host local bands according to demand
- somewhere which looks good and
that young people could feel is their own.
It is such a simple plan and Churches
Together want to see it happen in Leatherhead.
There is a great need and desire for a place like this in
this area as you will discover when you discuss the idea
with your nearest teenager. This is the vision.
What we need now is for Christians in Leatherhead to
support the project. There are many ways in which you can
do this and not all of them involve time or money!!
The most important thing at this stage is to PRAY for a
suitable venue: a building which can be used for this
purpose in the middle of the town and something
affordable. I will be co-ordinating this project and I am
also looking for people who would be willing to join me
on a steering group to take this dream forward and make
it happen.
We need fund-raisers, solicitors; people who know about
property, cafes, finance, decorating or young people!!
Please contact me if you are interested in this exciting
venture or if you know anyone else who may be. Let's make
this happen in Leatherhead.
Claire Gannon, Youth Worker
August 2000
from the July 2004
Parish Church magazine
The Youth Cafe "Brothers and
sisters, since God has shown us great mercy, I beg you to
offer your lives as a living sacrifice to him. Your
offering must be only for God and pleasing to him, which
is the spiritual way for you to worship. Do not change
yourselves to be like the people of this world, but be
changed within by a new way of thinking. Then you will be
able to decide what God wants for you: you will know what
is good and pleasing to him and what is perfect."
Romans 12 v 1-2.
As the youth worker for Churches
Together in Leatherhead it is my aim and my prayer
to see young people's lives changed. The book of Romans
outlines our faith as Christians, our journey from sin to
saved, and it sets out some challenging lifestyle goals.
These two verses however contain for me the effect that
knowing Jesus should have on our lives. When we meet with
God, it is not a case of signing up to a whole lot of
do's and don'ts but a chance to turn our lives around, to
be different from everyone else, to be renewed and to
start living life for God and with God.
Young people are very
important in today's society. More and more we see
everything around us marketed to a youth culture: mobile
phones, DVDs, travel, music, films. Our consumer culture
loves young people, but it doesn't deliver all it
promises. In our local community teenagers seem to be
always on the front pages of the papers, causing trouble,
being a nuisance, posing a threat to our peaceful
existence. Graffiti, drugs, teenage pregnancies, truancy,
petty theft; what do these issues have to do with our
"you can have anything anytime" culture?
Young people want above
all to be loved and accepted for who they are. Only God
can meet this need completely as he is the only one who
sees us in our entirety. For many young people, they are
seen as what they do; the exams they are taking, the
university they are applying for or the trouble they get
into. Instead of labelling young people, God looks at the
heart and sees the whole person. Not only is he ready to
forgive, but to enable them to change from within and
live life to its fullest in him.
For the last four years I
have been involved in the planning and preparation of a
brand new facility for young people in Leatherhead; a
cafe and information centre where 14-18 year olds can
feel at home, relax with friends, and access any
information they may need to help them live their lives,
whether that be finding out where the nearest under 18s
nightclub is or meeting with a drugs advisor or sexual
health worker.
The vision of the centre
is to enable young people to change. To offer an
environment in which they are loved and accepted for who
they are, and in which they are free to explore and
develop their God given potential. I am very pleased to
be able to say that the directors of Leatherhead Youth
Project Ltd, the charity set up to oversee the cafe, have
recently interviewed and appointed a manager who shares
this vision and, we believe, is able to support young
people in this way. We are also hoping to hear any day
now that All Saints Church is officially the venue in
which this vision will become a reality.
Thank you so much to
everyone who has prayed and is still praying for the cafe
project. We still need to pray that we would see young
people's lives affected for the long term by their
relationship with Jesus, and that they are shown God's
love, not just in the cafe but by the Church as a whole. Claire
Gannon
Youth Worker for Churches Together in Leatherhead 01372
363150
Youth Cafe &
Information Centre
Jan 2005
The Leatherhead Youth Cafe and Information
Centre will be a welcoming and safe environment where
young people can come to relax and meet friends. Snacks
and drinks will be on sale and there will be a pool
table, music and TV.
Within the cafe there is
an information zone containing six computers with
internet access and a library of books, leaflets and
directories, where young people can access valuable
information on a wide range of issues such as career,
family, sexual health, drugs and alcohol or education.
The cafe will be staffed
by a full time manager who will be starting very shortly;
and a team of trained volunteers who will be on hand to
chat to cafe users and direct them to the services we
offer.
If you would like to be
part of the youth cafe project, either as a prayer
partner, volunteer or financial supporter, we would love
to hear from you in the Youth Office - 01372 363150.
From the Trustees of
Leatherhead Youth Project Ltd.
Registered Charity Number 1096397
Contact Claire and Ruth at the Youth Office on:
01372363150
Jan 2005
from the January 2006
parish magazine
I am delighted to confirm [on behalf of Churches
Together] that Jay Bristow has been appointed as
Youthworker on behalf of the Covenanting Churches -
Methodist, URC and Anglican. Jay has been acting
Youthworker following Claire Gannon's departure and now
takes over fully. He has already established himself with
the Church young people's groups and is working closely
with Andy Gill the Youth Cafe Manager. His appointment
has been widely welcomed and we wish him every blessing
in his work. David Eaton
updated 29 Jan 2006
|