Dear friends
We were thrilled to have been able to run our summer activities this year, the first since summer of 2019, largely thanks to the National Lottery Reaching Communities fund (that enabled us to run four days of accessible, affordable trips) and Broadwater School for the use of their minibus.
Local young people enjoyed trips to Southsea, a range of outdoor challenges at Walton Firs activities centre, the outdoor karting at Sandown Park, paintball at Delta Force in Cobham concluding with the Chichester Water Sports for kayaking, inflatable assault course and banana ride. A great time really was had by all!
Key to our school’s work is our Transition Programme that supports Year 6 as they make the big step-up to Year 7. In the summer term, we visit local junior and primary schools with our Moving On workshop for Year 6. The workshop is a practical interactive session using activities to prepare the pupils for greater ownership and to explore key challenges around time and resources management and navigating around a new school site. In early September we visited Rodborough and Broadwater Schools on their Year 7 Intake Days to deliver team building activities aimed at supporting students integrate into their tutor groups.
The feedback we received from staff and students was extremely positive and in some cases the content we deliver has impacted the way some junior and secondary schools work to make the transition as smooth as possible.
“I have worked with the Trinity Trust Team for over a decade in different schools and have always been impressed with the bespoke assemblies they offer, the after-school clubs and in particular the moving on workshops for children about to leave junior school and enter their secondary education. The workshops acknowledge that, whilst it is an exciting time of their life, a growing number of children require the dedicated support and advice that the TTT offers.”
- Adam Samson, Head, Godalming Junior School
“We also benefit from TTT input at our year 6 - 7 transition. Andy and team have great links with many of our feeder primary schools. The team have run team building sessions which have helped improve relationships and allay fears at transition time. Our pupils very much appreciate and benefit from their high-quality input.”
- Miss Judith Spencer, Assistant Head, Rodborough
We are delighted to have returned to Godalming Junior School with our after-school club Wowza! The club combines a range of media input, discussion, and activities to introduce Christian teaching and how we apply these values to our daily lives.
Loseley Fields Youth Café has re-opened also as has the midweek discipleship group FUSE (aimed at young people in school years 7 upwards) run at GBC in partnership with the team there.
After half term we are due to lead the Fusion children’s group at GBC with the children’s team, with the re-launch date to be announced. This autumn also sees the return to Rodborough and Broadwater Christian Unions, both running with the Alpha Youth series.
Our Friday night outreach was not only maintained during lockdown but ramped up as we were unable to run centre- based provisions for over a year. A particular highlight has been the football matches we’ve run up at Aaron’s Hill with young people re-enacting huge games such as England V Italy. Not surprisingly, in our version, England ran out narrow winners…
As highlighted in previous newsletters, our consistent presence in the lives of young people in Godalming and surrounding areas has seen us establish excellent relationships with governing bodies and decision makers such as Godalming Town Council, Waverley Borough Council, Surrey County Council, Surrey Police and High Sheriff. In 2019 we were again one of the Town Mayor’s Charities of Choice in recognition of the important work we deliver to local young people in church, school and community settings and have done for over 20 years.
In 2020 we were invited onto a Godalming Town Council working party to look at town-wide youth provision. As part of this process, TTT undertook consultation with local young people in secondary schools and whilst on street outreach and fed this data into the working party. The results of this consultation informed the Town Council’s decision to fund and staff a youth hub to benefit local young people that is planned to go live in the spring of 2022. It was rewarding and showed the high regard in which TTT is held, not only to be invited onto such a working party but to play a key role in helping to shape the future landscape for youth provision in the town.
14-18 PartnershipTTT has been working closely with the Busbridge based 14-18 Group to promote the showing of the film 1917 at the Borough Hall (14th November) as a catalyst for local young people to find out more about the lives of the 281 local men who fell during WWI. Local young people will be invited to take an information pack which will contain amongst other things a replica ID tag of one of the fallen to inspire a research project into that life, a project supported by local secondary schools. Another key element of the initiative is to support local young people with their mental health and emotional wellbeing. TTT has received an award from CAMHS for raising awareness of mental health in local schools and will also be partnering with the Dan Eley foundation to support local young people in trauma, regardless of the cause.
Two team members have moved on since our last bulletin. Laura Hanley, who supported our community outreach on a part time basis throughout the various lockdowns and Matt Blake, a mainstay with us for the past five years. Matt and Emily have relocated to the Isle of Wight along with Matt’s parents David and Linda, known to many of you for their enthusiastic membership at Busbridge & Hambledon Church, in supporting Churches Together events and TTT.
Matt continues to manage our website and database remotely and handled all bookings online for our summer activities, so remains an important part of the team, just from a distance. Here’s what Matt had to say on his time at TTT and how his new life across the Solent is shaping up:
“My time with TTT started with just 5 days back in 2015. I needed an alternative work placement in the final year of my degree, so I joined Andy and the team for a week. I went back to my student home in London thinking about the unique ecumenical position TTT held in Godalming and how I could apply the things I had learnt about ‘Christian youth work outside of church’ to my church-based job in London. Fast forward just over a year and I was sat opposite Andy at the Inn on the Lake discussing a part-time role that would eventually evolve to a full time position I would hold for five years.
I think 2020 led many people to reflect deeply on their lives so when the opportunity to move to the Isle of Wight came up, to be within walking distance from the beach, surrounded by the beautiful outdoor scenery the island has to offer, Emily and I excitedly took it. This corresponded with a move to part-time work with TTT and the time now for Emily and I to explore our own business pursuits; for me as a web designer and website consultant and for Emily as an illustrator.
To everyone we met during our time in Godalming we’d like to extend a heartfelt thank you for the kindness and support you showed us as we start this new chapter in our lives.”
On behalf of all of us who deliver the youth ministry and those who provide governance for the team, our sincere thanks for your continued support.
With every blessing, Andy, the youth work team and Management Team.
