2024-08-31-accounts - Bodmin Youth Project Trust

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Chairman’s Report 2023-2024

2023-24 was significant year for us:

Hosanna Roeburn entered her second year as a SWYM (South West Youth Ministries) trainee on placement with us – a year which saw her continue to grow in her abilities, taking on more leadership roles and doing a great job across all our groups.
Tom Beaumont, Assistant Pastor here at ICB, joined us a trustee and took on responsibilities for Immerse alongside Marie.
Immerse moved from here at ICB to the L&L shop on Fore Street and it was a pleasant surprise to see young people literally coming in off the street to attend the group – many of whom have stuck.
• We took young people to SPREE, to Mendue, and to TAG as once again we saw the value of residentials in growing young people’s faith.
We took groups of young people to each of the GLOW events organised by Creation Fest.
We held our first ever American Sports Event at Bodmin College at Easter and saw 17 young people attend over 4 days. 22 young people then attended the Alpha Course that followed, with 8 making tentative commitments to follow Jesus!
And, of course, our regular commitments continued with Immerse, Immerse on Toast, football, and TYG continuing fortnightly.
And then in August, Hosanna left us to move to St Austell, and in a great answer to prayer, new volunteers emerged!

So, this Chairman’s report is going to detail a little more of all that went on, and I’m delighted that my fellow trustees are going to help me in this:

Immerse is our outward-looking fortnightly youth club for school years 6-9. This Autumn term we were sad to lose Hosanna from our team, but have enjoyed welcoming Amanda, AJ, Andrea and Molly joining Marie and Tom. It's a great team of volunteers who enthusiastically contribute to the goal of sharing Jesus with the young people we come across.

We've had 15-20 young people attend most weeks, with a few weeks dropping closer to 10. Some are contacts from the Sports Camp in Easter 2024; some are contacts from BYP Wednesday football and others have heard about Immerse through friends. We had a Light Party special event in late October and a Christmas party. In our normal evenings we have food, games, craft and interactive sessions considering some of the reasons teenagers won't even think about Jesus. We based this material on Rebecca McLaughlin's book 10 Questions Every Teen Should Ask (and Answer) about Christianity and included questions like 'Can Jesus be true for you but not for me?', 'Can't we just be good without God?' and 'How can you believe the Bible is true?' We've enjoyed the engagement some of the young people have shown with these questions (and other questions they have sparked!) We would love to get alongside the young people more throughout the rest of the evenings, understanding where they currently stand with questions of faith and how we can help them progress towards saving and deepening faith in Jesus. We're very grateful for the support we've had from parents of young people at Immerse and for how we've been able to support them as they bring up their children in an oftenconfusing world!

Alpha: We had 15-20 young people attend each week, throughout the whole course. The away day which covered the 'Holy Spirit' was encouraging and powerful day. Eight young people made tentative commitments of faith in Jesus. We had great discussions, and the young people showed, through what they shared, that their understanding around the Christian faith and God had increased. Three of these eight have joined the Sunday evening Bible study and continue to grow in understanding and faith.

Immerse on Toast meets on alternative Sunday evenings to Friday Immerse, at 3 The Old Church Hall. There are on average 10 young people [aged 11 - 15] who come regularly. We meet at 6pm for something on toast then we study the Bible for about 45 minutes. We finish the evening off with games. In the past year we have studied parts of Mark's gospel, Psalm 139 in detail "Wonderfully Made" and some sessions on basics of Christian doctrine.

We paused in the summer term as the young people were doing the Youth ALPHA course every Friday following the Sports Camp. Following that, 3 young people have joined the group. Of the 10, 5 are from non-Christian backgrounds and 5 are from Christian homes. The leaders at this group are a two person combo of either: Lizzy Smallwood; AJ or Ash Sherwin; Simon Smallwood; Molly Price.

Football. Over the past year we've continued to meet on a fortnightly basis to run our free Football Sessions in the Community. Sadly, with damage to Fair Park in the summer of 2023 (due to the visiting circus cutting up the ground in wet weather), we had to run our sessions at Scarletts Well Park for the Autumn Term. As this was further away from where some of the young people live, numbers dropped off for our regular sessions, but in October we arranged for a special Half-Term event with Bubble Football & other fun games and attracted a number of new people to join us with over 30 young people taking part and Izzy from Oriel Ministries (www.orielministries.org) shared some of her faith story.

Into 2024, we were then able to return to our usual venue at Fair Park and the regular numbers for our Football Sessions then increased again with some of the young people living around the Park coming back to the sessions. Numbers varied from week to week with between 5-10 coming along, and by the summer up to 14 joined us for an hour of football skills, shooting challenges, a mini-match and an opportunity to hear more about the Christian faith and what it means in our daily lives. Simon, Hosanna & Andrea would rotate around from session to session on who would help me run the time together and who would share a short message or testimony.

It was also exciting to see a number of young people not only join us for football, but then join us for some of the Immerse Youth Night specials or the usual fortnightly gatherings to get to know other young people in the church and hear more about the Christian faith.

TYG is our group for young people in Yr 10 and above (14+) and we see up to 10 young people each session. We have explored various topics, generally decided by the young people, and look at issues from a Biblical perspective. We have an amazing mix of church-families and non, home-educated and those at school/college, and all sorts of abilities, and somehow it works!

We also took young people to SPREE , the SWYM Camp in Exeter. A great opportunity to combine with hundreds of young people. The 3 streams which operate make it especially suitable for all young people, no matter where they’re at in their faith, and a great time was had by all.

Menadue in Tintagel is on a different scale, but again, much appreciated, and then some of our older ones attended the TAG weekend at Lee Abbey for leadership training. All important opportunities for our young people to be part of something bigger.

There is something significant about taking young people away, and I want to thank everyone who facilitated this over the summer, and at TAG. I don’t think anyone really knows what it is to do youth work until you’re in a field at 1 in the morning with a group of teenagers – or 5:30 am when they want to play football! But seriously, thank you so much to everyone who gives of their time and energy to enable these events to happen – it is very much appreciated!

One of the other highlights of our year was the American Sports Event which we held in the Easter Holidays in association with Breakout Ministries. We had 17 young people over 4 days at Bodmin College where they learnt and played American sports and heard something of the Gospel. This was followed up with a Youth Alpha which operated weekly in the summer term. It was amazing to see the young people so engaged with the course and subject matter, and to see 8 make tentative commitments to follow Jesus as a result was amazing. The challenge now is to disciple them when the majority do not attend any of our churches.

And then in September, Hosanna left us after 2 years as our Youth Worker, and I want to thank her, in her absence, for all she brought to BYP. It really was a privilege to see her growth and development whilst with us.

Once she left, we were deeply concerned as to how we were to manage, and then new volunteers came along in an amazing answer to prayer! Thank you so much to everyone who volunteers with us – we really couldn’t do this without you!

And I also want to thank my fellow trustees for all their investment into the work of BYP. No one sees the hours of preparation and planning that go into sessions, or the trustees’ meetings, as we review and decide what we’re doing. As we go into 2025, we’d really appreciate your prayers as we make decisions over SWYM students, staffing, finances, etc. And above all, we’d appreciate your prayers for the young people. We have such an amazing range of young people who connect with us, from so many different backgrounds and experiences. Please pray for each one of them to find fullness of life with us, and ultimately in Jesus.

And finally, I want to thank God for His faithfulness to us. There have been so many times in the BYP journey when we’ve really not been sure as to what things will look like, who will be there, what we can afford, and what we can actually do. But, as I said at the beginning, an AGM causes us to look back, and tonight we can look back with thanks as to all God has done and continues to do in and through BYP. And that keeps me excited for all that is to come!

And there’s plenty to come. Our normal, regular groups continue, but we also have the return of the American Sports Camp, this time with 8 Americans leading it, and SPREE and Menadue to come. So please continue to be a part of BYP! Volunteer! Pray! Give! Or simply just encourage a young person when you see them!

Jon Langford Jan 2025

Spree Income (June) Thompson 15 Wisheart 15 Gillespie 15 Toto 15 Roe 48 Allingham 30 J.Batten 30 Vercoe 15 Wheten 15 TOTAL GIFTS 198*	Spree Income (June) Thompson 15 Wisheart 15 Gillespie 15 Toto 15 Roe 48 Allingham 30 J.Batten 30 Vercoe 15 Wheten 15 TOTAL GIFTS 198*	Cash Income Br. 15 And. 15 Cox x2 30 Evans x2 30 Herb. 20 NLC gift 25 TOTAL 135 Minusfood 26.39
Thompson Wisheart Gillespie Toto Roe Allingham J.Batten Vercoe Wheten TOTAL GIFTS*
Deposited cash	109	NEW TOTAL 108.61
TOTAL SPREE	306.61 £
		20.41 22.12 42.53 £ 8,891 £ 520.92 £ 435.92 £ 129.31 -£ osts £218.92) R kept with BYP safe still to be desposited
Sports Camp Incom	e (Fees) 9.35 5.53 5.53 11.06	20.41 22.12
3x pay (Mar) 5.53 3x pay (Apr) 5.53
TOTAL		42.53 £

TOTAL for SWYM/ (5000+3891)	HR	8,891 £

Spree Exp/Fuel (July) Thompson 30 Wheten 60 Allingham 30
Thompson Wheten Allingham
TOTAL	120.00 £
Spree additional co	sts 88 69 78
AL ticket (JL exp.) HR FOOD HR Ticket
TOTAL COSTS FOR		520.92 £ 435.92 £ 129.31 -£ osts £218.92)
£85 not deposited in bank/ H NB. + £20 cash TB gave to SO;*