Update on The Children’s Society
When I came to Hampstead I was pleased that there was a long tradition of supporting the Children’s Society. I’ve known it since I began in ministry (when it was the Church of England Children’s Society). Many know it as the charity which popularised the Christingle.
More recently I’ve worked with it more closely. Somehow I got linked with the national network of Diocesan Children’s Advisers, where I met some CS people. There may also have been an evening after General Synod business when I met the lead person for church relations with the CS, but the details are hazy (it was that kind of evening). I now find myself writing some of the monthly prayers the CS send to churches, and did lots of work in the early summer on Christingle resources. The Church of England’s national online service on Sunday 13 December is a Christingle, and I contributed to that too. The Society’s research, campaigning and direct work with vulnerable children and young people is stunning. Its’ not just Christingle!
I recently received an email from Jon, a volunteer working for the Children’s Society. He wrote to thank us for our donation and to share details of one of the projects that he is involved in, which has been impacted by COVID-19. This is what Jon said-
“I’m a volunteer befriender in the Refugee and Migrant team, which works with young people who have often fled war torn countries, and are separated from their families. They often have no support networks here and limited opportunities to make friends.
I meet face to face with a young person, to do an activity that we’ve chosen together, such as visiting a famous London landmark or museum, or playing games or sports. This helps the young person get familiar with their new city. I personally was overwhelmed with my first visit to London as teenager, not knowing if you tap in or out of buses. Can you imagine how it would be for a young person from another country? These activities helped them get an understanding of British Culture, improve their English and build their confidence.
Well since the lockdown, this has stopped We’ve replaced these with weekly catch up calls, which were quite tricky, as it’s more difficult to communicate on the phone across a language barrier. Fortunately technology is a big helper, we’ve recreated things we were doing before by taking online tours of museums or zoos – something we can do at the same time.
I do hope I’ve give you an idea of how we’ve recreated our services during lockdown. We couldn’t do so without the support from parishes like St Johns. THANK YOU
Despite the challenges we continue to walk towards the young people that society crosses the road to avoid. These young people have something within them, that something is hope. We counsel, support and campaign for the young people whose hopes and happiness are the most threatened by abuse, exploitation and neglect. We couldn’t do that without the help of our supporters.”
