St Mary REdcliffe Parish Magazine Dec 2019 Jan 2020

Our new weekly programme meant a
change of day for Youth Group to Mondays
(4:30–6:30pm) and we kicked it off with a
very popular trip to Freedog trampoline
park. We return to Faithspace this week
and start a 6-week music project with
Basement Studio — we are still looking
for volunteers so do get in touch if you
think you can help.
As this is the last edition of the year it
seems a good time to reflect on success
and take what we’ve learned into the
new year. It gives me great pleasure to
think that we have had over 150 young
people from the parish enjoy activities
as wide-ranging as forest school, sports,
music and simply being together. We’re
still working out what is most wanted
and needed locally, but having young
people on an advisory group to steer
those decisions has only helped.
We have developed what we offer over
the year, so we now have three different
sessions running each week, engaging
between 40 and 50 different local young
people each week. Numbers don’t tell
the whole story though, so next year I will
be sharing some stories that highlight
how our work does impact on individuals
and families.
— above: at the Freedog trampoline park
below: in the Young Bristol Bus
— All photos & permissions: David Cousins
I’d like to take this opportunity to say a huge thank you to everyone who has helped,
volunteered and prayed for our work this year. I wish you all a wonderful Christmas
and fruitful New Year.
— David Cousins; Community Youth Devt Worker
t: 0117-231 0069 / m: 07928 349523 / e: david.cousins@stmaryredcliffe.co.uk
community | home & abroad
NOTES FROM RWANDA —
ANNA BROOKE, VOLUNTEER FOR “HANDS ACROSS THE WORLD”
Thank you to Anna for sending us photos and notes from her diary as a volunteer
with Hands Across the World in Rwanda; see her inspiring article in the September
edition of the magazine, and read on —
...H
ERE ARE SOME PHOTOS
from our time this week
here at Mbilizi Hospital where we’ve
been putting in a new ceiling and
painting this week — tomorrow we
head off to paint schools in Bugurama
for the next couple of weeks.
There are ten of u s— seven from Jersey,
me, and Eric and Esther, two young
Rwandans who are working with us.
The church service on Sunday morning was
attended by 3,000 people, 600 of whom
stood outside to listen. As “umungu” —
foreigners — we were seated right at the
front and introduced and applauded by
them all. We were summoned to church
by drums. Awesome!
There are genocide memorials dotted
throughout. The photo overleaf is 200
metres from where we’re staying.
If you’d like to donate, my JustGiving page
is still open at https://www.justgiving.
com/crowdfunding/anna-brooke — we
want to fundraise to support a Christmas
party for the children of Ryankana, an
area here in SW Rwanda; it occurs to me
that anyone thinking of giving to a cause
rather than sending Christmas cards, for
example, could perhaps donate to that.
— with love, Anna
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