Help us raise money for Youth Work in Hattersley!

Hello,

My name is Kristen I am the youth and community pastor at St Barnabas Hattersley! We are hoping to raise £20,000 to enable us as a church to continue growing the youth work we do in Hattersley!

Hattersley ranks ranks 45 out of 12239, where 1 is the most deprived parish. It is not uncommon for children and young people in Hattersley to come from families where life it tough. And so we want to provide safe spaces where young people can come and have fun, make positive relationships, express themselves and discover what life is all about.

St Barnabas has a history of doing youth work on the estate but nothing has been ran through the church for a long time. With the church at risk of closure, in June 2023, Sam DH, Hattersleys new vicar arrived with a vision to reach children and young people across Hattersley. And in May 2024 the church hired a part-time (4 days a week) Youth Worker (Kristen).

At Present we run a youth group for young people in Hattersley who want to explore the Christian faith called "Discover", this includes running socials and trips. And we do a lot of work in our local primary schools. Including assemblies in our church and schools, R.E lessons and more recently Christmas and Easter experience lessons.

We are keen to do more! In September 2025 we are launching the TLG early intervention programme in Pinfold Primary school offering 1:1 coaching for children struggling with their emotional health. We would also love to launch "Barney's Youth", a youth group or youth groups for young people from the community. These would be Drop-in style youth groups for young people to come and hang out, be fed, play some games and be loved and championed by a team of youth work volunteers.

All of this comes at a cost however. The money we raise would contribute towards staffing costs and resources, such as equipment, games and food for our youth and schools work. We never want money to be a barrier for the young people and families that we connect with. So we aim to provide as much free and low cost provision as possible.

Jesus loves Hattersley and we at St Barnabas Love Hattersley too! And we want to extend that love to young people and their families by offering youth work that will support and listen to young people's needs, that will offer a different story of Hope and Joy and will see a generation of young people in Hattersley knowing that they are valued and loved.

On the 7th June 2025, our youth leaders and young people are going to be doing a fundraising event called "Iron Youth". We will be working together to complete laps around Hattersley, either running, cycling or another creative means - which collectively will equate to 70.3 miles (which is a half Iron Man).

Any amount you can donate to support the work we believe Jesus is doing here, investing in the lives of young people is Hattersley is so appreciated!