Two Network of Kindness members funded to grow youth & chaplaincy work
Two Network of Kindness members St James in the City in Liverpool, and Wigan Deanery Trust have secured more than £50,000 funding from the Benefact Trust to expand chaplaincy work with young people.
St James in the City church in Liverpool has been awarded £24,450 towards employing a missional youth worker to develop a space to welcome in more young people and families, as part of the church’s Youth Community and Families.
Wigan Deanery Trust will receive £24,000 to grow their Next Generation Team work in three local secondary schools, including funding a new chaplain for one school and a counsellor to support the mental health of 11- to 18-year-olds in another.
Both projects applied for the funding following Together Liverpool’s first Network of Kindness Meet the Funders event introducing members to the Benefact Trust and offering tips about writing successful grant applications.
Both will receive funding to enhance ongoing work placing chaplains in schools, as part of the Diocese of Liverpool's Missing Generations Strategic Development Fund project.
Janet Wightman, Operations Manager for St James in the City, and a Network of Kindness Champion, said: “This funding will contribute towards employing a missional youth worker for the next three years to continue to develop a welcoming space for young people and families within St James in the City.
“This will enable us to improve the Youth and Families work in the church, in partnership with the chaplains who are developing pathways to reach young people in schools, by providing a space to also engage more young people and their families in church. This will also enable us to start some more detached youth work in the community.
“The broader vision is to help more young people and their families to come to know and follow Jesus, so we couldn’t be more excited about it.
“We are really grateful to the Benefact Trust for their support and for their willingness to invest in young people. Thanks also to the Network of Kindness for making it easier for churches to apply for this funding. The workshop was really helpful in putting together our bid.”
Andrew Bass, Grants Officer for Benefact Trust, said: “It is a privilege to support two inspiring organisations that are part of Together Liverpool’s ‘Network of Kindness’ – a network created to help facilitate greater social impact in communities. Something that we are also working hard to achieve through our funding.
“Our grants to both Wigan Deanery Trust and St James in the City will help to expand their vital work with young people, tackling the key issues young people face, and engaging with them in new and creative ways. In total, the projects could support an additional 700 young people per year, which would be an incredible result.”
Rev Mark Wade of the Next Generation team, at Wigan Deanery Trust which is a Network of Kindness Hub, said the funding would go toward expanding the work of the team in three local secondary schools: Deanery (C of E) High, Byrchall High in Ashton-in Makerfield and Hawkley High Hall school in Goose Green.
Rev Mark said: “Our hope is to offer Hawkley a new chaplain for two days a week with this new grant. Also a counsellor has worked well at Deanery High school so we would like to develop the offer of a counsellor in another local school, given the demands on pastoral support amid the current climate we are experiencing in mental health.
“We are finding demand is really high for counsellors in our high schools at the moment, partly because of the aftermath of Covid and the cost of living crisis, but also the pressures of identity, and social media, which a generation is now struggling with in addition to the usual exam pressures.
“It’s so important for us to be offering this pastoral support, so this grant will be vital to supporting the need in our local schools and releasing our chaplains to be able to plant more worship communities in our high schools.”
Rev Wade added: “We’re so excited that to have this grant from Benefact Trust. This is significant funding to extend the develop grow the great work that is happening, to be a beacon of hope to our young people across Wigan.”
“The grant came about after some of our team went to the Meet the Funders event and we were very grateful to receive some additional support from the Network of Kindness to help guide us through applying for the funding.”
Future Meet the Funders events are being planned for Network of Kindness members. Stay informed about our upcoming events by signing up to our Eventbrite page. You can also follow Together Liverpool on Facebook @TogetherLiverpool and Twitter @TogethLiv