Youth Club

Kirkleatham Parish, Redcar

Sue completed Stepping Up in April 2022 and was commissioned as a Community Minister in May 2022 as Community Minister in Kirkleatham Parish, based at St Hilda’s Church, Redcar.

Sue’s heart is for young people, she says, “even before finishing my Stepping Up journey I knew I wanted to do something for our young people in the community. The more I prayed for this, the more passionate I became and to try and give them a safe place to come and just be them.” Therefore, when an opportunity between Sue and Blank Canvas, a local Christian youth charity to partner came up, Sue has grabbed the opportunity to launch a new space for young people in Redcar, every Thursday night.

With the help of a Mustard Seed grant and a team of 12 from Blank Canvas, made up of Christians from across all denominations in Redcar, the youth club launched in September 2022, providing a safe space, a gathering space, a place of welcome and acceptance for young people in the community. With a new church building, the youth club has access to a number of facilities including a gaming room set up and a dedicated space to make hot chocolates!

As churchwarden, Sue is involved in all parts of life at St Hilda’s, therefore making her a key lead in linking young people at the youth club with other activities in the church and community.

Through the partnership with Blank Canvas, Sue and the team have access to innovative training, experienced youth workers and the administrative support to run the youth club, whilst Sue and the team can focus on the welcome and fun!

Sue’s dream is that the youth club continues to grow like a mustard seed, for these young people to have a place they can call theirs and when they feel ready or want to, discover faith. That’s when I want to and will be there for them.

To find out more about Kirkleatham Parish, click here and Blank Canvas, click here.

To watch a video about Sue and the Youth Club, click here.