In the dynamic world of John Bright School, this term’s assemblies took students on a journey of introspection and open-minded exploration. We now give a week of assemblies every half-term, which comes with amazing opportunities!

September: Plugged into Healthy Relationships

As the academic year kicked off in September, the first assembly set the tone with a theme centred around the importance of being “plugged into” healthy relationships, including the possibility of a connection with a God. To drive the point home, a memorable object lesson unfolded, featuring the unconventional combination of heavy metal music and an electric ukulele. Laughter filled the room as the unexpected pairing illustrated the importance of harmonious connections in our lives, whether with friends, family, or perhaps even with a higher power.

November: Embracing New Ideas and Different Beliefs

Amidst the intensity of Estyn inspections in November, the second assembly took a thought-provoking turn. A real church lectern took centre stage, adorned with a 350-year-old Bible… and a bright white wig and beard. The focus shifted to the significance of being open to new ideas and different beliefs. The historical elements added weight to the message, emphasising the importance of respecting diverse perspectives. It was a timely reminder that our intellectual and spiritual growth flourishes when we open our minds to the richness of the world around us.

We aim for the assemblies we do at Ysgol John Bright to not just be routine gatherings but transformative experiences, that encouraged students to reflect on their connections with others, and to embrace the diversity of thought and belief. These sessions exemplified the school’s commitment to nurturing not only academic excellence but also the holistic development of open-minded, compassionate individuals. We hope that this leads to deeper relationships and more opportunities to share the gospel.

We kicked summer off with most epic event. It was ‘Party Bingo’ night but trust me when I say it was nothing like your usual game. We pulled out all the stops – there were people busting moves on the dance floor like they were in a music video, and others diving headfirst into some intense games. And let’s not forget about the fancy dress theme – this time we decided to go all out and come dressed as the 90-year-old version of ourselves. Picture this: canes, wrinkly skin, and those crazy oversized glasses that look like they came straight from the future. It was hilarious! The whole night was filled with laughter, good vibes, and a healthy dose of friendly competition. Seriously though, what a great way to start summer.

That’s not all though. We have a whole raft of summer events this year. This starts with a week of ‘Camp-Not-Camp’, and if you’re wondering what that is, then we all hang out together for a week filled with amazing events, but we camp at home, in gardens, with friends.

So, what’s on that week? First up on our list is a legendary Nerf war, where we’ll battle it out in with foam darts and tactical strategies. But before indulging in the chaos, we’ll kickstart that day with breakfast on Zoom, connecting virtually to share a meal and catch up on each other’s lives. To explore our town in a unique way, we’ve also planned an exhilarating round town scavenger hunt (after another breakfast of course, in person this time) that will take us to hidden gems and secret spots, providing endless excitement along the way. As dusk settles, we’ll transform into movie buffs for a cinema night, accompanied by popcorn and laughter.

The last day will be the big one! We’re putting on a fun-filled day with inflatables at Ysgol John Bright. We’ll start off by challenging each other on an exhilarating 60ft inflatable obstacle course. It will be hilarious watching everyone try to make their way through the inflated tunnels, climbing walls, and slides. After that, we’ll strap ourselves into sumo suits and get ready for some belly-bumping action. To “cool down”, we’ll then hop onto a surf simulator where we will test our balance and agility while riding imaginary waves. And what’s a day of adventure without delicious food? We’re going to indulge in a Subway platter packed with mouth-watering sandwiches and sides that will recharge us for more fun-filled activities. Korey from Colwyn Youth for Christ will join us to give a gospel message and share one of his favourite American youth group ball games, ‘GaGa Ball.’!

Of course, no summer is complete without a sizzling BBQ party filled with deliciously charred burgers and mouth-watering grilled veggies to satisfy our taste buds. We’re also going to run a full-on games party mid-summer, and a ‘late nighter’ project that will run until midnight.

We hope this Summer will create lifelong memories for so many young people! We know that a lot of them won’t be able to go on holiday this year, and can’t manage the usual camps either, so we’re going to do everything we can to show them they’re loved.

Please be praying for us! It’s a lot to juggle (and, let’s be honest, there’s a lot that could go wrong!) and we hope that these projects will help young people grow into a closer-knit community, and one that will draw nearer to Jesus.

What to help support what we do? Consider giving to keep this work going and growing! 🙂 Thank you.

Alongside our many events, one-offs, and schools work, we have three super-regular projects at Llandudno Youth for Christ, Recess, Redefine and Show Up & Write. Let me give you a quick update!

Recess

Recess is our weekly group in school at Ysgol John Bright. It’s is probably our longest standing project. It was running at lunch times before our director Tim took over over 12 years ago!

Every year Recess reinvents itself a little, depending on what’s happening in the school timetable and when young people are around. However, it has always been a regular place for young people to hear about Jesus for the first time.

Over the last twelve months, however, Recess went through its biggest reinvention yet! We now meet after school rather than during lunchtime, and rather than meeting in a classroom, hidden down a corridor somewhere, we meet in both the library and the main school hall. This has given us great opportunities to do larger events, as well as things like alter the seating to fit the theme and to add games like 4-square which wouldn’t fit in a small room.

In September, off the back of some assemblies we have an almost entirely new group of young people. So, every Wednesday after school between 10 and 20 of us meet to have fun and to connect with each other about big topics.

What we do at Recess is help young people explore big issues around life, the world, faith, God, community – and their relationships in these things. Our job really is to help them talk and to help them think. This creates an environment where they feel safe to consider different points of view and share their own without fear of ridicule. This also means that we can talk really honestly and clearly about our faith in Jesus.

We’ve taken this group on some trips, some have connected to deeper groups, and some of them have also joined our Saturday Café young volunteer team. These are brilliant young people, and we thank God every day that we get this opportunity to journey with them and support them at school

Redefine

Redefine is another one of our long-standing projects. We meet once a fortnight with a small group of 15-20 young people who would either call themselves a Christian or at least be open to learning more about Jesus. This is a broad discipleship group where we aim to help young people take responsibility for their own faith. We share with them not just what the Bible says but how to read it for themselves.

We have a great team of volunteers who lead small groups and games and help young people really connect with each other and with the theme for the day. I say ‘theme’ but we’ve actually been reading the book of Galatians for almost two years now. There’s so much in it to unpack, and the young people love that we’re getting really deep into the Bible and answering questions that maybe they’ve not asked anyone before.

Thinking about team, every one of them are gifted at sitting down one to one or in small groups of young people and helping them feel comfortable, safe, and secure. We are so fortunate to have these amazing volunteers at Youth for Christ.

Redefine is our first group to move into the new venue in The Garage and so far, it has been absolutely brilliant!

Show Up and Write

Show Up and Write is a project we started in lockdown as an online support group for creative writers. It now continues to meet once a fortnight online using Zoom, with a small group of young budding novelists.

Run by three published authors and headed up by Katie – poet, writer, and editor extraordinaire – it has been one of the most innovative and encouraging projects we’ve run. One of the most amazing things about Show Up and Write is it’s highly targeted, because we’re serving in a way that meets a very specific need.

Jesus is called the Word, God created the world by speaking words, and we believe that God loves creative writing. Show Up and Write is a chance to celebrate creativity and have a lot of fun with storytelling. We love it!

Want to get involved?

Do any of these projects take your fancy? We’re always looking for new volunteers to support young people where they are at. Please do get in touch: llandudndoyfc@gmail.com

 

 

Photo by John Schnobrich on Unsplash

We’ve only gone and done it! We have built an amazing youth centre right slap bang in the middle of Llandudno.

We’ve always had a space. From 2009-2014 that was Reverb Youth Bar on Madoc St. It was brilliant, it was cool, it was state-of-the-art, it was like a Costa Coffee, but just for teenagers – but it was ultimately too small, too expensive, and with only one year lease extensions, ultimately too short term.

So, we packed up and moved to Ty Llywelyn Community Centre. This was a completely different beast, and a beast it was… it was enormous! it had multiple rooms, a couple of halls, an office, storage space, and even an outside football court. It was also right on the doorstep of Ysgol John Bright. We enjoyed six happy years there, but it also wasn’t perfect. We had to share the space with many other users, so it wasn’t really “ours”. This meant that every event and every project that we wanted to run needed a lot more set up in order to put our own stamp on it. It was hard work running projects when you knew that you were going to be there for hours beforehand and afterwards, just to make it work. So, during COVID we began our search for a new space.

At this point we want to give a big shout-out to Gloddaeth Church and the Presbyterian Church of Wales. They have made it possible for us to create a brand new, bespoke youth centre. We have taken over the halls adjacent to Gloddaeth Church. This used to be a mechanic’s garage, and once upon a time it was Llandudno’s firehouse, when the fire engines of the day were horse and cart. Our office now is in the old hayloft!

So, what is it and what have we done?

For the last ten months we have worked incredibly hard to make a professional-quality space for young people. It has a small stage with guitars and a sound system. It has three different seating bars, including one attached to a kitchen with hot chocolate machines. It has a large screen TV with computer games. There’s a pool table, table football, arcade machines, and the best hanging chair you’ve ever seen! There are bookcases full of boardgames, trolleys full of art supplies, and in case they weren’t sure – a giant neon sign that says “You Are Welcome.”

Upstairs we have built an office, a small group area, and a place for team to hang out. We’re now in the process of converting the second large upstairs room into a mixture of storage and creative space, including hot-desk homework zones.

We’ve worked really hard to make sure it doesn’t look like just another run-down hall. Everything has been finished very well, using high quality materials that should last for years.

To be perfectly honest, it’s not totally finished yet. We’ve just replaced all the lights and we have begun to have some pilot youth groups to test it, but it’s still going to take a few more months before we’re satisfied that it’s totally ready to roll.

Check out these photos cataloguing some of the journey – and scroll down to see the ‘nearly finished’ product!

Let’s just say this has been a huge undertaking and we are so grateful for all the support we’ve had. We’ve had incredible volunteers and donors supporting this work – that said, now the hard work really begins.

As I hope you can tell, we have tried to do this right. We want to provide young people with the best resource we possibly can. We don’t want to create just another hall with peeling paint, and some broken down games. We want young people to feel so blessed by this space!

Earlier in the year I travelled to London to visit some of the best youth centres in the UK. I was blown away by what I learned. There is so much opportunity for us to do this well!

So, here’s my direct appeal: Please consider becoming one of our monthly donors. To create and run this centre well and seize the opportunity with both hands, we really do need to raise another £350 a month. Could you become one of our monthly partners? If 35 more people were to give £10 a month (a cup of coffee a week!), then we’d be there! Could you help us out?

Also, linked to this, is a slightly cheekier direct appeal to churches. Please consider making Youth for Christ one of your missionary giving partners. We want Youth for Christ to be fully invested in by the local community. We are very grateful for the support we get from local churches, but like many of these organisations most of our support comes from very few sources. Help us spread the load by becoming part of this journey. At your next eldership meeting, consider asking the question whether your church could budget some financial support for Youth for Christ to help us connect young people of Jesus in this area. That would be amazing!

Now – check out the photos!