What people say about the Urban Mission Toolkit

Participants

“Urban Mission Toolkit has helped inspire, equip and envision me for living and working on a large housing estate in London. It has helped me and my team members through providing valuable training. Andy Smith – Diretor, regenerate.com – Roehampton Read More

It is a well run programme that is benefiting many people and encouraging people to get out and work in areas which are often forgotten. I was a trainee on the course three years ago and I learnt a huge amount about urban mission and it also helped remind me why I do what I do. It's hard work being on the go in this context, daily working with people in very difficult circumstances and the course was a breath of fresh air where I could learn with a group of people all from different backgrounds but all with a common purpose of reaching those on the edges of our society. I strongly recommend people who are involved with this kind of urban work to take a year of training with the Urban Toolkit and I also would encourage people that are thinking about it to get involved as well.” Andy Smith – Diretor, regenerate.com – Roehampton

“The course forces you out into your community to do the work – rather than sit around at church talking about it”. Rob Draper, Wynstanley Estate, Clapham

“The church as a whole, including me, spends so much time talking about doing things and not enough time actually doing them! Steven Allin – Community Worker, St George’s Church, Holborn Read More

As part of the course you have to be practically serving somewhere for a few hours a week. This is great because it gives people the necessary push that is often required to translate heart into action.

I did two different outreach projects with the homeless as my practical service component when I did the course. One was a winter night shelter project; the other was street outreach to the homeless. I never knew what to do or how to respond. I was fearful of interacting with them. By doing the course I was trained to have more confidence in responding.”
Steven Allin – Community Worker, St George’s Church, Holborn

“My husband and I live in the main square as part of the community here. We help run youth projects, work with gang members who are recurrent young offenders, as well as work with disadvantaged adults who include addicts, offenders and people with mental health issues. Helen & Nick Russell – Ferrier Focus - Kidbrook Read More

I did Urban Mission Toolkit 4 years ago and found it to be invaluable for equipping me in my work on the estate. Prior to doing the course I had had no training in except my passion for the people of the estate. The course deepened my understanding of urban mission and challenged me personally on my values and attitudes. It also enabled me to meet people with similar passions and I developed a support network. Previously I had felt very isolated in my work. I have helped with the running of the course since. I encourage my team on the estate to do the course where possible and several friends and colleagues have now done it.” This year there are five people from Ferrier doing it. One of them, Nick (Helen’s husband), a youth and community worker says, "The Urban Mission Toolkit provides an excellent, broad training in urban mission, given by highly respected speakers in the field. It has made me rethink and reshape what I do." Helen & Nick Russell – Ferrier Focus - Kidbrook

“It is all too easy for us to become complacent, inactive or feel helpless in the face of despair. I now have a clear vision and feel equipped to do his work.”
Polly White, Caring for Ex-Offenders

“Having attended a large evangelical church for many years, I was increasingly frustrated at what I felt was a gap in my life between my church life and the hard reality of urban life on my doorstep. Helen Adam, Housewife Read More

The School of Urban Mission provided the bridge between those two. The teaching, combined with my own personal experience of being involved in a local project reaching out to prostitutes, gave me both a practical and a theological understanding of how to engage as a Christian in the complex world around us. I have got stuck into this work and have not looked back since. The course was invaluable and was, for me, the launch pad to discovering my calling.”

Helen Adam, Housewife

What People Say - Some of those who teach on the course

local impact, national significance