Investing in People, Making Space and Changing Lives
As we look ahead to the future of our Windsor Site, we have two potential opportunities that we would love you to be part of through our upcoming Gift Days.
Both are about investing in people, creating opportunities and making a difference in the lives of others. One is about making better use of our building to invest in the next generation. The other is about extending care and support to children, young people and families in our wider community.
Here's a bit more about what we're hoping to do:
1. Making Space for the Next Generation
Our Church buildings are places where friendships are formed, faith grows, people find belonging and lives are changed. We want to make sure our building continues to serve the needs of both our church and community, not just today but for generations to come.
We're currently exploring an exciting opportunity to bring part of our existing premises back into use and give it a new purpose.
For some time, this space has been sublet to another organisation. However, as we look to the future, there's an opportunity to use this space and transform it into somewhere primarily dedicated to our young people.
Our vision is to give our young people a space they can call their own.
Somewhere welcoming, relaxed and designed with them in mind. A place where they can meet, build friendships, have fun, explore their faith and feel a genuine sense of belonging. We don't simply want young people to be accommodated within the life of our church. We want them to know that they're valued, that they belong and that we're committed to investing in them.
There is an important step before we can move forward. Any investment in renovating this space would be dependent on us agreeing an extension to our current building lease. This would give us the confidence and security to invest in the building and make meaningful improvements.
There's still plenty to work through, including the practicalities, costs and exactly how the space might look. But we believe this is a really exciting opportunity. This isn't just about renovating a room. It's about investing in the next generation and creating an environment where young people can grow in faith, develop friendships and become an integral part of our church family.
2. Creating a Place of Support for Children, Young People and Families
Our second opportunity is about extending the care and support we offer beyond our church family and into our wider community.
We're exploring the possibility of partnering with Transforming Lives for Good (TLG) to establish a TLG Therapeutic Hub.
TLG is a Christian charity that works with churches and schools to support children and young people facing difficult circumstances. Their Therapeutic Hubs provide access to professional emotional and therapeutic support for children, young people and their families.
We know that many children and young people today are struggling with anxiety, difficult experiences, emotional challenges and other issues that can have a significant impact on their lives.
Sometimes pastoral support, encouragement and a listening ear are really important, but some situations need something more. Unfortunately, accessing professional support isn't always easy. Families can face long waiting lists or find that their child's needs don't meet the threshold for NHS services.
A Therapeutic Hub aims to help bridge that gap, offering support before difficulties reach crisis point.
The service can include:
One-to-one counselling: Regular sessions with qualified, trauma-informed practitioners.
Group support: Helping children develop emotional understanding, resilience and practical coping strategies.
Parent and carer support: Helping families better understand and respond to the challenges their children are facing.
Family-focused care: Recognising that supporting a child often means supporting the wider family too.
Working with schools: Helping create a more joined-up approach to supporting vulnerable children.
The model supports children and young people aged 5–25, as well as their families.
What would this look like for us as a church?
One of the things I particularly like about this model is that it brings together professional expertise and the support of a local church community.
TLG provides the qualified counsellors, clinical leadership, supervision and professional oversight. Our role as a church would be to provide welcoming premises, appropriate safeguarding arrangements and a volunteer known as a Family Champion.
The Family Champion would help families feel welcomed, valued and connected, offering a friendly point of contact and helping them navigate the support available. This is separate from the professional counselling relationship. Please let me know if this role interests you.
In other words, we wouldn't simply be providing a room for counselling. We'd be helping create a place where children and families feel supported, cared for and not alone.
What are we raising money towards?
To establish a church-hosted Therapeutic Hub, the church would need to contribute an annual £12,000 bursary fund.
This is an important part of the model. The money isn't simply going towards TLG's running costs. It would be used to help families who couldn't otherwise afford counselling to access professional support.
TLG covers the staffing and operational costs, while we provide the premises, the Family Champion and the bursary fund.
We love the idea that this could enable children and families in our local community to receive support they might otherwise struggle to access.
Although these are two quite different projects, they share something really important.
Both are about making space for people, investing in lives and putting our faith into action.
One is about creating a place where the next generation can grow, belong and discover more about God. The other is about offering practical care and professional support to children, young people and families who may be facing some really difficult circumstances.
We believe the church should be a place where people of all ages can find belonging, where the vulnerable are cared for and where our community can experience something of God's love through the way we live and serve.
That's what makes these opportunities so exciting.
Through our Gift Days, we're inviting everyone to consider how they might contribute towards making these opportunities a reality.
Every gift, large or small, can play a part in what we're hoping to achieve. Together, we have an opportunity to invest not just in buildings or programmes, but in people and their futures.
Thank you for being part of our church family, for your generosity and for helping us look towards what God might have for us in the future.
Please be praying for both of these projects. If you’re able to give you can do that here: https://www.kerith.church/windsor-renovations
Find out more about TLG and its work: Transforming Lives for Good.
Leon