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The Norfolk and Norwich Christian community website

Christian event to get 3000 on Norwich streets

NewDaySocial12009: This summer will see between 2000–3000 Christian youngsters from all over the UK converge on the streets of Norwich and Norfolk for a week of community-based social action projects.
 
The young people will be part of the Newday event taking place at the Norfolk Showground between August 1–6. The Christian event will see around 6000 young people gather at the Showground for worship, teaching, music gigs and social action and will take place here for the next three years.
 
Some of the social action projects planned include: running skate parks, free car washes, holiday clubs for senior citizens, kids holiday clubs, cafes, fun days, litter picking, fence painting, garden tidying and rubbish clearance. These projects will take place in various areas of the city and county, working in collaboration with the Police and Council in some areas.
 
Joel Virgo, from the Newday team explains: “We want to give young people the opportunity to roll their sleeves up and get their hands dirty and really show something of the love of God in practical ways. That can involve all kinds of things; clearing up litter, tidying up, clearing up neighbourhoods.”
 
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Several of these social action projects will take place in the Mile Cross and Catton areas of the city where the young people will be getting their hands dirty, putting their faith into action. Tasks include litter picking; garden clearance; grass cutting and weeding; fence painting; clearing up and tidying community areas such as Pointersfield and Peterson Park and chatting to local residents.
 
These projects are hosted by King’s Community Church, Norwich in partnership with the Police and local council. Police Inspector Marie James from the Mile Cross, Catton and Fiddlewood Safer Neighbourhood Team gave her reaction;
 
“We are fully supporting the work which the youths will be carrying out within the neighbourhood. It shows that not all youngsters cause trouble and anti-social behaviour and are willing to work hard and give something back to the community. I am sure the residents will appreciate the all the hard work they will be putting in over the course of the five days.”
 
There are many other community-based social action projects taking place all over Norfolk the same week. These include free community car-washes, kids clubs, seniors holiday clubs, fun days, and cafes, hosted by various churches around the county. For more information about these projects visit www.thisislife.org.uk. The Newday team would be pleased to hear from any community groups that would like to see similar projects happening in their area over the next three years, contact projects@thisislife.org.uk

The Newday event has spent the last three years at Uttoxeter Racecourse near Derby where the last event saw around 3000 youngsters converge on the city of Derby in bright red T-shirts (pictured right and above) to take part in various social action projects. Graham Pyman, leader of a Derby church, summed up the impact on local communities:
 
“It was a great privilege working with thousands of dynamic teenagers for a week in the summer. We were amazed at the enthusiasm and energy of the youngsters. These guys gave themselves wholeheartedly to some pretty stretching projects that required a whole load of hard work and dedication. Many thousands of people benefited from tidied gardens, improved public spaces, footpaths cleared, kids clubs run and youth events held.”
 
If there are any community groups that feel they would benefit from partnering with Newday on projects like these around Norwich and Norfolk over the next three years we’d love to hear from you. We’d also love to receive any feedback from communities that are helped during the week long event this August.
 
For more information about Newday outreach projects please email newday@kings-norwich.com
 

 

., 29/07/2009

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