Event Highlight - City Life, Sunderland

Monday, 14 49 2012 10:49

On May the 13th, Barry was the guest speaker at Kevin and Alison Hilton’s Church, City Life in Sunderland. Barry’s first visit to this church was in 2004, and he last spoke there in 2008.

Since his last visit in 2008, they have built another building, which is attached to their existing building, and the church has gone through some significant changes in regards to the culture and style, making it a great 21st Century. The church has also grown in attendance, and they are now considering doing more building alterations to accommodate the growth.

On the day, both events were well attended and there were lots of visitors in from the surrounding area. In total there were 26 people who responded to Barry’s talks. Barry was also really encouraged to meet a respondent who had read his book while he was in prison and had come to hear Barry in person.

Barry will be returning to City Life Church in 2013.

 

C2E Schools Project Update 2012

Wednesday, 04 00 2012 12:00

At the beginning of 2011, we launched the C2E Project. The purpose of the Campaign 2 Educate (C2E) Project is to send the 'Once an Addict' Classroom Resources to every Secondary School in the UK and to educate 100,000's of students about the dangers of drugs, using Barry’s real life experiences.

Our plan has been to roll this project out in two phases. The first phase was to send the resources to the 187 schools in Greater Manchester, and the second is to send it to the remaining 4800 schools throughout the UK.

The first phase of this project is now completed, and we are now looking to secure funding so that we can proceed with phase two. The next area to receive the Once an Addict Schools Resource will be London.

For further information about this project contact: 0161 406 2052 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

 

Event Highlight - City Life, Porstmouth

Monday, 19 44 2012 13:44

On March 17th & 18th, Barry was the guest speaker at City Life Church, in Portsmouth. Dan and Laura Harman have recently been appointed as the senior leaders at this church.

The events on both days were well attended, and 28 people responded. One of Dan’s old school friends came to the Saturday night ‘meal with a message’ event and responded to Barry’s talk. The next morning Dan’s friend brought his mum and she responded too!

Also, on the Sunday, the area’s local drug dealer responded. One of his former ‘partners in crime’, called Adam, has become a Christian and attends City Life. Adam and his family have been spending time with this young man and had invited him to hear Barry speak.

Overall, the weekend went very well and the church did a great job. Barry is already looking forward to his next visit there.

 

Event Highlight - Junction 24

Monday, 20 12 2012 13:12

Each year, Barry speaks are various events, sometimes this includes new initiatives. One recent highlight was at Junction 24 Church, located in Kegworth, Leicestershire.

Junction 24 is a new church that was planted 18 months ago by Roy and Lydia Todd. They met at the Kegworth Community Centre.

On the night, Barry received a warm welcome, and was really encouraged to see the venue practically full, with the average age of the people in attendance to be around 35. These people had travelled from all over the Midlands, including residents from Betel - a drugs rehabilitation centre. The worship was lively and there was also a good response to Barry's message.

The media often says that ‘church attendance is in decline’. Of course, this is true for some churches of some denominations; however, this is not the case for all churches. From our perspective, we see that church attendance is on the increase. Junction 24 is a fine example of that.

If you live in the Midlands and you don’t have a church to go to, why not give Junction 24 a try? Check their website at www.junction24.com

 

January Prison Events 2012

Thursday, 19 15 2012 09:15

Every year, Proclaim Trust holds between 20-30 events in UK prisons, working in partnership with the prison chaplaincy. Although these are spread over the whole year, there are two specific months in our calendar where they’re given a special emphasis, and January is one of those months.

For the last three years, prisons in the South West of England and Buckinghamshire have been our focus during January. Each time we have held events in HMYOI Aylesbury, HMP Channings Wood, HMP Exeter and HMP Dartmoor. Each visit has built on the former. This year, in addition to these, Barry spoke at HMYOI Werrington in Stoke-on-Trent.

As in previous years, this year too was very productive. In total, there were 51 inmates who responded to the message of hope. There was also some engaging interaction during the questions and answers, particularly in HMP Channings Wood. Channings Wood houses two special wings – the Drug Therapeutic Unit and the Belief in Change Project. There were inmates and staff present from both wings at Barry’s talk.

One of the things that was really evident this time round was the effects that government cuts are having on the Prison Service. Since being implemented, one of the key areas they are targeting is to reduce staff, which effects the whole prison system.  

Barry will be returning to these prisons in 2013.