oxygennews

Boroughthon 2009

The Oxygen Boroughthon is a chance to raise money to support Oxygen taking the young people it works with away on “One Big Weekend”. Taking place on May 1st -3rd, One Big Weekendis a residential organised by Oxygen comprising of a range of challenges and team games designed to help young people to grow physically, mentally and spiritually.
To help with the costs of taking these young people away, Oxygen are walking the Boroughthon. Taking place on Saturday April 4th 2009, the Boroughthon is a sponsored challenge whereby Oxygen workers, volunteers and friends aim to walk to everyone of the Oxygen projects in just 7 hours. To achieve this they will need to cover around 20 miles come rain or shine and will endure blisters, tiredness and angry road drivers!

Please consider sponsoring us in this activity: http://www.justgiving.com/boroughthon2009

Oxygen 2009 Showcase and Awards Evening

The 2009 Showcase and Awards Evening was a chance to see and recognise the young people that Oxygen had worked with.

Held at the Cornerhouse theatre, Surbiton and attended by 120 people from across the area, the event celebrated and recognised the achievements of over 30 young people. Awards included an award for Community Service to 16 year old Charlie Mansfield of Malden Manor, Outstanding Young Achievement to Callum Pickering of Coombe Boys School and Contribution to the Community to the Cambridge Estate Rock Solid Club.

Also recognised throughout the evening were Oxygen’s Rm1 young leaders and Jack Petchey award winners.

As well as a range of awards the evening featured Beatboxing, street dancing and Band performances. Speaking about the evening, Oxygen Director Richard James said, “it was such a privilege to see the young people we know and have worked with celebrated in this way. Young people are so often undervalued for their energy, creativity and volume! These Oxygen showcase and awards evenings shows that young people have so much to offer!”.

thenext thecalling

Advance notice that the next calling remixed will be on the 17th of May at 6pm, with a change of venue from Christ Church New Malden to the basement in Kingston. 
Further information including the flyer will be sent in the upcoming weeks. For more information contact Andy Norris on andy.norris@oxygen-online.org

April 9^th – 10^th Oxygen, in partnership with Kingston & Wimbledon YMCA invite you to come and look around the recently redecorated youth café, the basement, whilst joining us as we pray through the night.

Starting at 8pm on Maundy Thursday, we will be holding an all night prayer vigil, following in the path of Jesus as he prayed through the night as he approached his arrest and crucifixion. Our prayer vigil will finish at 10am on Good Friday as we head out to the Easter Holidays and the celebration of Jesus' resurrection.

If you would like to join us for anytime at the basement on the night of Thursday 9^th or the morning of the 10^th, then please do get in touch. We would love to see lots of people coming through, staying, praying and joining in at this time of Christian remembrance.

New Oxygen Mailing Lists

Oxygen has recently updated the mailing lists that you can subscribe to. We want make sure that you can get the information you want from us, without being deluged with updates on things you aren't interested in.

Why not visit our subscription page and check your subscription to:

1. Enews: a monthly newsletter with press release and pictures about Oxygen progress
2. Monday Prayer Mailings: A weekly email with stories from the team and prayer requests
3. Eventnews: A monthly email with dates, times and locations of Oxygen's forthcoming big events.
4. Infuse news: a termly email with statistics, resources and publications related to youth work, ministry and Christian Mission.

 

 

A worker at St Johns Kingston Vale needs your prayer!

Last year at the Oxygen AGM we launched the plan of going deeper with the young people we work with. We want our relationships with young people to take us and them on a journey of discovering and following Jesus. What was important in this journey was the partnership with local churches. Seeking to connect the work we did in the community back into the local faith community.

To achieve this connection we set the challenge of establishing five new going deeper communities. Working with churches in specific location to appoint external youthworkers who can work on the fringes of the church and reach out to bring young people back.

One year on we have two going workers in place and we are working with St Johns Kingston Vale to appoint a third. Following a successful diocesan grant application St Johns are looking to appoint a Youth worker to take on the coordination and development of the church’s outreach and discipling youthwork. The appointed person will be given the challenge of building on the mission links already being established between local young people and the church. The aim will be to encourage those young people in the community who have started to make connections with the church to take these further and involve their friends.

Please do pray for this work and in particular this post, we are finding it hard to appoint someone. We are looking for God to bring the right person to us, and us to the right person. The post is offered at 10 hours per week during term time and so would suit someone seeking flexible working conditions. Deadline for applications is the 2nd April 2009.

Debbie Garden - A week in a list!

Debbie, Oxygen's Senior Youthworker has provided us the latest week in a list. Debbie works tirelessly supporting the team as MIND THE GAP leader, directing the youthwork as Senior Youthworker and also now looking at working in partnership with St Paul's Kingston Hill to look at how together we can develop an exciting long term, impacting work on the Kingsnympton Estate.

Monday
10.30 Staff prayer meeting
13.30 Filling in for one of the volunteers at ID@Tolworth
16.30 Catch up meeting with Jonathan, YMCA’s youth work director
18.30 Basement planning meeting

Tuesday
10.00 Team time with the MTG team – looking at knowing our purpose
15.00 The Basement Café and book club

Wednesday
11.00 Catch up meetings with Clare, our youth work student, and with various members of the MTG team
15.00 Visit to Rm1@Coombe to observe the team in action

Thursday
9.30 Fundraising meeting with Richard and Sarah
10.30 Planning meeting with Richard
12.30 Lunch and good practice discussion with the Going Deeper workers

Friday
10.00 Team time with the MTG team
19.30 thevent@thebasement

Sunday
17.00 The Calling

Cambridge is Coming.....

Four years ago we saw the departure of former Gap year worker Sylvester Liyanage to Ridley Hall in Cambridge. Now not only has Sylvester returned to curacy in Kingston, but now he is being followed by some former friends who are coming here to help us out!

Between Saturday March 28th and April 5th Oxygen in partnership with CMS & Christchurch New Malden are welcoming seven Ridley Hall ordinands are coming to spend a week involved with Oxygen, Street Pastors & the churches work with the homeless community. In addition to a range of local experiences the participating ordinands will have a chance to engage with a high quality teaching and seminar programme that will explore gospel & culture, cross cultural communication and global understandings of mission & evangelism.

Activities will include detached youthwork, after school clubs, homeless people lunches and walking the streets with Street Pastors Kingston. In addition to the practical activities there will be four teaching blocks during which the theology and practices of mission, evangelism and cross cultural communication will be explored. Time will also be spent with the leadership of Christchurch New Malden, understanding how they are seeking to do church for an emerging generation.

Please pray for the plans for this mission, pray for Christchurch, Oxygen and CMS leading this work
Pray also for the impact of this students, pray that they would help us move the work forward with Kingstons young people

Mentoring with Oxygen

We have confirmed the date for the latest rescheudled Oxygen mentoring training it will now take place on 18th April between 9 and 11.30am at thebasement, John Bunyan Church, Kingston. If you are interested in being a mentor either for Oxygen or your own church then this is an event you should consider being a part of.

The need for mentoring training has arisen because Oxygen is increasingly being approached about providing one to one support for some of RBK's young people. The young people we are being asked to meet with come with a wide range of needs, from simply wanting someone to talk to through to self harm and difficult home situations. In addition are aware that various churches across the Borough would like to offer mentoring to their own young people, looking to provide one to one support to members of their youthwork programmes.

With this in mind we have developed a new mentoring scheme that can run acorss Kingtston, with mentors providing support in and outside church. We have consolidated the mentoring training into one training session. During this active, packed session will give you an idea of the principles and practicalities of mentoring and as a result release you into mentoring in the future. We will also include prposals on how mentoring could be established in your own church context.

If you are interested in joining us for this session please let us know...

Friday Nights at thebasement

Feb 27th 2009 saw the first pilot of an Oxygen Friday Night event at the YMCA and Oxygen run youth venue known as the basement in central Kingston. This first event was a bands night featuring local talent, mountainous hot chocolate and conversation.

You can check out the photos on our Flick Page