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Rm1 End of Year Report

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Rm1 grew out of a consultation carried out by the extended schools network with parents and students at Coombe Boys  School where the need for after school provision was discussed. At junior school level after-school care is often available but this was not replicated when the young people went to secondary. Oxygen were brought in to run the project for year 7 &  8 students, 3pm – 5.30pm, 5 nights a week. The project aims to provide a safe space for the young people to chill, study and play. Alongside the Rm1 leader Kate Davies, gap year workers and volunteers work to build relationships and encourage participation in activities. Rm1 also acts as a signpost to other activities in the area. An end of year one Rm1 report is now available to download from here the Oxygen website.

Tags: rm1, oxygen, kingston yfc, coombe boys school

Staff Recruitment Update

It has been a busy term as we have sought to complete the appointment of our Gap year Workers as well as work with our partners to appoint workers at St Peters Norbiton and the YMCA.

This process now approaches it conclusion in the next 10 days. We have a couple of GAP year interviews taking place this week and then interviews with St Peters and the YMCA this week and next.

Please do pray for us as we make the significant appointments. Pray particularly for the appointments running the Rm1 Project in Hollyfield and the church workers at ST Peters. These project leaders will play a vital role in leading and directing Oxygen’s work in the year ahead.

More on the St Peters post here

More on the Rm1, YMCA post here

Boroughthon 2008

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It started at 10.30 and finished just before 6pm, it lasted around 20 miles and involved many sore feet and sweaty people.

It was the the Oxygen 2008 Boroughthon involved the Oxygen team, volunteers and young people spanning the entire length, breadth and width of the Borough to visit the site of each of the Oxygen projects in Kingston Borough. This video gives you snapshots of some of our walk, without any shots of developing blisters

Borough-thon 27th May

To mark the first seven successful years of their work with young people and to help fund work in the next seven, myself and a group of Oxygen staff, gap workers and volunteers are going to undertake the mammoth task of visiting each of the 18 Oxygen projects in just 7 hours.

Leaving the Oxygen centre at 10am,we will head out to the Cambridge Estate, Kingsnympton Estate, Richmond Park, Kingston Vale, North Kingston, Kingston town Centre, Surbiton town centre, the Alpha Estate, Tolworth Girls School, Hook’s Devon Way Youth Centre, Chessington Methodist Church, Venner Youth Centre, Coombe Boys School, New Malden High Street, Kingston Road, before arriving back at Oxygen by 5pm . Altogether we will cover around 20 miles as they span the entire width of Kingston Borough.

Would you consider making a donation towards our sponsored efforts via:
http://www.justgiving.com/boroughthon

All donations are secure and sent electronically to Oxygen. If you are a UK taxpayer, Justgiving will automatically reclaim 28% Gift Aid on your behalf, so your donation is worth even more. 

Thanks and best wishes,

Richard

The 2008 Borough Community Road Shows

The Kingston Borough Community Road Shows are RBK organised events intended to reach out to the local community to promote services and important issues and they are looking for groups to come along and be involved. They are looking for a wide range of services and organizations for families with children and young people aged 0-19 to be available with activities, goodies and details about their service.

Following the great success of last years Road Show events across the borough, the Extended School Managers are pleased to announce details of the 2008 Road Shows. The details of the dates and venues for this years road shows are:

• Tuesday 24th June 2008, Alexandra Recreation Ground, Surbiton
• Friday 27th June 2008, Dinton Fields, St Agatha’s Drive, Kingston
• Wednesday 2nd July 2008, Dickerage Adventure Playground, Dickerage Lane, New Malden
• Thursday 3rd July 2008, Churchfields, off Compton Crescent, Chessington

The road shows will run after school, 3.00-6.00pm with set up from 1.30pm. There is no cost for being involved. It would be great for us as Oxygen to work with churches in each area to promote the work underway in that location. In addition to working with Oxygen, any group who wish to run their own stall would find themselves coming into contact with children, young people and families from across the community.

For more information on this great event and Oxygen's input contact Richard James on 020 8547 0566 or email richard@oxygen-online.org

Tea and Cakes @ Rm1

Old fashioned family time has become one of the highlights of Oxygen's all new Rm1 project at Coombe Boys School in recent months. Each week those young people who are coming gather in the room straight after school and takes their first 1/2 hour to run off their energy, as they play pool, computer games or simply RELAX on the Rm1 sofa. But this post school energetic hyperactivity soon comes to an end and these emerging teenagers are then often found in the kitchens with the Oxygen workers, making cakes, buttering toast and preparing tea that can then be brought in to the Rm1 tables which they and the Oxygen workers gather round for a daily catch up, talking about the news from the day. 

So if you were to spy on Rm1 on most weekday evenings you would find groups of young people and Oxygen workers exchanging stories of frustration and hope, as they eat toast and cake and drink tea and juice. For those of a previous generation who find themselves confused by contemporary youth culture, here is a message of good news. The old fashioned ways of eating and talking together are making their way back and being seen as the some of the most powerful connectors with today’s young people!So if you are interested in sharing tea and cakes with pupils at Rm1 then we would love to hear from you. These young people would love someone to sit and chat with. Age is not important although we would love to increase our ‘more senior’ volunteers!  

Simply email us so we can talk to you about helping out, and who knows we could all be eating your favourite cakes at Rm1 soon!  

   

Oxygen is now on Facebook

Oxygen is now on Facebook. Here we have posted the pictures from thevent as well as news of forthcoming events. Become our friend by clicking here:  

   

 

Oxygen towards 2012!

You are invited to the evening launch of the Oxygen 2008-12 Strategic Plan due to be held at St Peters Church, London Road, Kingston at 8pm on Thursday April 24th 2008. It was in 2001 when the churches of the Royal Borough of Kingston came together through their young people to launch a new local charity that they subsequently named Oxygen. Now just six years after it was launched Oxygen has run over thirty different projects, has been in contact with over 4,500 young people and has been the springboard for many new and exciting initiatives around the Borough including Rm1, Street Pastors and Sacred Space Kingston.

Building on the great foundation established in the last few years the staff and trustees of Oxygen have conducted a comprehensive consultation and review of Oxygen, its work, its role and the opportunities that there are to make a long term difference in the lives of those young people who need the greatest support. The results of this review and the subsequent exciting plans for Oxygen’s work over the next 4 years are going to be unveiled for the first time at this special launch event which we hope you are able to come to. Our event will last for 1½ hours and will start with a review of Oxygen up to followed by the Oxygen 2006-7 AGM and a time of thankful worship. After this review of the past, we will move onto the future by giving a presentation summarising the plans and strategic aims for the next 4 years. The issues raised in the presentation will be used then for a time of prayer. Following this and over coffee there will then be a chance for questions and an opportunity to look around various displays and meet different people involved in Oxygen's work in different areas including the Borough wide detached youthwork project Urban Nites, the Extended School club Rm1 and the town centre initiative Street Pastors.

We do hope you are able to join us at this unique day, please feel free to invite anyone you think would benefit from coming as we are excited about what God is doing amongst young people in this area and as such what are our plans to respond to that in the years ahead.

Oxygen Dec 2007 Prayer Letter

The 2007 prayer letter, written by the GAP Team, aims to keep you up to date with what is happening in the different areas around the Borough where Oxygen is working. We hope that it inspires you to continue to pray for us and for the work amongst young people.

Download it from here

New Rm1 Members

Letters have recently been sent ut to selected young people who have been identified by the school or Rm1 staff as being someone who might particularly benefit from to club. Please pray that these would be well received and that Rm1 would gain extra members as a result.

Kate

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