I am now into week 8 of my role as Police Community Youth Pastor (PCYP) at East to West (www.easttowest.org.uk) in Egham, Surrey and I am becoming more and more impressed by the amount of partnership working around Runnymede - the North Western Borough of Surrey.
This week I have been to Runnymede Borough Council's 'Single Group for Young Peoples Services' meeting and the Community Incident Action Group (CIAG) meeting. It is really inspiring to see how so many different agencies (including YDS, YJS, the Police, Social Services, County Council, Borough Council and others) are working together and pooling their resources to improve the community.
On Wednesday afternoon I had coffee with a guy who works with a Christian youth work charity in a neighbouring borough, which has a very similar purpose to East to West. It was really exciting to hear about what they're doing, but even more exciting to see how the conversation developed and the excitement about working together to improve and multiply our work. In the evening I helped lead a meeting with local young people to find out how they feel about their local area and to discuss what facilities they'd like to see in their area. I was very pleasantly surprised by the number of young people that attended, and especially by the positive way they engaged with the agencies in attendance (YJS, YDS, Police, myself and other community members).
I feel like I have arrived at a really exciting time for youth work in the area. There seem to be lots of great ideas bubbling up in different areas, but they are all starting to combine. I just hope they come to fruition.
Keep reading this blog for further updates, and don't forget to check out my Twitter page (www.twitter.com/eghampcyp).
Also, East to West are now recruiting for a PCYP in Windsor! Contact me for more details or for an application form.
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