Bar N Bus in Thurrock
The Thurrock Bar 'n' Bus Project
Reaching Young people on the Thurrock's streets with God's Love Bar 'N' Bus Trust operations Manager: Stuart Christian 01268 793331 stuchristian@barnbus.org.uk Bar 'N' Bus @ Thurrock Teams' Co-ordinator: Tim Harrold 07929 878089 / 01375 372726 tim@transformationthurrock.com We also provide a counselling service to local secondary schools which means we can provided young people with one to one support. Our aims are:
 Reaching out...
...by sharing our Christian views and life values with the young people on the streets.
...by providing a strong link between local church groups and the young people in the community. ...by providing a safe environment for young people to gather and meet with their friends.
...by helping young people who face difficult and challenging issues in their lives.
Educating...
...by helping young people to think about the right choices in life from an informed point of view.
...by running 'Making Anger Positive' courses in schools, this helps to educate young people in how to deal with negative anger and how to control it.
Supporting...
...by providing a listening ear to young people they are able to share the ups and downs of life with people who truly care and want to listen. This then helps young people togain a sense of purpose, value, and self confidence.
Encouraging...
...by challenging and encouraging young people to find alternatives to the cultures of drugs, alcohol, sex and crime.
...by showing an interest in the lives of young people, we are able to encourage them in areas such as schooling, further education, job-seeking, employment and all other aspects of everyday life.
Training...
...by providing training for all our workers in issues such as youth culture, listen skills & child protection, this helps to equip our volunteers to have the confidence to reach out to their local young people.
...by offering 'Peer counselling' training to young people in schools, we are able to help them form friendship with other peers and then to support them in the issues that they face. Our History…
Our founder writes, “It really all started when I regularly noticed young people hanging about in groups, on street corners, not only in the summer, but also in the winter too. They were a nuisance, and often in trouble, and liked to hang around in large groups. People found this threatening, and the police would often turn up and move them on. I would listen to people, often joining in myself, who would complain about them, but we were not prepared to do anything to help! Drugs, alcohol, crime and vandalism, what are kids getting up to these days? It was never like this when I was young.” A group of church youth leaders got together and decided to do something about the problem. We thought that if these young people would not come to us, we had better go to them, and what better way than a double decker bus, customised and made to look credible, with a team of Christian volunteers made up from the local churches working on the bus for the kids to talk too.
With this vision, the Bar ‘N’ Bus Trust mobile bus project was founded. Our aim was to offer a healthy environment for young people to relax, talk and get help, to model positive Christian life values as an alternative to the street culture of drugs, alcohol, crime and vandalism. We purchased and converted a double decker bus and in 1993 our first mobile bus team was launched along Southend Seafront. 1993 1st Mobile bus team launched on Southend Seafront
1994 School Workers programme launched 1998 Drug Advice programme launched 1999 Schools Counselling programme launched 2001 Southend Seafront Centre opened 2003 Mentoring established and the 10th mobile bus team launched in Basildon 2005 Partnership initiative established Prayer is so important. I am sure that everyone of you will agree, and I know that many of you pray for the work of Bar 'N' Bus, so thank you for your prayers. Without your prayers, the bus teams and the counsellors could not do the wprk they do. You may not have realised it but because you pray you have one of the most important parts to play in our fight against the enemy. Our battle is not against the drugs and the alcohol that some young people get themselves into, but it is against the powers of this world's darkness. So please continue to stand with us in prayer. For this reason I have written the bus team reports wach with prayer points and with a note of giving thanks. Please pray for the work of Bar 'N' Bus continually.  Bar ‘N’ Bus exists to support and equip churches in their outreach to young people in South East Essex. Through the use of Double Decker buses, we are able to provide relevant up-to-date resources, experience and expertise to enable churches and individuals to reach out to young people in and around their local communities. We aim to achieve this by forming partnerships with local churches.
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