All of SAYT’s work is built around developing long term relationships. We seek to come alongside and support young people through what can be an incredibly turbulent period of their lives. We listen non-judgmentally and seek to model God’s love every day in every situation.
The main bulk of our work can be split into four main categories:
Detached Work
By detached work, we mean we’re not seeking to bring young people to where we are, rather we go out to where they are, such as streets and parks. For years, SAYT has been involved in detached work, originally at Greatness Park, but now more regularly are Kemsing as that is where some young people now meet and where we can found every Thursday night, where we spend time hanging out with the young people there. We also bring along a minibus, which provides some shelter during the harsh winter months, and we serve hot chocolate and cakes to those who want it. All of this forms part of our aim of developing long term relationships and showing God’s love through our words and actions. We do see some of the same people form our schools work which again builds relationships.
We can also be found in Sevenoaks’ Youth Cafe, “House in the Basement”, which is located beneath the Stag Theatre in the centre of town. We’re normally there on Wednesday nights, and again it’s a great way to meet new people as well as build on existing relationships in a relaxed and informal atmosphere.
School’s Work
We currently run schools clubs in Knole Academy and Trinity School. These clubs are a great way for us to meet new people, build on exisiting relationships and come alongside young people in the environment they spend so much of their time in.
We run games clubs which focus on building relationships at both schools and at Knole we have had the opportunity to run a club called Route66 which is an opportunity to explore faith based issues.We also lead assemblies at various schools around the area (please let us know if you’d like us to speak at your school!).
Mentoring
As we have built trust with the young people as we meet at both school and at detached we are able to work with young people one to one, and so our workers will sometimes invite those we know out for coffee or lunch. This allows the young person the freedom to talk about whatever they wish, without fear of being embarrassed or shown up in front of their peers. One-to-one sessions practically always happen in public places to avoid any safeguarding issues.
Special Events
We have been known to take young people on trips to various Christian events including (but not limited to) Soul Survivor, Big Church Day Out and Solid. We always try and arrange informal social evenings whenever we can and during the summer organise a informal programme such as a trip to the seaside, skateboarding, creative or sporting projects.