Fantastic News! This week St Thomas' Church was awarded a grant of £5,000 to support the amazing work going on with children, young people and families. It's a very timely and exciting offer of support from the Cooper & Jordan Trust, and we are hugely grateful to them for catching the vision we have at St T's for this work.

The grant breaks down as follows:

• £3,000 to pay for the resources we need for 6 months of work with children, young people and families. With 500 through the doors every month this equates to a budget of just £1 per head.
• £1,200 to pay for refitting the old kitchen and turn it into a proper storage area for all the children's resources we need (books, dvd's, craft materials, etc).
• £500 for specialised pre-school musical instruments for the mid-week activities.
• £300 for an Xbox360 + games + controllers primarily for pathfinders.

£5,000 sounds like a lot of money, and in truth it is, but equally it will very quickly be spent on this vibrant and growing ministry.

We HAVE to make children's and youth work not just 'a' top priority within the life of St Thomas', but THE TOP PRIORITY within the life and ministry of St Thomas'. It just HAS to be. Every child we minister to represents a whole family being ministered to. Parents can't worship God easily unless their children are happy and flourishing within the church too. Both the present and the future relies on this ministry continuing to grow and develop. The grant from Cooper and Jordan gives us 6 months to ensure that we do this properly, and sustainably.

Please pray that we can use this money wisely and create a new structure and foundation to this most important area of the life of the church. Thank you!