LIGHTBOX: For Young People

Welcome to Lightbox.

What is Lightbox?

We simply want to create space for young people aged 11-18, enabling them to connect with others, to rest and have fun and helping them see how they add value & know their worth, in community. We run drop-ins and pop-ups across the city as well as hosting spaces in schools and colleges.  Lightbox also plays a part in stewarding and creating events for young people, in collaboration with charities and organisations who support them.

 What will a Ligthbox Drop-In look like?

Each Lightbox will be slightly different depending on where it is but they will all simply have:

-        someone to talk to

-        ways to engage with friends (games/activities/challenges)

Who runs it?

Lightbox is overseen by local churches across Worcester and comes under the All Saints Worcester CofE Charity number. 

Safeguarding:

Safeguarding young people is a priority. Our safeguarding policy can be seen upon request.

All team members carry a full DBS certificate for working with young people.

Any safeguarding concerns should be reported to Lightbox safeguarding lead – Joanne Oates.

Why does lightbox exist?

Funding for youth work across the UK has dropped over the last decade. A report by YMCA explains, “In 2010/11, spend per head on youth services in England was £182 (£1.46bn in total), but more than ten years later, there has been a real-terms decline of 73% to just £45 (£392m) in 2021/22.”  Many youth centres have been closed or have had huge funding cuts and detached youth services seem to be desperate for more help.

Alongside this we have seen an increase in mental health problems. An NHS survey shows that one in six children aged five to 16 were identified as having a mental health problem in July 2021, a huge increase from one in nine in 2017. Inevitably this has escalated due to the coronavirus pandemic. 

Statistics also show an obvious correlation between technological advances/social media interaction and anxiety and mental health problems within young people. The barrage of online noise, the passive, disconnected plethora of voices are having a significant impact on the way young people see themselves and how they feel they can interact with others. 

On the other hand, many churches are desperately looking for youth workers, they are specifically building youth provision into their budgets and want to connect with the next generation but don’t necessarily know how. The church of England has seen a large decrease in numbers of young people attending their churches over the last decade and want to do something to change that. The church as a body is also full of volunteers: people wanting to give their time to serve their community.  It seems that the church has a part to play in providing space for young people and that it may have the resources to do so.   

It’s important to realise we are in a specific cultural moment, where young people are engaging with life and faith in multiple dimensions; in-person and online, but that doesn’t mean they are dramatically different to you and I when we were teenagers.  They are simply wanting to belong, to play their part, to be known, loved and seen.  We, as the church, can’t shy away from saying ‘we have the answer!’ and playing our part in providing spaces for young people to connect.