Project Ideas (Introduction)
Here are some IDEAS for projects. They have worked well in other parts of the country, but are intended for GUIDANCE only. The most effective projects are ones which MEET A LOCAL NEED, whether or not they match these ideas. Please read prayerfully to gain INSPIRATION to think of a new project.
If you get an idea for a project, pray about it with others and follow the procedure under "Submit an Idea" in the sidebar on this page.
Get inspiration and encouragement by reading these quotations prayerfully.
Project Ideas (Engaging the Community)
Children
- After school clubs
- Holiday activities
- Play days
- Puppet shows or workshops
Young people
Sports initiative, e.g. Youth for Christ’s Kick Academy 10 week programme www.yfc.co.uk/kickacademy
Old People
- Organise social activities including input on e.g. prevention of falls, keeping out of hospital
- Get them out to meet others: activities e.g. scrabble, line dancing, days out, local theatre
- Visit hospitals, residential homes, older people living alone
- Take round frozen meals, prepared meals to ill or infirm
- Helping with gardening, house cleaning, decoration
People in Difficulty
- Work with vulnerable children, e.g. invite 8-12 year-olds with parents, teach children environmental skills in context of fun activities, while parents meet next door to socialise and learn parenting skills, budget management, or discuss holiday plans
- Teenage parents meet in groups while the children are supervised, to socialise and learn basic domestic skills
- Ditto for other single parents
- Activities for those with mental health problems or learning difficulties, e.g. arts and crafts
- Similar classes for people of all ages
- “ NEETS”: assistance for those Not in Education, Employment or Training
- Tonbridge Debt Advice Centre
Environment
- “Bash the Trash”: Keep e.g. a play area clean, or clear a public area - download poster (may take a while to download)
- Painting fences or gates
- Street Monitors: Report graffiti, fly-tipping, abandoned cars (e.g. when on a prayer walk)
- Establishment of/participation in Area Action Groups, Neighbourhood Watch schemes
Health and fitness
- Cookery course: cooking healthy food
- Walking Club
- Weight loss programme, e.g. WeightWatchers
- “Kick the Habit” courses: smoking, gambling, overspending
- Keep fit: aerobic and other classes
- DJs/Dance/Performing arts workshops
Social Work
- Volunteers to supervise people on Community Service Orders
- Become magistrates
- Serve on youth justice panels
- Stand for local councils
Work and Vocation, Finance
- The Heart of Success – DVD+discussion
- Love Work Live Life – book+discussion
- The Money Secret – Adult Education Course
Family and Relationships
- Romance Academy course for teenagers
- 21st Century Marriage, 21st Century Parents DVDs+discussion
- Connect 2 course for newlyweds
- Family Time course for those with young children
Social Events and Activities
- Barbecues
- Cafés
- Youth events
- Music performances
- Nail bars / beauty salons
- Street performances
Many of the above are needed in the Trench Area, one of three “priority communities” in the Tonbridge and Malling District. Lots more ideas in Hope, £2 from the Christian book Centre.
Project Ideas (Christian and Evangelistic Initiatives)
General
- Sensitivity. In all the Engaging the Community projects above, prayerfully look for the possibility of building in evangelistic opportunities, e.g. at the end of a Family and Relationships evening, have a testimony from a Christian couple. But don’t force the issue -- its OK just to be hearts and hands!
- Integrity. Hope has no hidden evangelistic agenda! So make sure people know what they are coming to. Get the right balance Don’t put people off but don’t let Hope become just another social programme. Be guided by your Church’s leadership and Hope contact group.
Prayer
- Repentance, on behalf of the nation/our town/our churches
- Prayer walks
- HOPE prayer meetings
- Preparatory prayer for Easter, Christmas and other special occasions.
- Involve your Home Group in prayer for your neighbourhood(s) and for the Hope projects members are committed to.
- Lots of prayer ideas for people of all ages in “Hope” Chapter 12 (£2 from Tonbridge Christian Book Centre, Tel 01732 364897).
Special Occasions
- New Year resolutions
- Approaching Easter: show in homes or in Church The Passion of the Christ, The Chronicles of Narnia or the Jesus film or hold a flower festival
- Passion plays. Saltmine have fast moving plays that are easy to perform.
- Holy Saturday (the evening before Easter): a service of repentance or of remembering the recently bereaved. Resources for the bereaved include A Grief Observed by CS Lewis at £6.99, When Life is Changed for Ever by Rick Taylor, and Help, my Kids are Hurting by Marv Penner, £4.99, all available from the Tonbridge Christian Book Centre
- Donate Easter eggs and other Fairtrade chocolate and deliver to children in hospital, or give them to children to take to school as “bring and share”: they bring the Easter eggs and share the Christian message of Easter (and the eggs!) in their classes
- More ideas for Easter in Easter Cracked, available from the Tonbridge Christian Book Centre, price £9.99
- Ditto for the Jewish Passover tradition Celebrating the Seder, £12.99
- Approaching Christmas: work with Social Services (via Barry Lock of the Hope Team) to find young people who will not be getting many Christmas presents. Collect and distribute.
- Samaritans Purse shoebox scheme to distribute children’s presents worldwide. www.samaritanspurse.uk.com
- Arrange with Local Radio to broadcast an interactive Carol Service.
- Sing carols in your road, outside shops, in pubs, residential homes. Don’t collect money, just bless people and give out Christmas goodies like mince pies
See the Hope calendar for townwide events