Torbay United

Torbay United is dedicated to making a positive impact in our community through a range of charitable initiatives. Our mission is rooted in compassion and guided by Christian values, driving us to create a better, more nurturing world for all. We were successful recipients of a 2022/23 central government Faith New Deal Pilot Fund award seeking to help the most vulnerable people in local communities, that helped us establish core projects.

Torbay United is established as a CIO charity (registered number 1201635) to advance the Christian religion for the public benefit and to relieve poverty among people in Torbay through 1) missionary initiatives that serve to alleviate poverty in body, mind and spirit including the areas of food poverty, debt management, abuse recovery, social isolation and wellbeing; 2) prayer and evangelistic events and any other initiatives that support growth across churches of all Christian denominations; 3) volunteer opportunities in community child and youth activities. Already, we operate a social supermarket off a converted minibus, we lead a schools support network collaborating closely with local schools, staff, students, partner organisations and members of the faith community to create safe, nurturing environments, and we have hosted Christian evangelistic and discipleship events including a Christmas carols event that attracted over 1000 participants.

We operate in Torbay, the English Riviera, encompassing Torquay, Paignton and Brixham and surrounding areas. Tourism is a major industry and significant investments and rejuvenation projects are evident across the bay. Historically, Torbay enjoys the benefits of beautiful natural resources, as well as some of the challenges commonplace to many coastal towns.

We are seeking to engage multiple SWYM trainees to support the pioneering of a detached youth engagement officer (YEO) function across the bay. This role relates strongly to the schools support network, and specifically engages with the Safer Travel Partnership collaborative initiative with Stagecoach (commercial transport services provider) aimed at creating a safer environment for young people travelling across the transport network whilst breaking down cultural, generational, racial and socioeconomic barriers to cultivate spaces and places of belonging; boosting transformative journeys as we enhance processes to wholeness that embody the spirit of community and compassion. We seek God’s love and grace to underpin all we do. We are partnering closely with local youth charities already involved in detached youth work and secondary and primary schools, Torbay Council, Devon and Cornwall Police and education establishments. Much strategic network-building and scoping of the needs of schools, young people, families and teaching staff has provided a solid foundation to grow engagement. The need is acute; for many, hunger, loneliness or bullying or pressure to conform and grow up faster than ever before, mental health crises, and curating bespoke online personas all add to the complexity of daily life and we believe we have unique opportunity within Torbay to interrupt and disrupt these narratives in our young people's lives. We embrace opportunity to build empathic, authentic and consistent relationships, reaching out to the downcast, outcast and those that come last; to champion others in the playgrounds, to cultivate joy at the school gate, to seek peace in our school corridors and to promote safety on bus journeys. Design and development of a bespoke Schools Support Network App has provided data for quantifiable evidence of engagement, geo location of schools, team and red zones as informed by the local neighbourhood policing team, and Stagecoach buses, and allows for future collaboration with partners to further inform and tailor schools support. Active social media channels help tie together core messages, raise visibility and increase wider engagement. We engage widely and deeply with others across the bay to deliver joined-up, sustainable, transformative programmes of change.