Yeovil Community Church

Yeovil Community Church (YCC) formerly known as Preston Chapel and Preston Christian Fellowship has been active in and around the town of Yeovil in Somerset, UK, for just over a century. Whilst we are not formally linked with any specific denomination, we are totally committed to working in partnership with other congregations in the area.

Create (formerly Urban warriors) started out in 2004 as a gap year project aimed at training gap year students in youth work and schools work and engaging them in youth work across the town. It has since then grown and developed and has become a programme, which not only attracts gap year students but also people who are prepared to commit to 2, 3 and 4 years of volunteering and training to bring hope and restoration to the youth and children of Yeovil.

Do see the Create website: http://www.thisiscreate.com or our Church website: http://www.yeovilcommunitychurch.co.uk/ for more info.

Create is a space where people who are passionate about exploring creativity can express who God is through the arts. We believe God is a creative God, this is revealed through everything we see around us. From the smallest animal to the greatest oceans and largest mountains all creation reveals his glory. We are the image bearers of God, made to reflect and reveal him. When we create, sing, dance, design and communicate we are fulfilling who we are made to be. We are passionate about living life to the full, encountering God and being transformed. As we do this we invite people to create, sing, dance and design with us.

We are made up of volunteers from all over the world people come to serve for a year or more to work with the young people of Yeovil, working on developing self-esteem, giving young people a chance to achieve and be transformed.

Working in partnership with schools, local authorities and local churches on the skateparks, running drop-in’s, youth groups, mentoring and creative academies, giving young people a chance to achieve and showing them they are important and valued they have a chance to succeed and be all they were created to be.

Create has evolved out of Urban warriors which started out in 2004 as a gap year project aimed at training gap year students in youth work and schools work and engaging them in youth work across the town. Since then it grew and developed and became a program, which not only attracts gap year students but also people who are prepared to commit to 2, 3 and 4 years of volunteering and training to bring hope and restoration to the youth and children of Yeovil.

We aim to meet practical, spiritual, emotional and physical needs in the community and inspire this generation to become a generation of change, hope and love. Passionate about raising self-esteem, giving young people the opportunities to achieve and explore their creativity.

We were also are keen to provide teenagers with positive role models who encourage them, listen to them, and support them. Therefore we provided a link between school and social life, giving students opportunities to express themselves, discuss issues that affect them, be creative, have fun and relax. We do this by working in schools alongside the pastoral and behavioural departments and providing mentoring, small group work, one on one work and classroom support. Besides that we provide special focus days, breakfast, lunchtime and after school clubs, and assemblies.

This is all supported by out of school involvement including youth groups, camps and holidays, events, different academies like rock academy, pop academy, dance academy and football academy, media training, detached work and drop-ins.

We are passionate about social justice, social inclusion, social responsibility, and social grace. As Christians we are not prepared to stand back while people are disadvantaged, downtrodden, disaffected, disinterested and disconnected.

Create is passionate about people and about God. Going against the flow, not conforming to social stereotyping and fighting against apathy and ignorance.

Create is an evolution of the Urban Warriors team, a volunteer youth work team based at Yeovil Community Church for the last 10 years meeting the needs of the local community through schools work, drop-in’s, detached work, youth groups, mentoring, camps, trips and much more. In the last few years we have seen a breakdown in local resources and youth work for young people and have been part of the solution with other agencies and community groups. Some of the most exciting and transformative work we have done through this period has been based around running creative academies, music and media programs designed to help young people express themselves and achieve a skill they have not had access to before. We have seen young people with behavioral issues; no self-esteem, communication issues and more express themselves through music or media. This creativity and expression leads them to feel alive and have hope this is because they are fulfilling who they are meant to be – creative.

We are a team of musicians, designers, photographers, dancers and more to engage with our local community, express what God is doing in and through us, and explore God’s heart for worship.

Yeovil is large town with 3 secondary schools and a good sized shopping centre, leisure centre and parks. The town is surrounded by country side and villages. We are located centrally and the town has many social issues.

We aim to meet practical, spiritual, emotional and physical needs in the community and inspire this generation to become a generation of change, hope and love.