<strong>Students and young adults to be reached as part of £9 million funding package for mission</strong>

Tens of thousands of students and young people who may never have been to church before are to be reached by the Church of England with the message of the Christian faith as part of a £9 million funding programme for mission projects across the country, it was announced today.

Church of England parishes are to form new congregations aimed at reaching young adults and students in Leeds and Huddersfield in West Yorkshire, Blackburn in Lancashire and coastal areas of Paignton in Devon and Brighton and Hove in east Sussex.

A series of grants to help fund the projects has been awarded as part of the Church of England’s programme of Renewal and Reform.

The Church of England’s National Youth Evangelism Officer, Jimmy Dale, welcomed the investment in work with students and young people.

He said: “It is so exciting to see the church engaging with students and young people in a way that historically, we have often fallen short. Young people – the ‘Generation Z’ of 11 to 25 year olds - have faced enormous challenges as a result of the pandemic, not just socially and financially but educationally and with regards to mental health. The message of the good news of Jesus Christ offers this generation a real beacon of hope.”

A grant of £1.5 million has been awarded to the Diocese of Leeds to help expand its outreach to students with a new Sunday afternoon church based in the student area of Hyde Park in Leeds and aimed at those who have never been to church before.

Church@HydeParkCorner, centred on St Augustine’s Church, will expand its reach through social media and activities and events for students studying at universities in the city.

In Huddersfield, ‘Holy Trinity at 6’ will be formed on Sunday evenings at Holy Trinity Church in the town, building on links with Huddersfield University to reach students and other young adults, the majority of whom have no previous experience of church attendance.

A grant of £3.5 million has been made to the Diocese of Blackburn to develop St Luke’s Blackburn and St John’s Blackpool as centres of mission and support to other churches in the diocese. St Luke’s will work with young people and promote youth ministry across the diocese while St John’s Church will have a strong focus on social outreach.

The Diocese of Exeter has been awarded £1.5 million for outreach work along the English Riviera area of Devon, including the new Bay Church, which will be based at St Andrew’s in Paignton. There are plans for a new youth congregation and at least three more family and youth based congregations throughout Torbay.

In Chichester Diocese, a £2.5 million grant has been awarded to All Saints Hove to create a centre for mission, and to St Peter’s Brighton, to develop four new church congregations. These churches will help support the work of churches across the city, through leadership development, social action and youth and children's ministry.

Funding has also been awarded for work based at St Paul’s Church, Slough, supporting social outreach, training of lay ministers and intercultural work in the Oxford Diocese.