As the Church of England’s Diocese of Bristol declares 2009 ‘the Year of the Child’ to mark the 30th Anniversary of the United Nations International Year of the Child, one church in Wiltshire, Malmesbury Abbey, is responding to their challenge by running a youth event with a skateboard park inside the Abbey. The event, on Feb 18th - 20th 2009 is being headed up by the Rev Neill Archer and the youth team at the Abbey and also by Bristol-based Phil Williams from Christians Skaters UK, an organisation that works across the country building links between the young people of the extreme sports community and the church.
Rev Neill Archer said ‘Malmesbury Abbey is committed to young people and has employed a full-time youth worker for over 6 years, so running a youth event for two wet days in February is nothing out of the ordinary. The youth café, the live bands and the loud music, the talks on life issues won’t raise an eyebrow – but working with Christian Skaters UK is new and perhaps will be hard for some people to conceive. However I think it will be a great experience for the local skating and rollerblading community and parents will probably be pleased that their kids are hanging around in church during half term.’
The event will include beginner’s workshops, classes for girls only, competitions and demonstrations by experts. The short talks will cover issues like relationships, having a goal in life, and making good choices now for the future.
As the Church Council developed the project and it was agreed that to protect the building the abbey floor will be covered in two layers of timber and the pillars wrapped in padding. The flooring is being delivered for free by Glory Road Ministries, a network of Christian truckers across the UK.
Phil Williams commented ‘Malmesbury Abbey is an amazing venue and we’ll be bringing volunteers from across the UK to help out. We hope local skaters and their friends will get involved and we hope it makes a positive difference to young people’s lives.
Revd Neill Archer added ‘From my perspective the bottom line is that God loves young people and anything we can do that nudges our young people to realise that they are a valued and respected part of our community is helpful. I’m glad the Abbey is flexible enough to accommodate this – I wish the monks were around to see it.’
CONTACT Rev Neill Archer
01666 823126
neill@malmesburyabbey.com



