About Us
Our Vision, Story, Values and TeamOur Vision
Our team is passionate about creating safe spaces for young people to encounter God’s love in a way that transforms their lives and equips them to reach their potential.
Our Mission
We partner with local churches to create safe spaces in schools, parks, churches and communities. These spaces provide opportunities for young people to encounter God through drop-ins, workshops, worship nights and camps, all done through relational community. As Christians youth workers, we’re especially passionate about sharing the story of Jesus with young people who may have no connection with church.
Our Story
In 2016 churches across Winchester came together to run the ‘Tent on the Green’ Festival outside the Cathedral. Motivated by the joy of working together and by the Christian faith we hold in common, the youth leaders agreed to continue collaborating on initiatives for the benefit of young people in the area. As a team, we believe that God wants to meet with young people to give them abundant life and we are committed to spreading this message like ‘Wildfire’ to the next generation.
In April 2023 we received charity status, reflecting the growth of the project and its vision. Today, we continue to collaborate, bringing churches together with a heart to reach young people. Our staff team works together with the wider network of youth leaders to run projects in schools and communities in the local area. The safe spaces we create include, youth drop-ins, courses for girls and boys, residentials, detached youth work and city-wide youth events.
The future looks bright as we seek to work with more young people, train more leaders, start new initiatives and see more communities set alight with hope.
Our Values
Our aim is to reach as many young people as possible with the message of Jesus. The following values underpin all we do, reflecting our ethos and method of working…
Relational Youth Work
All our projects have the young people’s interests at heart and create opportunities to build impactful and positive relationships with young people. We aim to involve and consult young people at every level, also giving opportunities for experience as young leaders.
Faith Based
We are motivated by our Christian faith and work in partnership with churches of various denominations. Modelled by Jesus’ teachings and inspired by our own stories of God at work, we seek to share hope and find value in everyone. Our initiatives are open to all regardless of their race, gender, sexual orientation, ability, political view or religious affiliation.
Collaborative
Working with others who share our goals and values is important to us and moves us closer to the vision.
Holistic Well-Being
Our activities aim to support young people mentally, spiritually and emotionally, to equip them with the skills and confidence to make positive life choices. Through our consistent support and variety of projects we believe young people can grow resilience to face the many challenges that may come their way.
Meet Our Team
Wildfire partners with several churches in the Winchester area. The youth workers from those churches are ‘Wildfire Partner Youth Workers’ and are members of our collective. Some of those partners also form part of our ‘Leadership Team’ and help us make plans and decisions for Wildfire’s future. We have also just started employing our own ‘Wildfire Youth Workers’ who work for the charity. Meet everyone below!
Staff Team
Ellie Payne
Charity Director and Deputy Safeguarding Lead
email – ellie@wildfireyouthproject.com
Maddie Thorpe
Youth Work Programme Lead
email – maddie@wildfireyouthproject.com
Eli Gent
Safeguarding Lead
Youth Workers in the Wildfire Network
CHRIS DAVIS
Partner Youth Worker
Thrive Church
JOY STEED
Partner Youth Worker
Winchester Vineyard Church
SILAS BROWN
Partner Youth Worker
New Life Church
ELI GENT
Partner Youth Worker
St Barnabas Church and Wildfire’s Safeguarding Lead
Trustees
We’re excited to introduce our new Trustees board!
STEPHEN MARTIN
Chair
PAUL BREAKWELL
Secretary
JULIE MUTTON
Treasurer
LISA WHEADON
Trustee
GEMMA HELLAWELL
Trustee