‘Equipping children and young people to make drug-free choices’ 

Ian Michell is a bi-vocational minister in Nottingham, who spends part of his time on the council estate where he lives, working on a joint project between the East Midlands Baptist Association and Urban Expression to establish a new church in that area.

Here he writes about his other role, working one day per week as Hope UK’s project worker in the East Midlands.

As a Baptist minister involved in church planting, I sometimes reflect on how, in his day, Spurgeon would send out two students to preach in a particular area. His next step would then be to work alongside a local Band of Hope group, to set up a children and young people’s work in that area. Strategic steps in his objective of planting new churches in London.

Last October Hope UK (as the Band of Hope is now called) held a service in London to celebrate its 170th anniversary, and to give thanks for the Lord’s faithfulness in enabling us to equip many thousands of children and young people to make drug-free choices in the years since then.

Today we are still working to equip children and young people to make drug-free choices, and we still have many Baptist connections. I lead a team of voluntary drug educators, who take drug prevention sessions in schools, churches and youth organisations.

I’m encouraged that two of our most enthusiastic volunteers in the East Midlands are both members of Baptist churches – Michelle Arthurton of Burgh Baptist Community Church and Maureen Miller of Southwell Baptist Church. 

Michelle and Maureen recently organised ‘caffeine-free’ coffee mornings (and cake!) in their churches. The idea was to support Hope UK’s annual ‘Coffree Conqueror Challenge’ – a fundraising campaign in October which encourages people to consider giving up caffeine for the month, and to donate the money they would have spent, in support of our work. We are grateful to them and to their respective churches for their generous support.

Being part of Hope UK’s team is a very encouraging experience. Every morning in our ‘virtual’, as well as actual office, we start with a time of prayer for our work, as well as for issues of wider concern. And we consider this to be essential. 

One of the aspects of my role which I have particularly enjoyed has been the challenge of encouraging Christians who feel called to train to become part of one of our teams of voluntary drug educators. I have done so in previous roles in places as varied as: Buckinghamshire, Leicester, Nottingham, Watford, Northamptonshire and Peckham.

And in my current role I am now seeking to encourage Christians in the East Midlands to train to serve the church and their local communities, through joining a Hope UK local team.

A big challenge we face in our work is that people sometimes assume that drug prevention work is about working with those who, sadly, already have issues arising from drug use. I often feel the need to explain that we do not aim to work with those in need of treatment and support, but rather with those who don’t. Our aim is to prevent them from travelling down that road in the first place, and in the case of young people, to enable them to be a positive influence upon their friends and peers. 

As it is often said: ‘prevention is better than cure’.


 

Ian Michell is a bi-vocational Baptist minister in Nottingham. He also works one day per week as Hope UK’s project worker in the East Midlands. Find out more about Hope UK here

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