Aylesbury Vale Youth For Christ

Aylesbury Vale Youth for Christ was established in 1970 and serves local young people aged 9 – 25.
We respond to needs in the community by partnering with others to develop a comprehensive range of activities and opportunities.

We currently run 9 weekly drop-in groups and support 3 youth groups www.youthcafe.info attracting hundreds of young people. At the Youth Cafes, young people are able to participate in workshops, get homework help and make new friends while chilling out in a safe environment.

We also facilitate a monthly worship event for young people run by young people called Impact and are opening a music studio www.southcourtstudios.com. We currently have 3 full time members of staff and 1 part time member along with around 100 registered volunteers helping us to achieve our aims. If you would like to get involved, please visit our supporters section of the website.

MEET THE TEAM:

	Dave Rollins Dave has been the Director for Aylesbury Vale Youth for Christ since 2005 and previously volunteered for the organisation for 5 years. Dave works closely with the Trustees (Executive Committee), to ensure the smooth running of the Charity and building vision and capacity to Take the Good News relevantly to every young person in Aylesbury Vale.

	Merlyn Evans Merlyn is a youth cafe manager for AVYFC and has held the role since September 2008 when he joined the team full-time after working for Thames Valley Police for 5 years. He attends Aston Clinton Baptist Church as his place of worship and has a keen interest in music which is his main hobby along with surfing! Merlyn volunteered for 7 years with AVYFC prior to working full time with us and mainly assists with youth cafes across the Vale of Aylesbury, large events such as festivals and gigs.

	Faith Rollins Faith has been working part time for AVYFC since 2006 as PA to the Director of AVYFC and serves the Charity through administrative support. Faith also volunteers at a number of youth events including New Dawn, Family Festivals and Youth Groups.

	Anne-Marie Foster Anne-Marie has been a Trustee for Aylesbury Vale Youth for Christ since 2006 and in 2008 took on the role as Chair of the Executive Committee. Anne-Marie is a Human Resources Partner for the British Library and brings a wealth of experience to the Charity. Anne-Marie heads up the Leadership Team (Executive Committee) for the Charity and offers support to the Director and working team.

	Becky Finn - Becky has just started working for AVYFC as a volunteer during her gap year. She has just finished studying a National Diploma in Horse Management at college. Becky has been attending Southcourt Baptist Church for 11 years now and has previously been involved in the youth work there. During this next year Becky is going to be involved in schools work, youth cafes, supporting Christian Unions and heading up AVYFC’s monthly youth event “Impact”. Becky is raising personal support to cover her gap year with AVYFC and would love for you to sponsor her – www.justgiving.com/beckyfinn

	Ben Barnes Ben has just started his gap year with AVYFC after finishing his time at John Colet School where he studied Product Design, Sociology at A2 and both general studies and Communication studies at AS level. Ben has been accepted at Roehampton University in London where he plans to study Sociology and Theology with religious studies in September 2010. Ben has attended Aston Clinton Baptist church for the last 5 years and is involved with the youth work their as a volunteer. Over the next year Ben will be involved in a variety of tasks including the Soutcourt Youth Cafe manager and Schools work in the Aylesbury Vale area. Ben needs to raise personal support this year through AVYFC and you can sponsor him via our website www.justgiving.com/benbarnes

	Gary Mullins Gary has just joined the AVYFC team to manage the Southcourt Studios project. Since completing a degree in Popular Music Performance at London’s Guitar Institute, he has become a professional musician and guitar tutor, playing in a wide variety of bands in and around Buckinghamshire. He also teaches for the Aylesbury Music Service, and has presented a number of guitar workshops for AVYFC.

	Tim Jarvis Tim has lived in Aylesbury since 1996 and has just taken on the role as Trainee Youth Cafe Manager. Tim has volunteered with AVYFC for 3 years and is known as the ‘handy-man’ as he is always fixing things that are broken! As well as working in the Cafes, Tim will be helping at our monthly youth events and also planning Youth Church activities, particularly at the Church of the Good Shepherd