As CYFC, we are well into our 8th year which is hard to believe! So much has happened in this time which we thank God for. All of the good and the bad, the highs and the lows we are equally thankful for. It is difficult to imagine that when we started it was only me as a part-time worker, with a small budget and no young people! We have grown so much in such a short period of time, even opening our own centre last year which is just further testimony to God’s goodness and provision.

Currently, there are two staff members; Rebecca and myself, along with some incredible and faithful volunteers as well as a committed Board. We have a centre to manage and all the joys that come with that. And we can work with anywhere between 50-100 young people on a weekly basis. We are part of Brownlow College’s pastoral care team and connected to a number of primary schools in the area. We have eleven supporting churches which is phenomenal!

All of this is amazing and we love what we do week in and week out. However, the struggle is fundraising. Every year it gets more and more difficult especially now that we have the centre. We work incredibly hard at it but the reality is that all that we currently raise financially is just to really maintain what we have which we feel was good for a season but we really feel the Holy Spirit prompting us to push into more. We want to grow; our staff team, our resources and of course the number of young people that we work with and ultimately our impact on the beautiful town of Craigavon. I believe with every ounce of my being that what we have seen God do here so far is only the tip of the iceberg - there is so much more that He wants to do!

We want to build a firm foundation for Craigavon Youth For Christ to continue to grow and expand God’s Kingdom right at the heart of Craigavon.

This fundraiser has a number of goals;

An obvious goal is that we want to raise money for the CYFC project. We will be doing 8 laps of the black paths (3 miles a lap) from our centre in Legahory. A lap for every year. We will walk roughly 24 miles. Why the physical torture you may ask? Doing ministry in Craigavon is hard. As we have journeyed through the last 8 years, at times it has been painful but it has been so worth it. In spite of the pain and hardship we just keep putting one foot in front of the other and God does the rest. This is why we want to do this type of fundraiser - to remind us of the journey so far and to prepare us for the next 8 years. Our target is £8,000!

To get people to see Craigavon in all its glory. Most of our support comes from people outside of Craigavon. We want to invite people to come and walk with us, to join us on this journey to raise money and awareness for the work of YFC in Craigavon but also the route that we will take will allow people to see the real Craigavon. It is a really lovely walk (hoping if the weather holds up!).

To build our number of monthly financial supporters. The only way we can keep going and grow as an organisation is to financially sustain what we have. This is only possible with monthly giving. Either from individuals, businesses or churches. This fundraiser is an invitation to people to come and join our journey of seeing young people coming to know Jesus and join his family.