Young people from Goma in DRC joining in the Singathon

People are people across the world. I work in both Africa and across Ireland enabling people to engage in community transformation - often in areas of conflict like the Democratic Republic of Congo.

I also facilitate Ards Voice Community Choir and we all love singing. So we thought that it would be lovely to enable people from across the local community where we live come together to sing for 12 hours and raise money for charities Tearfund and Thrive Ireland.

Tearfund is a Christian charity working tirelessly to help communities around the world to escape the very worst effects of poverty and disaster.

Tearfund believes that the same people facing these troubles, also have the best idea as to how they can overcome them. Tearfund listens: helping people to rise out of their poverty, utilising their resourcefulness and determination.

Tearfund’s Inspired Individuals programme is about being prepared to back those who dream different. Those who live in the poorest places, where the soil has seeded - and grown – a different sort of dream.

Not one to make millions of pounds. One to make millions of people poverty free. Those people who dream different dreams, seeded by Jesus and watered by us – these people are our focus and our community. We see them as “Inspired Individuals.”

It takes a different kind of programme to support them, a different kind of generous person to invest. And it leads to a different kind of dream being realised, on a different scale: one that changes the very social fabric, challenges the very status quo of poverty, one that smashes the very glass-ceilings that bent heads downwards for so long, one that unlocks the mind-sets of children and their parents, one that unshackles those downtrodden dreams and breathes life into them, one that unchains identities, restores righteousness, and releases streams of justice to roll down dried out river beds.

And by doing this, by supporting those who dare to dream different, their dreams take root and grow. Until they reveal the very fingerprints of God among the most downtrodden people in the most forgotten places.

Will you dream different with us?

Tearfund registered charity number 265464. Registered address: 100, Church Road Teddington TW11 8QE

Daphrose's story gives a flavour of the amazing people that Tearfund's Inspired Individuals unique leadership programme supports.

Daphrose's story

Thrive Ireland

The Church is one of the largest voluntary organisations in the world. But those inside and outside the church rarely understand the potential of local people within churches that can be stimulated and released.

Thrive Ireland seeks to empower Christians to live out their faith in society with honesty and integrity by encouraging community participation, developing skills and supporting leadership.

Thrive Ireland believes in the value, ability and potential of all to contribute positively to their local community.

Taking the best of learning from other parts of the world, Thrive Ireland seeks to:

• encourage, support and enable Christian churches to become more effectively engaged with their communities,

• Resource Christian education and training in community development.

• Working with many different churches for a joined up approach to change.

• Developing good leadership with a focus on deprived communities.

• Actively promoting peace and reconciliation work.

Join us and help Ireland to Thrive

Thrive Ireland registered charity number 105143. Registered address: 17 Hawthorn Hill, Newtownards BT23 8ET

https://vimeo.com/213874702/894b937e37