David's Tent 2024 Review
Transform Work attended David’s Tent, a Christian festival at Charlton Park, Wiltshire. This was a joint venture of the CPSGs who contributed to the cost of the exhibit stand.
We were given a space in the resource tent where we had 3 tables.
Table One was healthcare which has information from the Christian Ambulance Association, Christian Medical Fellowship, and Christian Emergency Network.
Table Two was dedicated to Firefighters for Christ.
Table Three was all the other CPSGs. We had material sent from Transform Work, Veterinary Christian Fellowship, Local Houses of Prayer, LICC, and Evangelical Alliance. We also had a laptop displaying the logos with the other CPSGs and had a TV playing a video about workplace ministry.
We also had flags behind the exhibit outside for the CAA and FFC.
The following attended the exhibit:
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Ros Loaker - Transform Work
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Simon Hewitt - Firefighters for Christ
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Colleen Hewitt - Firefighters for Christ
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Peter Martin - Christian Ambulance Association
The aim was to refer 50 people to a CPSG or CWG. On the first day we referred 73 people and by the end of the weekend had referred nearly 600. We defined a referral as someone who showed interest in their group and wanted the contact details. We spoke to approximately 200 more people than we referred.
The main referrals were to:
Other CPSGs that did well were:
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Christian Academic Network
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Finance and Insurance Christian Network
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Christians in Allied Health
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Christians in Property
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Local Authorities Christian Network
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Christians in Engineering
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Christians in Science
There was also notable interest in:
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Christian Ambulance Association
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Christian Dental Fellowship
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Christians in Government UK
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Christians in Pharmacy
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Christians in Media
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Arts Centre Group
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Christians in entertainment
Some sectors were common but we didn't have a group to refer to.
The most notable ones were:
We also spoke with many church leaders who became interested in starting workplace ministry within their church and expressed an interest in how to do that with the possibility of working with Transform Work.
We met people who had started CWGs in their place of work. We gave information on how linking with Transform Work could support them.
The stand itself cost £668. Based on 550 referrals it cost £1.21 per referral. It will be difficult to ascertain cost per acquisition as some CPSGs don't have the facility to find out where their members came from upon joining and those that do may not inform Transform Work.
Overall this was a productive event that raised awareness and interest in workplace ministry. The hope is that many of those referred will sign up and that churches will begin considering the workplace a ministry and mission field. We appreciate that some CPSGs did better than others; therefore, while this event worked for many, this approach in the future won’t work for all.
