Festive is a national Christian charity who exist to support and resource students in sixth form and college to live out and share their faith where they study. We have been running for 15 years, are mission partners with Scripture Union, and are currently the only national charity working exclusively with young people in the Further Education and sixth form sector to support them in their Christian faith.
 

Why does Festive exist?

We exist because we believe that students have a unique opportunity to share the gospel and reveal the light of Christ to their peers. We are here to help them make the most of their time in further education by equipping and resourcing them to do this. A key part of our work is helping students start and run Christian Unions (and similar groups) in sixth forms and colleges. We know the impact that CU's can have in further education settings, and we have the privilege of helping many CU's reach their peers with the gospel.

We also support individual students through providing online training, free resources, one-to-one email support for students in our network, advice, prayer, and an increasing amount of in-person support and training! This support primarily looks like being paired with one of our Student Engagement Team and receiving personal email encouragements, prayer and advice, as well as access to loads of free resources and training. We support many students throughout their entire time in further education, and many then go on to volunteer with us on our Student Engagement Team and invest in younger students. 
 

How many colleges are you in contact with?

We support students from all over the UK via our student network where we currently have over 700 students who have signed up to receive our support (representing many colleges and sixth forms)! 

We also are in touch with various college staff and chaplains who are often involved in the oversight of CU's, or simply who share our vision and are able to arrange for us to come and visit, run workshops etc. 
 

Do you have an impact story / testimony that you could share?

Earlier this year, we visited a large CU in Manchester, ran a couple of workshops and took the CU leaders out for a meal to invest in them and help them consider the direction and plans of their CU. The students we met were really keen for the CU to be a place where others could explore faith and wanted to explore how together they could provide opportunity for other students to hear the gospel. After working with them, we were pleased to hear that they planned and ran a Christmas outreach event for the first time! It has been great to see the momentum build, and to see the students responding proactively. We're excited to be meeting with them again soon and encouraging the new year 12s for the first time! 
 

How can we help support Festive?

Spread the word.
If you know of Christian students in college or sixth form then please direct them to our student network where they can connect in with us directly. We have so much we can offer them during their time in further education including loads of support, ideas, free resources, and advice!

Support our mission
We are a small charity continually seeking to grow our impact and support! We're so thankful for where God has brought us over these past few years, and the opportunities that have arisen, enabling us to further invest in FE students. Looking ahead, we would love to be able to increase our available support, including our in-person student connect work. Our hope is that we might visit even more CU's, run more regional training for students and CU leaders, and further facilitate mission and evangelism in sixth forms and colleges across the UK. You can help us by giving financially, and by praying for us!

Help us make connections!
If you (or someone you know) works in a further education or Christian youth work setting, knows of a CU that's either established or just getting going, you can help us by making an introduction and/or telling them about Festive. We're always keen to meet new people on a zoom call and explore how we might be able to come into a college/sixth form and deliver a workshop, meet with students/ CU leaders, or run some regional training in a new area!

3-5 prayer pointers?

• Please pray for all the new students joining our network this September. We met so many new young people over the summer at the festivals and now look forward to supporting them over this academic year.
• Please pray for them as they seek to live out and share their faith where they study this year! As our in-person work continues and grows, please pray for our upcoming trips, Scattered events, and CU visits.
• Please pray for the growth and development of our work - that we might form new connections, meet more students and Christian staff, develop new ideas and resources, and be responsive to the needs of the young people we support!
   

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