Streetlight Prayer Update June & July 

 “Supporting people, sharing Jesus, changing lives”

✨ Hello Friends, Supporters & Prayer Warriors
Over the past two months, life at StreetLight has been full of both deeply encouraging moments and some very real challenges.
To be completely honest, this has been a tough season.
Many members of our team have been carrying significant pressures, both within their personal lives and through the demands of their roles at StreetLight. As the mission has continued to grow, it has often felt increasingly difficult to keep up with everything that needs to be done.
Our trustees have also carried a considerable burden, balancing the responsibility of StreetLight alongside already busy lives and other commitments. At times, it has felt as though everyone has been stretched very thin.
There are seasons when trusting God feels natural and full of confidence, and there are other seasons when holding onto His promises requires real perseverance. This has certainly been one of those seasons.
A passage that has continued to come to mind is:
“We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair.” — 2 Corinthians 4:8
We may not always know what the next step looks like, but we continue to believe that God is faithful. StreetLight has always belonged to Him, and our prayer is that we would continue to follow His leading with courage, wisdom, humility, and obedience.

🙏 An Important Time of Prayer
We have an important trustees’ meeting taking place on 30 July, and we would deeply value your prayers in the lead-up to it.
There are significant conversations and decisions ahead of us concerning the future direction, strength, and sustainability of StreetLight. We want to ensure that every decision is made prayerfully and with a genuine desire to honour God and protect the mission He has entrusted to us.
Please pray for wisdom, unity, courage, clarity, and discernment for everyone involved.
We would be incredibly grateful if as many of our supporters as possible could intentionally pray for StreetLight on that day. Knowing that people are standing with us in prayer would mean more than we can properly express.

🌱 Story & Play: Becoming a Home for Families
As many of our regular groups temporarily pause for the summer, it has been a real privilege to reflect on what God has done through them over the past year.
One of the greatest highlights has undoubtedly been Vicky’s Story & Play group.
The attendance has been amazing, and it has been wonderful to see the group continue to grow. However, what has encouraged us most is not simply the number of people attending, but the depth of community that has formed.
When Story & Play finished for the summer a week or two ago, many of the families still came into StreetLight on the following Wednesday morning. There was no organised group and no planned session, but they came because StreetLight had become part of their weekly lives. It had become somewhere they felt comfortable, known, and at home.
For us, that spoke more powerfully than any attendance figure ever could.
Through Story & Play, children have heard Bible stories, taken part in activities, played together, and grown in confidence. Mums, carers, and families have formed friendships, supported one another, and found a place where they can belong.
It is easy in ministry to focus on what we can measure: how many people came, how much something grew, or how successful a session appeared. Yet we do not always see the full impact God is having through the things we do.
The fact that these families continued to gather even after the group had finished was a beautiful glimpse of that impact. It showed that Story & Play has become far more than an activity. It has become a genuine community.
I do not normally work on Wednesday mornings, so much of what happens is shared with me afterwards. Hearing about the children interacting with the Bible stories, the relationships being built between parents, and the care shown by Vicky and the team has been incredibly encouraging.
We are deeply thankful for Vicky’s passion, consistency, and love for these families. Story & Play represents so much of what we want StreetLight to be: a welcoming place where people are supported, relationships are formed, and children and families are gently introduced to the love and truth of Jesus.
“Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.” — Mark 10:14

💙 Youth Club: Prayer, Faith and Belonging
Youth Club has also continued to be a significant and deeply encouraging part of StreetLight.
One of my personal highlights has been the prayer that takes place among the team before the session, when time allows, and particularly after each evening.
Once the young people have gone home, the team gathers to pray and share their favourite moments from the session. These times help us look beyond the practical work and recognise where God may have been moving through a conversation, an act of encouragement, a moment of laughter, or a young person feeling seen and valued.
We have also been able to introduce occasional Bible study groups during Youth Club. These have created opportunities for young people to explore Scripture, ask honest questions, hear more about Jesus and, in some cases, receive prayer from the team.
It has been a real privilege to see spiritual conversations developing naturally within the relationships that have been built over time.
Another major encouragement has come through conversations with parents.
Some have shared that their children first came to Youth Club without close friendships or struggled to find somewhere they felt they belonged. Through StreetLight, they have gradually built relationships and become part of a friendship group.
Two young people have particularly stood out to us, although we will not name them.
One of them lives with autism, and it took several months before he felt able to attend Youth Club. With patience and encouragement, he eventually came through the doors, and it has now become one of the highlights of his week.
That is incredibly precious to us.
Story & Play and Youth Club serve different ages and look very different from one another, but the heart behind them is the same. We want children, young people, and families to find genuine belonging, experience loving community, and encounter the hope of Jesus.
These stories remind us that StreetLight is not simply a building where activities take place. It is becoming a home for people who may otherwise feel isolated, overlooked, or uncertain about where they belong.

🏘️ A New Roleplay Village
We are really excited to announce that some significant changes are coming to the children’s area at StreetLight in September.
The team have been working tirelessly behind the scenes, and while there is still plenty to do, the plans are beginning to take shape.
We are creating a new roleplay village alongside the existing soft play. This will extend the overall space available for children and families without extending the soft-play structure itself.
The roleplay village will feature five separate zones designed to encourage imagination, creativity, learning, and social interaction.
We will make you follow our social media pages to discover exactly what all five zones will be!
For the first time since our soft play opened, we will also be introducing a small charge of £2 per child.
We have loved being able to offer soft play completely free of charge. However, with rising cleaning, maintenance, replacement, and staffing costs, continuing under the existing model has become increasingly difficult.
We have worked hard to keep the price as low and accessible as possible.
However, we also wanted to ensure that introducing a charge would create an opportunity to help those who may genuinely struggle.

🌟 The StreetLight Community Fund
Under the previous model, many families who used the soft play were completely willing and able to contribute towards it. However, because everyone accessed it in exactly the same way, we had very little ability to identify or intentionally support families experiencing genuine financial difficulty.
Therefore, we will be placing 35p from every soft-play admission into a new dedicated StreetLight Community Fund, alongside any additional donations given specifically towards it.
Our minimum ambition is to raise approximately £3,000 each year through the fund.
Rather than simply providing one free activity, this will allow us to respond more personally and meaningfully to families facing difficult circumstances.
The fund could provide things such as:
Free family soft-play passes
Free birthday parties for children
Support towards essential family needs
Help with food, clothing, school uniforms, or other practical pressures
Opportunities for families to engage with StreetLight who may otherwise feel unable to do so. We are incredibly excited about this.
We believe it gives us a better opportunity to reach beyond the walls of the centre, identify those who may need additional support, and draw families into genuine relationship and community.
The heart of StreetLight has never simply been to provide services. It is to know people, walk alongside them, and demonstrate the love of Jesus in practical and meaningful ways.
“Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfil the law of Christ.” — Galatians 6:2

☕ A Simpler Café with a Clearer Purpose
We are also preparing for some significant changes within the café.
Recently, StreetLight received two incredibly generous donations which, including the value of Gift Aid, total approximately £23,000.
These donations arrived within only a few weeks of one another, and we are deeply grateful for the generosity and trust that they represent.
They have allowed us to invest in changes that we believe will make StreetLight stronger and more sustainable for the future.
For some time, the café has placed a significant burden on the staff team.
While the café is an important part of creating a warm and welcoming environment, the demands of preparing large amounts of made-to-order food and operating complicated equipment can easily consume the time and energy of the team.
The café exists to support the mission of StreetLight. It must never become the mission itself.
We are therefore simplifying our food menu, moving towards a much easier grab-and-go system, and introducing a high-quality push-button coffee machine that will be straightforward for staff and volunteers to use.
Many members of our younger team will be leaving for university in September, which gives us a natural opportunity to restart with a smaller team and much simpler systems.
For Vicky and me particularly, our greatest passion is spending time with people, listening to them, encouraging them, sharing our faith, and building relationships within the community.
Simplifying the café will hopefully free the team to focus far more effectively on people rather than being continually overwhelmed by food preparation and complicated processes.
For anyone who may previously have felt nervous about volunteering because of the café, please be reassured that the new system will be significantly easier to learn and operate.

New SEN Sessions
Vicky has also been working extremely hard alongside another wonderful supporter who has recently given StreetLight an incredible amount of time, expertise, and encouragement.
Together, they are developing new dedicated sessions for children and families with special educational needs.
We are hoping these sessions will begin during September or October. However, we want them to be carefully planned and genuinely beneficial, so the team are taking the necessary time to ensure that everything is done properly.
Please pray for wisdom as these sessions are developed, for the right volunteers and support, and that the sessions would become a place where children and families feel understood, welcomed, and valued.

📖 Bible Studies Returning
We are also excited that dedicated Bible study sessions will be returning in September.
We have been able to introduce some Bible discussions through Youth Club, but having a specific and consistent space for young people to explore Scripture, ask questions, and grow in faith will be incredibly encouraging.
We want the sessions to be engaging, enjoyable, honest, and accessible to young people at different stages of faith.
Please pray that the right young people would come, that they would feel able to ask genuine questions, and that we would communicate the gospel clearly and faithfully.

🛹 Mini Movers & More to Come
Another new programme launching in September is Mini Movers, our dedicated under-six skating session.
This will give younger children an opportunity to develop confidence, coordination, and basic skating skills within a safer and more age-appropriate environment.
We will also be launching new children’s lunchboxes and activity sheets as part of our wider Little Legends offer.
Alongside this, our free riding hours on Thursdays and Fridays will return, and we will be introducing new skateboarding leaderboards, challenges, and other activities for our skaters.
There is so much being prepared for September, and we are excited to gradually share more over the coming weeks.

🙌 A Call to Worship, Prayer and Unity
Something I have felt increasingly challenged about is the importance of unity across the whole StreetLight community.
That includes our trustees, core team, wider staff team, volunteers, supporters, churches, and everyone who carries a heart for what God is doing through StreetLight.
When people are tired, busy, or stretched, it can become easy for us to focus only on the pressures directly in front of us. We can become separated into our own roles, groups, and responsibilities, even while we are all trying to serve the same mission.
Jesus warned that:
“If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand.” — Mark 3:25
I do not believe unity means that we will always agree on every detail. However, I do believe it means choosing to pray together, listen to one another, forgive one another, encourage one another, and continually return to the mission God has placed before us.
The team have therefore been discussing the possibility of holding a more regular StreetLight worship and prayer night, open to anyone who would like to attend.
This would be a time to worship God, pray together, encourage one another, and unite around what He is doing in our community. It would not simply be another activity or event in the calendar. The heart would be to create a regular space, perhaps once every term, where the wider StreetLight family can come together before God.
I have personally been deeply challenged by the book of Nehemiah recently.
When Nehemiah heard that Jerusalem’s walls were broken down and its gates had been burned, he did not immediately rush into activity. He sat down, wept, mourned, fasted, and prayed.
He worshipped God, confessed the sins of the people, remembered God’s promises, and asked for favour and courage before taking action.
Nehemiah cared deeply about rebuilding the walls, but his response began in prayer.
That has challenged me greatly.
Before we focus only on rebuilding programmes, strengthening finances, renovating spaces, or developing new activities, we must be willing to pray over the spiritual foundations of what we are doing.
What an impact it could have to know that people are gathering regularly at StreetLight specifically to pray for Wimborne and the surrounding areas.
To pray for our children and young people.
To pray for families facing hardship or isolation.
To pray for local churches, schools, organisations, and community leaders.
To pray for one another, for unity within the team, and for the mission of God in our town.
We would also love to encourage those who live further away to pray over their own communities and the places God has called them to serve.
Our desire is not simply to build a successful organisation. We want to see God move, lives transformed, relationships restored, young people discovering Jesus, and the Church united in love and purpose.
Please pray with us as we explore what these gatherings could look like, and that God would draw the right people together with humility, passion, and a genuine hunger for Him.
“Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, and we will no longer be in disgrace.”— Nehemiah 2:17

🔨 September Renovation Week
StreetLight will be closed during the first week of September so that we can carry out essential work throughout the building.
This will include:
Creating and installing the new roleplay village 
Preparing the extended children’s space
Painting and decorating
Repairing areas of the skatepark ramps that require additional attention
Reorganising and installing new equipment in the café
Preparing the centre for the launch of our new groups and activities. This is a significant amount of work, and we will need help to make it happen.
No matter your experience, there may be a way you can contribute, whether through painting, cleaning, lifting, building, organising, making refreshments, or simply helping us prepare the centre.
Please get in touch if you may be able to volunteer during the renovation week.

🤝 StreetLight Needs a Community
For StreetLight to operate successfully, many different people and roles must work together.
It requires a passionate and committed board of trustees who are willing to carry responsibility and make wise decisions.
It requires a motivated core team who are united around a clear and Christ-centred vision.
It requires staff members and volunteers who are willing to serve faithfully, even through demanding seasons.
It requires prayer warriors who consistently bring the centre and its people before God.
It requires financial supporters whose generosity enables the work to continue.
It also requires people who are simply willing to turn up, spend time in the centre, speak with visitors, wash dishes, support activities, encourage young people, and help carry the practical work.
Every part matters.
“The body is not made up of one part but of many.” — 1 Corinthians 12:14
We would love to encourage everyone reading this update to prayerfully consider whether there is a way you could become more involved.
Perhaps you could volunteer regularly or occasionally.
Perhaps you could join us for a future worship and prayer gathering.
Perhaps you have a skill that could help during our September renovation.
Perhaps you know someone else who would love to support children, young people, families, the café, administration, maintenance, prayer, or fundraising.
Financial support is incredibly valuable. Prayer is essential. However, physically coming into the centre, serving alongside us, and becoming part of the StreetLight community also makes a tremendous difference.
We cannot do this alone, and we were never intended to.

🙏 Prayer Points
Please Give Thanks For:
The incredible impact of Story & Play on children, parents, and carers
The loving community that has formed around Story & Play
Children engaging with Bible stories and families finding a place of belonging
The growth and consistency of Youth Club
Young people engaging with Bible studies and receiving prayer
Children and young people who have found friendships and community through StreetLight
The generous recent donations totalling approximately £23,000 with Gift Aid
The development of the new roleplay village
Plans for SEN sessions, Mini Movers, and returning Bible studies
The dedication of our staff, trustees, volunteers, and supporters
God’s provision throughout another demanding season
Please Pray For:
The trustees’ meeting on 30 July
Wisdom, unity, courage, and discernment concerning the future
Renewed strength for a team that has been stretched thin
Protection over the personal lives, families, and wellbeing of our staff and trustees
Greater unity across our trustees, staff, volunteers, churches, and supporters
Wisdom as we explore regular worship and prayer gatherings
A renewed passion for praying over Wimborne, our young people, children, and families
Clear priorities and freedom from unnecessary burdens
Successful preparation for September
More volunteers to join the StreetLight community
The renovation and repair work taking place during the first week of September
The new StreetLight Community Fund to reach the families who most need support
The launch of SEN sessions and Mini Movers
Young people to engage with the returning Bible studies
Financial sustainability and long-term provision
That every change would strengthen our ability to support people and share Jesus
That StreetLight would continue only in the direction and purpose that God desires

✨ A Final Word
This has not been an easy season.
There have been moments of exhaustion, uncertainty, pressure, and genuine concern about how everything can continue to be carried.
Yet there have also been beautiful reminders of why the work matters.
Families continuing to gather even after Story & Play has finished for the summer because StreetLight has become part of their community.
Children listening and responding to Bible stories while parents and carers build meaningful friendships.
A child who finally finds the courage to attend Youth Club and discovers a place where he belongs.
Young people reading the Bible together and allowing others to pray for them.
Parents seeing their children develop friendships after previously feeling alone.
A team praying together at the end of a long evening and recognising the moments where God may have been at work.
These are the stories that encourage us to keep going.
We do not know everything that lies ahead, but we know the One who does.
Like Nehemiah, we want our response to uncertainty to begin with prayer. We want to remember God’s faithfulness, seek His direction, confess where we have fallen short, and ask Him to unite us around the work He has called us to do.
Our prayer is not simply that StreetLight would become bigger or busier. Our prayer is that it would remain faithful, sustainable, united, Christ-centred, and genuinely life-giving to the people who walk through its doors.
“Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful.”— Hebrews 10:23
Thank you for praying when things are going well and when things are difficult.
Thank you for giving, serving, encouraging, and standing alongside us.
Thank you for believing in the mission of supporting people, sharing Jesus, and changing lives.
We deeply value every person who is part of the StreetLight story, and we ask that you would stand with us in prayer during this particularly important season.
With love and gratitude,
James, Vicky & the Trustees
StreetLight Community Hub