New drop-in is on cue

A new drop-in youth centre has opened at Mousehold in Norwich thanks to a partnership between Norwich Youth for Christ and local churches.
Ronnie's drop-in club was launched on May 29 at St Mary Magdalene Church in the heart of Mousehold. The project was set up in partnership between Norwich Youth for Christ's Church Resource project and the local churches and has also formed links with the Patchwork Community Project.
Many people from the local community turned out for the launch including Bishop Tony of King's Lynn, who with the help of two of the local young people cut the tape and officially opened Ronnie's.
On the first evening some 25 young people came to socialise and make use of the new football and pool table, play computer games, watch a film, listen to music and eat tuck.

Above: Bishop Tony of King's Lynn helps launch Ronnie's.

Ronnie's will open every Thursday night and be run by a large team of volunteers from the local churches, community groups, and from Norwich Youth for Christ.
It's aim is to provide a safe, fun drop-in where young people can come, relationships can be formed, conversations about God and the Christian faith can be had and impact can be made on the issues that face the young people in the community today.
Already on the first night conversations were had with young people about their concerns and fears about
being a young person in the community today. Ronnie's aims to build on this and support these young people.

Andrew Tyler, priest in charge of St Mary Magdalene, said: "This is a an exciting piece of collaboration work between NYFC and St Mary Magdalene Church. It is envisaged that this will be part of a project involving other local Christian churches. A huge amount of effort has gone in by Matt Gooch and his team in transforming what was a workshop to help unemployed people get back to work in the 1970s into a drop-in centre.
Ronnie's runs every Thursday evening between 7pm and 9pm at the back of St Mary Magdalene church, it is open for any young person aged over 11.
Contact Matt at the NYFC office for details.

Nursing role for chaplain

Rev Colin Reed, head chaplain at the Norfolk & Norwich University Hospital.

The head chaplain at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital is well qualified for the job as he is both a trained minister and a trained nurse. Anne Forbes reports.

Rev Colin Reed became Head of the Chaplaincy Team at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital in June 2002 and seems particularly well suited for the post as he is a fully qualified nurse. He worked for ten years as a nurse before training for the Anglican ministry at Ridley College, Cambridge.
After ordination in 1995, Colin worked as a curate in Essex where he also served as a part-time hospital chaplain, at first as a volunteer. His wife, Louise, also a nurse and midwife, supported him through his ministry training and they now have two small daughters.

Colin was brought up in a Methodist church in North-East London, where he made a serious personal commitment to Christ when he was 14. When he decided to train for the Anglican ministry, he did so with a strong sense of calling and already the possibility of hospital work was in his mind.
In 1999, as his curacy was coming to an end, he went on a retreat to think and pray about whether his future should be in a parish, parish with some chaplaincy or fully in hospital work. As a result, he applied for the post of Associate Chaplain in Plymouth and worked there for three years before being appointed to the Norwich hospital.
He sees the role as being available to help to meet the spiritual needs of staff and patients: "Being there and visible - so I always wear my dog collar as I move around the hospital wards, A&E, and outpatients areas," he said.
His days are unpredictable and often very demanding, emotionally and physically as well as spiritually. In addition to general visiting, there are patients who have been referred and emergency calls.

Supporting bereaved families or those whose loved ones are seriously ill can take a great deal of time, but it is part of the "being there for people" which is at the heart of Colin's sense of vocation.
He is head of a team of chaplains - one assistant is the Rev Pat Atkinson, known to many through her charity work in India - who share the same commitment. There is always at least one chaplain in the hospital and they operate a 24-hour on-call service. Their day begins with a sharing of information and prayer in the beautiful modern chapel. A service is held there every Sunday at 10.30 am but it is always open for prayer and quiet reflection.
A number of volunteer chaplains from various denominations already help with the visiting but said Colin: "We need more people to be involved in bringing patients to the service and in some other practical areas. We will give training in dealing sensitively with patients and hope to set up a rota, which would entail helping about once every two months."
Anyone interested should contact Colin at the hospital.

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