Some large urban churches have extensive involvement in the local community with a wide range of activities including parent and toddler groups, groups for senior citizens, visiting housebound people, programmes to teach English to refugees and asylum seekers, second-hand furniture recycling and housing schemes. Whilst that sort of activity is not common everywhere, most local churches do run some activities for different groups in the community, and additional help from appropriate volunteers is usually welcome.
Linking with a church, and getting involved in activities which they already run, can provide community service opportunities for older secondary age pupils. Such involvement may lead to work experience placements at a later date.
Younger pupils may be able to get involved on an occasional basis e.g. by accompanied groups of pupils visiting a senior citizens group to sing Christmas carols, hosting a return visit to your school for afternoon tea prepared and served by the pupils or visiting people in their homes to take harvest gifts.
Contacts such as this will open pupils' eyes to local opportunities to support a charity or church with a fundraising activity e.g a non-uniform day to raise money for a pensioners' outing or a school collection of toys in good condition for the church's parents and toddlers' group.
Most churches have links with aid, relief or mission organisations across the globe. Schools can consider whether they can partner with the church in supporting that work financially by fundraising, and by focusing the school's attention on the link through displays and special assemblies. Finding out more about those links may open up possibilities for older pupils to join a group from the church going to visit the project to learn more about it and to help out for a week or two. That visit may in turn result in a pupil going to the project as part of a gap year experience.
In all such contacts, due regard must be paid to all your school's policies relating to health and safety, and child protection, with the necessary risk assessments being carried out.
St Matthew's Church in Rugby supports work with street children at Casa Reom, in Mozambique. Each year, groups from the church travel to Mozambique to help with decorating and building work on the site of the children's hostel and school. Lucy, from a local Rugby secondary school, joined the group that visited Casa Reom during her summer holiday between years 12 and 13. She spent most of her visit getting to know the children, playing with them and helping with their education. For her, it was a life-changing experience.