I placed a lot of trust in God when considering applying for this program. I was unsure whether or not God wanted me to leave the US and head for the UK. There were certain things that had to happen in order for me to come here.

God allowed and showed me through different ways that he wanted me to come here, and everything that had to happen in order for me to be here did happen. I also saw God’s work in raising funds and had to put faith in God because it was out of my control. Now I’m here, I’ve seen that God has answered my prayers about certain anxieties that I had. I feel that God has placed me in the activities I have been assigned for a reason – I am already learning how to be a better communicator and sharing my faith in Christ.

Twelve years later I’m still involved! I’ve worked behind the scenes in every department at some point and have grown so much because of the opportunities given to me here.

Going Public’s passion for each individual starts with its staff and I’ve been encouraged and released to develop all my gifts from graphic design to administration, from developing schools resources to line-management. All the while I know I’m supporting the amazing creative teams in their school and community work, facilitating the development of the trainees who join us each year, and making a difference in young people’s lives far beyond anything I could manage myself.

Thank you GP!

And that’s what drives me today – a God given heart to encourage and see people built up and going on in their walk with God. Seeing people become who God wants them to be. Seeing people realise that god is for them and loves them and values them so much. And that is part of what Going Public is all about. In mentoring I can get alongside a young person as they serve in Going Public and in the church to help them talk about how their time is going, how they are finding things and how they are developing. These young people are the future of the church so I am just helping them to grow and find their place in god and in the moving growing developing organism that god has called church.

A few weeks ago we visited a school in Carmarthen with our new presentation Wholehearted. This presentation addresses the issues of self esteem, self worth, identity and the importance of celebrating and trusting our own unique individuality.

At the end of the presentation we stay around in case any one has any questions that they didn’t want to ask as part of the group discussion. It was here that I met a girl called Rebecca*. I sat with her for at least 10 minutes and she poured her heart out about how she had related to a character in the play who doesn’t seem to fit in. She told me how she was lonely, and sometimes wished she was a bit more like her best friend Sian.

Sian in her words was ‘pretty’ and ‘popular’, ‘fun’ and ‘exciting’, whereas she was ‘just’ intelligent. However she went on to explain that the play had been a real positive experience for her; she noted that in relating to one of the characters, and seeing her positive journey of becoming confident in who she was, it had encouraged her to look at who she was from a different point of view. Her words to me were:

‘It’s quite funny really, the girl who reminded me the most of me, was the girl that I liked the most. Maybe she wasn’t the prettiest, maybe she was quite unpopular, and she definitely didn’t fit in like the other two, but she was the nicest person out of them all, and I guess that’s what counts!’

I watched her walk out of the hall and was thoroughly encouraged. It was a moment where I had seen eyes that were again filled with hope, she had found new strength to believe in herself. What a moment! One that I felt privileged to share with Rebecca and one that I don’t hope to forget for a long time yet.

*All names have been changed.

The gap year brings so many opportunities and the team are 100% committed to you, ensuring you grow and develop over the year.

The theological and track teaching is truly inspiring and I have learnt so much. A greater and fuller knowledge of the bible has really opened my eyes to the fact that the bible really is God breathed and has given me a new passion to study further.

At Going Public you are never left on your own; everyone is so caring, encouraging and just fantastic to be around.

Being a teenager is an embarrassing age; it’s awkward and difficult and to have a presentation on sex and relationships that is so easy to engage with is absolutely vital. I know that if I’d seen the presentations that Going Public take into schools when I was a teenager, it would have had a massive effect on the way I thought about myself and the decisions I made.

That is why I liaise with as many teachers and PSE professionals as I can, to get into as many schools as possible. I believe wholeheartedly that every young person deserves to have the opportunity to walk away from a presentation with a fresh, re-positioned, truth-filled outlook on who they are and just how valuable that is.

I am blessed to be working for a charity who believes in investing in people. I am given room to create and in turn to perform. But I don’t just do it for the sake of a round of applause, or nice comments at the end of a show – I do it, because I am passionate about making a difference in a way that has a positive outcome.

So many young people believe that they don’t add up to much unless they become someone socially acceptable amongst their peers, and so often give up who they are. Sex is a big part of this – teenagers either see it as a points scoring system – the more you do, the higher up the popularity chart you get, or as a quick fix for their desire to be loved by another human being. But we at Going Public, think there’s more to sex than this, we think that teens are selling themselves short of what they truly deserve; a relationship which isn’t centred around sex, but around trust, friendship, love and respect.

I was recently having a conversation with one of the youth from our church. He was telling me of how he had been chatting to a friend of his and Going Public came up randomly in conversation. He retells the conversation…

‘So what does your Dad do?’ She says

‘Oh, he works for a small charity called Going Public, you’ve probably not heard of it’ he said.

‘Oh? Is that with Cath and Dave?’ she asks.

‘Uh, yeah’…he replies, a bit surprised.

‘I thought so…’ She says…adding…’They came in my school and did a play and talked about sex.’

And so they got chatting, she continued to talk about the content of it, how it was about healthy relationships and encouraging abstinence as an option and what she had thought.

It had changed her whole outlook on sex and relationships. It was something she was questioning at the time but after the presentation she felt encouraged to wait. This conversation was 2 years after we went into that school – she was now 16, and though she said…

‘I don’t think I could wait till marriage, that would be too hard!’

Guess what? She was still waiting.

They’ve given me the opportunity to serve in such a way I have never been able to before.

Through the youth band I have felt incredibly privileged to see the young people develop their gifts, especially the girls; helping encourage them in their signing and hearing their confidence – praise grew week after week!

Also the school opportunities have been fantastic. A real learning curve and challenge for me but also understanding how valuable this work is. To be salt and light in the schools of South Wales – whether it’s talking about sex and relationships or self image. GPs work is so essential, and can be life changing for those who hear it.

Thank you Going Public for giving me such amazing opportunities so far. It’s enabled me to use my gifts to help and serve others and the trust you have given me to do it has been a real encouragement.

Going Public have helped me to realise that God has given us all unique gifts and talents and he wants us to use them in any way we can to serve Him. The more we serve, the more we grow in Him.

I just wanted to take a year to serve, then I was off to study geography and get on with life. God had other plans and during the year I explored how dance can be used to serve both community and the church.

As the year progressed it became clear that I was not called to be a weather girl but God was calling me to study dance; which I did and now I am a freelance practitioner, creating, performing and teaching – living out god’s purpose in the dance world.

Without the encouragement and freedom given to me by the Going Public team the journey would have been a long one.

Now I return and share my skills with the current GP trainees. Encouraging them to move in worship using dance as a tool to express and explore.