By Neil Obbard2024-09-25T13:59:00
Neil Obbard was an Army sniper filled with anger over his childhood abuse. Seeing the young people on his estate in Leeds suffering with similar traumas, he started a bicycle repair programme with the hope of reaching them with the good news
I live in East Leeds, where the most recent statistics show that a third of young people are living in poverty. Often, it’s difficult to describe what this looks like to others but, on my estate, I know kids aged nine and ten years old who are running drugs for their families.
These young people – who are coping with all kinds of dysfunction and trauma and trying to make sense of it all - find it almost impossible to express themselves in a way that will be heard. Feeling rejected, marginalised and angry, they are easily provoked; they get excluded from school, banned from youth clubs and end up roaming the streets. Fighting for their dignity and respect, they crave acceptance, purpose and an escape from boredom. Police sanctions and school exclusions do little to address these underlying issues and, at worst, only reinforce destructive patterns.
2024-10-02T15:18:00Z By Tony Wilson
Assisted suicide is the ultimate expression of individualism, says Tony Wilson. But we can’t control all aspects of our lives, and Christians have good reasons to surrender their wants and desires to God
2024-09-30T16:34:00Z By Susie Flashman-Jarvis
The culture that allowed allegations of rape against Mohamed Al Fayed to go unchallenged for so long must change, says Susie Flashman Jarvis. And the Church must learn those same lessons, too
2024-06-19T16:03:00Z By Mark Arnold
Disabled children are floundering in a broken system, says additional needs campaigner, Mark Arnold. And whoever receives the keys to Downing Street must do something about it immediately
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