A brief introduction to all our workers and what inspires them.
Arbourthorne & Norfolk Park
Hi my name is Lynne and I am the new Children and Families worker for St Leonards in Arbourthorne and Norfolk Park. I started this role in January 2023, and I work 20 hours a week.
I am very excited to be working with the community of the S2 area and I am looking forward to setting up brand new groups, building links with the local community and sharing God’s love with everyone.
I love working with children and I have done so for many years in one role or another. I was an intern for the Centenary Project previously, so I am very happy to be part of the Centenary Project again!
I am excited to see what God has planned for me.
Ardsley and Thurnscoe
I am the Children and Families Worker for both Christ Church Ardsley and St. Helen’s Thurnscoe. I work 20hrs between the two Parishes and I started work in October 2020 having been recruited during lockdown!
Starting in this role during the pandemic means how we engage with families and children has changed and it is an exciting time to be involved in shaping activities and seeing how best we can reach families through a mix of on-line resources and using our Church spaces. Joining a Church family that has found ways to do this during lockdown is fantastic.
I am passionate to find ways to engage with local families and to provide stepping stones for them to discover God and his love for them and equipping parents to help their children to explore their own faith journey. I have been a Children and Family Worker for many years in Hertfordshire and I am excited to join the Sheffield Centenary Project team.
Finningley
I’m Hannah and alongside my role on central team as Hubs Oversight I’m Family Worker at Holy Trinity and St Oswald’s Church, Finningley, for 3 hours a week to run our monthly Cafe Church; Cafe 3:30. Cafe 3:30 launched in 2018 and has grown far bigger than we can imagine, each Cafe 3:30 has upbeat, contemporary songs, an interactive talk, craft activities, family prayer activity and a sensory activity for the younger children.
When I returned from maternity leave in 2021 I decided to reduce my working hours to fit better with family life.
St John’s, Goole
My name is Emma and I am the Children & Families worker at St John’s Church in Goole. I am new to this role and I’m very excited to get started! I will be working 35 hours a week, running a Parent and Toddler group, Kids Church, and making links with the local community, working closely with Primary Schools supporting Jesus’ teachings.
I have 18 years of experience working with Children within a Primary School setting, teaching various topics – the most rewarding job seeing children achieve and reach their full potential with encouragement and support. I am looking forward to transferring these skills to my new role whilst encouraging and supporting each child’s faith journey.
I am looking forward to being part of the Centenary Project and I can’t wait to see Gods plans for Goole and the local Community. I feel God is using my strengths to develop the Christian faith within our town.
Hatfield
My name is Rachel Ridler and I am the Youth, Children’s and Families Worker at St Lawrence Church in Hatfield, Doncaster. I started this role in January 2020 and I work 28 hours per week.
St Lawrence is a really active church in the village of Hatfield, with plenty of activities taking place to encourage families to engage with church, and a Church of England primary school right next door. The church is passionate about reaching out to more people in the local community, and providing for all age groups.
My role includes leading the popular Messy Church both online and in person, working alongside the 5 local primary schools to provide collective worship opportunities, running a socially distant summer club and other one-off events targeted at children and families.
I am hoping to start up some new groups for youth and also for mums with babies and toddlers, and have been involved in launching a new Uniform Bank during lockdown and a Toy Library for our local community.
What excites me most about this role is the opportunity to reach the community that my family live in with the gospel, and to work alongside the friendly, welcoming and enthusiastic congregation at St Lawrence. Part of my role is to nurture and develop the volunteer team and oversee them, as well as drawing in new volunteers so that the church can carry on this work well into the future.
As a previous fundraiser, this is a change of direction for me, but I have been involved in youth and children’s work in many voluntary ways for the last 20 years. I love sharing my ideas, fundraising skills and enthusiasm with the other Centenary Project Workers and love being a part of this network.
Heeley Parish Church, Sheffield
Hi! I’m Laura, Children and Families Worker at Heeley Parish Church. Here we have a few weekly groups run during term time, including X kids after school club, Refresh Morning women’s group and a toddler group. We also run holiday clubs and monthly socials for the whole family, such as quiz night, disco, bingo and walks in the Peak District.
I have always loved working with children of all ages, and have worked as a teacher, nursery practitioner and childminder. Volunteering at Heeley Parish Church as a children’s worker felt so natural, and this is where I found a passion for helping children and their families get to know more about Jesus and grow their faith.
I am really excited to be part of the Centenary Project team and can’t wait to start working with the children and families at Heeley Parish Church!
Kirk Sandall & Edenthorpe
Hi, my name is Josey Bryant and I am the new Children and Families worker for the parish of Kirk Sandall & Edenthorpe.
I initially started with the project in June 2019 and my role was at Heeley in Sheffield. I was appointed to Kirk Sandall at the beginning of December 2022.
I am looking forward to working within the community at Kirk Sandall & Edenthorpe .
I am so excited to be part of the Centenary Project and it is a natural fit for me (more likely a supernatural fit) I have always loved working with children and supporting families. I feel that God is going to use my interests and skills to enable me to walk alongside children and families to further God’s Kingdom.
Malin Bridge
Hi, my name is Bec and I am the new Children and Families’ worker over at St Polycarp’s, Malin Bridge in Sheffield. I have experience with Children’s work and value what we preach to our families across the community.
Please do get in touch, should you have any questions or are interested in the activities that we hold here in parish.
New Bentley, Scawsby and Edlington (Our Lady of Doncaster Mission Partnership)
Hi, I’m Melanie Pay, the new Children, Youth and Families Worker for New Bentley and Scawsby. I have a family myself and know how important drawing them into the life of the Church is, and have spent the last year or so working in my home parish to develop that work.
I’m looking forward to learning more with the Centenary Project and meeting new people along the way.
I’ve lived in Scawsby, Doncaster all my life and have attended St Leonard’s and St Jude’s Church since being 10 years old. I’ve always felt a strong connection to the Church and attended many youth and young adults pilgrimages whilst growing up.
I’m a big child at heart myself so enjoy learning with the children and arranging fun activities and outings. I find children can teach us just as much as we can teach them.
I’m excited to go on the journey I feel god has called me to do and I hope to be able to make good friendships and build lots of new relationships along the way.
St John’s Park
Hi, I’m Kirsty and I am the part-time children and families worker at St John’s Park in Sheffield.
St John’s is a church located at the heart of Park, whose mission is to be followers of Jesus who love and learn from God, empower and support each other, and serve and reach out to their community and beyond.
My role is to co-ordinate the children, and families ministry by reaching, discipling, and engaging children and young families from the wider community, enabling them to progress through the various ministries offered.
I love working with the Centenary project and having previously been an intern with them too, I obviously just couldn’t stay away!
Before working for the Centenary Project, I have worked in sales, admin, and retail and I taught English to adults and children in Spain for a year which I absolutely loved. I also help a friend with the social media pages for her app called God for Kids!
The Rivers Team, Sheffield
Hi! My name is Sarah and I am the Children and Families worker for the Rivers Team. I’m a wife, mother and grandmother and I have three grown-up daughters and five grandchildren. I started on the 1st of October 2018.
My work includes working with families from First Steps to Messy Church, School Assemblies and follow up for baptism families.
I very much enjoy my role and appreciate the support and prayers from the Centenary Project and my parish and I feel privileged to journey alongside these families and children as they discover more about their Faith.
Wath
Hi my name is Rachel and I am the Children’s and Families worker at All Saints Wath upon Dearne and Christ Church Brampton Bierlow. I started this role in March 2022 and work 28 hours per week. I am married to a vicar, have three grown up children and prior to my new role, I worked as an Early Years Teacher for 15 years.
Along with a fantastic team of volunteers, we are sharing the love of Jesus in our community through a variety of child/family focussed activities. These include-Tiddler and Toddlers, Messy Church, Sunday School, Family Fun events, All Age Worship and more recently a Youth group.
It’s wonderful to maintain my connection with schools and I lead assemblies, support visits to church, lead special festival services and work alongside children in the classroom.
I am passionate about sharing the exciting contents of the bible with children and young people and making the stories and characters we meet inside its pages real and relevant.
I know God has exciting things in store for the youth, children and families of Wath and Brampton.
Whiston and Herringthorpe
My name is Lucy, and I am the Children’s and Families Worker at St Mary Magdalene, Whiston & St Cuthbert, Herringthorpe, Rotherham.
I started in September 2015 and I work 15 hours per week.
My work includes working with parent and toddler groups, uniformed organisations, Sunday children’s groups, Open the Book Team leading assemblies in three primary schools, monthly Mum’s Group, occasionally leading all age family services, safeguarding and organising family social events.
The Centenary Project has a huge impact at Whiston and Herringthorpe by taking church out into the local communities – this would not happen without Centenary Project. It is also brilliant to be part of a larger network of Children and Youth Workers – fantastic!
I feel so encouraged and excited to work alongside some amazing children and families, to be with them as they explore their faith through fun and enjoyable experiences.
Wombwell
Hi, I’m Steph and I am the Children and Families worker for the benefice of Wombwell (which is in Barnsley) this includes St Mary’s church in Wombwell and St George’s church in Jump. I started this role in July 2021, working 20 hrs per week.
St Mary’s is an active church in reaching out to the community, due to the pandemic we have had to reach out in different ways using online platforms. Plans are in the works as we move forward to restarting an after-school club, a holiday club in the summer, and the toddler group, with other new clubs to come for different age groups!
We work closely with the local church school and have links with the other three primary schools in Wombwell. There is so much potential in this area and I cannot wait to see God work here!
I feel privileged to be able to journey alongside the children and their families in this area and to help them and guide them, allowing them to grow closer with God in their lives every day.
As I am a big child at heart and I like to get on children’s level and make learning fun, I’m full of energy and always willing to play a game or two.
Woodhouse
Hi my name is Dave, I am the Youth & Families Worker at St James Woodhouse.
Woodhouse is situated outside Sheffield city centre in a village network and is between two council housing estates with two primary and two secondary schools close by.
I started the role in April 2016 working 17.5 hours per week.
As a youth and families worker I find myself working with children, young people and their families across all ages. Our events include, Café Church, Christian Union, Assemblies, weekly kids and youth groups, mentoring, young leaders and discipleship groups.
I am involved in two of the local primary schools and one local secondary school running a Christian Union, assemblies and class time.
The Centenary Project is more than a place of work, it is a family! We love and care for each other inside and outside of our jobs and there is always someone who can support and advise on anything and everything.
Worsbrough
Hi, I’m Elise and I work as a Children and Families Worker at St Thomas and St James Church, and St Mary’s Church, Worsbrough. I started as a CPW in October 2020 during a very challenging time for everyone but I’m excited to see how God will use this time and turn it into an opportunity for growth and development.
My main focus to begin with will be to engage with the congregation and local community as much as possible and to see how I can provide the most support. I will be involved in developing various activities such as Messy Church, a toddler group and a children’s choir.
I will also hopefully be working with the local primary schools and delivering RE lessons and assemblies.
Having gained 4 years experience as a primary school teacher, I’m excited to put the skills I’ve gained to good use within this role. I’m passionate about helping children and families gain a greater understanding of God and the Bible and, with the help of the Holy Spirit, I hope to show God’s love in action! I feel really blessed to be working at the Centenary Project and I can’t wait to see what God has in store.