Case study 2012 - The Source Cafe

Fact file

Project: The Source Cafe

Community Hero: Andy Barrett

Location: Aldershot

Mission: To help young people get their lives back on track

Description: The Source is a dynamic community of Christian workers and volunteers passionately committed to helping young people ‘Be, Belong and Become all that God has created them to be.’

How The Source transforms lives

JJ was only six years old when his alcoholic father started to hit him. His dad would return home drunk and start throwing knives and forks or boots at him. No wonder JJ grew up to become a violent teenager. Like his father, he hit people before he spoke to them.

What changed JJ’s life was coming to The Source and learning to feel accepted. He was encouraged to go on the anger management course and to get off the drugs he was taking. Over a six month period JJ completed the course and broke free of his drug addiction. He became a calm and peaceful person.

JJ was one of the first young people to come to The Source and now he speaks of Andy and the volunteers he met there as ‘his family.’ He knows that he would not have turned his life around without their help.

Today JJ is a changed man. He has a full time job and has recently moved into his first home with his fiancé and baby daughter. He is determined to be a loving and caring father.

Click here to read more about The Source Cafe.

How your donations are spent

Make a donation today and enable Andy, and others like him, to help more disadvantaged young people like JJ.

£5  Can enable a young person to access a training session at The Source

£10 Can ensure that a young person joins a mentoring programme

£20 Can enable staff at The Source to purchase art and craft materials

£50 can provide hot meals for 30 young people at the after school club

Click here to make a donation today.

More information

Download our Source Cafe information sheet and read more about the inspiring story behind the project. 3.3 MB, PDF file.