"Beauty for Ashes" was the result of a chat over coffee with a friend... Steffi  was so fed up with having no answers for her generation for image problems, eating disorders, self harm, suicidal thoughts...the list goes on... but her eyes lit up when talking about taking old things that people throw away and transforming  them  into funky new fashion!

Creative Ideas started to flow...

Teenagers come with odds and ends from home or charity shops and learn how to take them apart, recognise and clean valuable pieces, and remake them into something different and unique. They naturally talk about themselves, the things they love, what they look like and also deeper issues are shared as trust builds... so we have opportunity to mentor them, speaking life into their young hearts.    

It’s warm, natural, relational evangelism.

Some of the girls that come to the Generations workshops are broken with challenging home lives.   A local youth group heard about what we are doing and recently sent a group of 8 girls along to us. 

The results are amazing ... fabulous jewellery...  but more importantly the girls go home knowing they are treasured; their jewellery making, a parable of themselves.

"MUMS OF FASCINATING KIDS"

I am a mother of two autistic spectrum children and have been involved with Aglow for about 20 years.  A few years ago it became obvious to us that Autism is a growing need in families;  1 in 6 families in Britain are affected by this condition in some way. 

Isolation and feeling judged are some of the side effects of the parents, and many mothers stay at home alone, coping with great difficulties. 

Understanding the struggles and the joys that I experienced over small victories in my life a friend and I thought we should try to reach other mums like myself... that dream is now a reality with “Mums of Fascinating Kids".

We started with the simple idea of blessing mums with a meal of quality, and a "pamper gift pack" evening.  We toasted them on behalf of their children (who are often unable to verbalise love and appreciation) and thanked each mother for all she endures and stands in every day for her child.  

22 mums came to the meal and all cried, feeling accepted and understood by others with the same circumstances.  Acceptance and listening broke down the isolation and feelings of judgement... the necessity for another event became obvious and pressing!

Something on a more regular basis was needed, so Aglow Generations coffee morning for "Mums of Fascinating Kids" was birthed!  Every month mums meet together and share... with mostly laughter and a few tears.  Everyone listens because they are the greatest experts of this condition and all of us benefit from it. 

To find out more about the Generations Project check out www.generationsproject.net