The Box - a social space and information point for young people

The main aim of The Box is to provide a safe social space for the young people in the Epping area to meet and socialise, with a chance to share problems and concerns and take part in activities to promote socialising and relationship building. It is the aim of the youth work team to build positive relationships with the young people, encourage high self esteem and a sense of self worth and provide strong adult Christian role models for the young people.

The four main objectives of The Box are:

1.       To provide a central focus for the community of young people in Epping, allowing space and opportunity to socialise and helping to develop a deeper sense of community.

2.       To centralise information about, and facilitate access to, current provision and services for young people in Epping.

3.       To increase health awareness, positive lifestyle choices, personal development and emotional well being among the young people of Epping and provide help and support for vulnerable young people.

4.       To provide opportunities for young people to pursue additional education, gain wider skills, value self-improvement and achieve success and to increase young people’s influence on, and interest and participation in, the wider community of Epping.

The Box is managed by The Koinonia Youth Trust, an Epping based charity established to meet the needs of young people.

The Koinonia Youth Trust – Background and Vision

The vision behind the Koinonia Youth Trust was born out of a recognition that the town of Epping has no appropriate, attractive and easily accessible facility dedicated for the use of young people.

In 1997, the founding Trustees noticed that teenagers gathered daily on the benches, street corners and in the car parks of the town centre with apparently nothing to do. Through informal discussion with the young people, the Trustees became aware of the absence of an organisation solely dedicated to providing permanent facilities for the town’s young people.

It was out of this awareness, and the conviction that the young people of our town deserve the best, that The Koinonia Youth Trust was created in order to investigate the real needs of the young people and to meet these needs in the most effective way possible. Following extensive research and consultation with young people, The Box was developed: a High Street venue for young people featuring an attractive café-style meeting place, providing a focus for a wide range of youth related services and working towards a real partnership with the young people themselves.

Koinonia

The word Koinonia is a Greek word appearing 46 times in the New Testament. It embodies the concepts of practical action, community and partnership with others and with God. Our vision is born out of our Christian faith. The Koinonia Youth Trust was set up to work towards providing a sense of community for young people in Epping and we believe the name of the Trust encapsulates what we aim to achieve through The Box and the way in which we choose to work with, and alongside, our partners and the young people themselves.

Our Christian Ethos

The Koinonia Youth Trust is an independent Christian charity. The five Trustees have a wide range of experience in youth work and related issues and they all share a concern for young people and a Christian faith. As Christians we believe that every individual young person has worth and is valuable to God. Therefore we believe that they should have worth within and be valuable to their community. This basic belief has informed the aims of the Trust: to work with all young people regardless of background and belief in as comprehensive a way as possible through good and innovative youth work practice, meeting their physical, spiritual and community needs. The trustees, staff and volunteers work within a framework of Christian values, seeking God's guidance and inspiration, whilst also recognising the diverse needs of the young people we work with and seeking the professional advice and expertise of our various partner agencies.