ABOUT CURBS…find out about us

CURBS is about...

Resources: issues-based photocopiable Kits for use in a variety of children's activities
Support: encouragement and exchange of ideas and resources for leaders
Training: a range of modules tailored to the individual needs of leaders
Raising awareness: advocacy on behalf of urban children and children's spirituality within denominational contexts
Networking: exchange of information and ideas at local and organisational levels
Partnership: links with other agencies and individuals working in similar fields

The CURBS Project is deeply committed to celebrating the boundless energy and incredible creativity of children for whom the inner cities and outer urban estates are home. Yet many live in situations which do not nurture such gifts. Many know nothing about God's love.

Kids like these are the very heartbeat of the Project and the reason CURBS exists.

CURBS is passionately committed to those who work with such children, have a very deep commitment to them and give endless love, time and energy. Yet they often feel overwhelmed and in need of encouragement and ideas.

CURBS was set up to support and encourage leaders like these.

CURBS is about a different way of working with children, one which starts in the child's world, is about earning the right to be heard, and is about building relationships.
Urban kids need to meet a God who makes sense of their exciting, varied, streetwise, often confused and hurtful world.

CURBS is more than simply a tool or a resource to be dropped into an urban situation struggling with its children's work. Underlying CURBS is a philosophy which challenges traditional approaches to working with children. We do not see children as 'jugs to be filled' but as 'flames to be fanned'. The Project is about building bridges into the children's world.

To this end, the philosophy underlying CURBS marries up three important strands of thought and practice:

  • Children's spirituality: CURBS takes seriously and works with the belief that children are made in the image of God and therefore have an innate spirituality.
  • Understanding children: CURBS values the insights to be gained from the processes involved in child development, and believes that we need to integrate these insights into the way we work with children.
  • Urban context: CURBS seeks to understand and work with the pressures faced by children living in inner cities and on outer urban estates.

The building of quality relationships and the discovery of creative approaches which value the non-book world of the children are at the heart of what CURBS is about.