WHO ARE WE?
CURBS is a small Christian charity set up in 1996 in response to the need for resources and training for church-linked children’s workers in inner cities and on outer urban estates. CURBS advocates strongly for an approach to children which starts in their urban world, values their spirituality and recognises their developmental needs.
What do we do?
CURBS provides a range of children’s resources suitable for use in church settings, such as Sunday groups, after school and holiday activities, as well as in school-based clubs. It also provides issues-based training for children’s workers tailored to local needs, as well the hands-on reflective learning programme, CURBS Unpacked.
Who makes CURBS happen?
CURBS has a team of three part time Project Workers who each focus on different aspects of the work. Much of the work is undertaken by the untiring support of highly committed volunteers who make up the teams that write the resources, conduct the training, and develop the thinking that drives the project. A Board of Trustees guides the overall development of the work.
Who uses us?
Our resources are used in a wide range of settings by urban children’s workers from all church traditions. Our training is delivered in large conference settings, to groups of churches, and to small groups of four or five children’s workers in a local church setting. Our values and our approach to supporting urban children’s work is recognised nationally as offering a unique perspective in the field of children’s ministry.
Who supports us?
We are supported financially through grant-making trusts, denominational bodies, as a Tearfund partner, and through generous giving from individuals. We have been enabled to grow and develop to the extent we have through the prayer support of many committed prayer partners.
OUR STORY
The vision for CURBS arose in East London back in the 1970s. Church-linked community work with children highlighted the need for Christian resources for use with inner-city children which publishers were not providing - resources which started in the world of the child, rather than assuming levels of literacy, biblical knowledge, types of activities, and patterns of attendance and family life more relevant to suburban middle class communities. Also it showed that there were no groups making provision specifically for the training needs of urban children’s workers.
Following a pilot project in the early eighties supported by a local charity in the London Borough of Newham, the vision finally became a reality in 1996 when Kathryn Copsey, then editing SALT resources, persuaded Scripture Union to set up CURBS as a pilot venture for three years.
During these three years, contacts were established, a resource and support team gathered, a pilot resource pack was produced and evaluated, training modules were developed and further kits were planned. The need for such a project was clearly confirmed such that in 1999, when Scripture Union funding was no longer available, CURBS was launched as a charitable trust in its own right.