Meet the FYT team
Debbie Garden
Job title: National Youth Work Development Advisor
Debbie is involved in training and mentoring youth workers, helping individuals and organisations to review and develop their practice, investigating and giving expression to the experiences of young people. She is motivated by the privilege of helping others to become 'more happy and more useful', particularly through commissioning, encouraging and strengthening them. She is inspired by great stories and great concepts and is currently studying for an MA in Youth Ministry.
Matt Hall
Job title: FYT Scotland
Matt Hall is based in Easterhouse, Glasgow, Scotland; an outer-urban housing scheme where he works with young people in a family and community setting. Current FYT role is to support the renewal of our work in Scotland. Matt is also involved in research and training with youth workers. Australian by birth he has lived in four separate countries enabling an appreciation of different cultures. He is passionate about evangelism; discipleship; prayer; and sport and how these are lived out in frontier mission.
Shez Hewes
Job title: Project Worker/Administrator Out4Good
Shez recently joined FYT after volunteering for a year. She works with the O4G project providing support and mentoring as well as facilitating practical activities for young offenders who are in the project. Shez really enjoys her job and loves helping people while at work and in her spare time. She also has a nine year old son whom she describes as 'her world'.
Jeanette Hewes
Job title: Project Leader Out4Good
Jeannette is based in Colchester and leads the Out4Good Project for FYT. O4G works with young offenders providing accommodation, support, mentoring and purposeful activities reducing their likelihood of re-offending. Jeannette and her team work hard with local churches, voluntary and statutory agencies to achieve the best possible outcomes for the service-users thus reversing current re-offending trends. She is a qualified child protection officer and trains other charities in trusteeship. Jeannette is also founder and current chair of a local teenage homeless charity.
Steve Lawton
Job title: Project Worker Out4Good
Steve joined FYT's Out4Good project in 2010 working directly with young offenders. Steve is passionate about reaching out to those young people that much of society has given up on. While at O4G, Steve has had to not only encourage, mentor and assist young people at risk of offending, but also had to conduct cookery lessons, gardening projects, painting and decorating projects, run a 6-a-side football team, look after an allotment, lean about recording studios, sailing and rock climbing! All in a days work for an O4G Project Worker. In addition to his role within FYT, Steve is also an active member of a 24-7 prayer Boiler Room Community in Colchester seeking to promote prayer, mission and justice.
Chris Parker
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Chris joined FYT in 2011 as an apprentice working alongside Leanne in the FYT office. Chris is currently studying for his qualification and helps keep FYT running smoothly.
Richard Passmore
Job title: National Youth Work Development Advisor
Richard Passmore heads up StreetSpace and Church on the edge for FYT, helping local projects engage young people in the community and collapse the gap between mission and church. He is recognised as a leading voice on detached youth work and undertakes a variety of training, including detached work training for both faith based agencies and local authorities. He writes regularly for a variety of magazines, journals and books as well as for a co-operative blog called Sunday Papers which goes some way to explain the journey around church he is on.
Nigel Pimlott
Job title: National Youth Work Development Advisor
Nigel is a National Youth Work Development Advisor. In this role, Nigel undertakes research relating to issues that affect young people, facilitates extensive training and writes resources for youth workers and speaks at conferences . His work focuses upon the well-being and spiritual development of young people, seeking to understand what mission with young people means and exploring a wide range of subjects that young people wrestle with. He is also studying for a PhD in Faith-Based Youth and Community work (see http://www.centreforyouthministry.ac.uk/Research/community/). He is a passionate supporter of Manchester City football club!
John Wheatley
Job title:
John is part of the national StreetSpace team, working with a specific brief to develop StreetSpace projects in areas of deprivation, to undertake research into issues affecting young people, to encourage community activism, and to take an active lead in connecting the network as a movement for change. John is project leader of a StreetSpace branch in Weston-super-mare, living in community on the Bournville Estate. John is part of the Church Mission Society's Community of Mission.
Leanne Youngson
Job title: Finance and Administrative Officer
Leanne joined FYT in September 08. She has worked mainly in schools, but also regularly reaches out to vulnerable people. Her passion (apart from the Kingdom) is education: because it can empower people, but she also believes in helping people through any difficulty into fullness and joy. She enjoys supporting the FYT team in their valuable and fundamental work.