Agroup of youths in hoodies doesn't always give off the best vibes, but this lot do ! Over the October half term, 1 00 young people aged from 1 1 - 1 8 wore blue hoodies and gave up their free time to do something quite different. Hope MK consisted of 21 different churches and four organisations across Milton Keynes, working alongside around 20 local organisations to provide free services for the community. These included free car washing, painting buildings, free lunches for children of families who need support, transporting and running a football cage to different places across the city and more! Each of these projects was 100% free for the public, encouraging community spirit and sharing something of God's love through serving these people.
Each day started at 9.30am with a 'wacky workout', and finished around 7pm after a day filled with teaching, games, projects and lots of great food. Team building was key to the week, as the young people were put into groups with people they had never met before, coming out of the project having formed many great friendships. Projects were the main focus, with the morning sessions encouraging and equipping the young people to go out and serve the community. Young people commented that they had enjoyed stepping out of their comfort zone, and countless others said how happy they had been to be able to share something of their faith. One volunteer commented: 'It was really heart­ warming to see young people of so many churches befriending each other, praying for each other, and working together to serve the wider community. '
Friday night was the big gig, which young people from all over the city were invited to. It was a great way of celebrating the week's successes, and for the young people to relax with their friends. The gig featured headliners rapper 'Guvna B' and Guinness world record holder, football freestyler Dan Cutting.
On the Friday afternoon, the teams went out
into the city centre to do something different, including offering to pay for the first hour of people's car parking, and handing out post-it notes with positive messages on them. A number of people put photographs of the messages they had received on Facebook and Twitter, saying thank you to the teams for putting a smile on their face and brightening their day.
One group had a 'trade-up' challenge, where they set off with a pack of bubbles each, and swapped them with shopkeepers and members of the public. The idea was that the end items would be given to people in the community who would benefit from them. After a couple of trades, and armed with a tacky jewellery box and Frisbee, the team entered a wedding dress shop. They explained to the lady what they were doing and asked if she had anything they could trade. She pointed to three wedding dresses, and said she wanted them to choose one. They did so, and unknowingly
Hope MK
By Sarah Wa 
chose the most expensive, which cost £1 1 1 9! She said felt she wanted to bless someone with it- and so it was given to the girls to take away. Not knowing anyone getting married, the whole team decided to pray that someone would be able to use it. Three days later, they received a call from a man who said his brother was seriously ill and had to move his wedding date to that coming week. They had managed to sort most things but needed a wedding dress... and in a Cinderella-like way, the dress fit. This is just one small part of what this mass of hoodies did, they served a great purpose all week, and showed that young people do far more than hang around on street corners or sit inside doing nothing, and that Christians don't just sit in church singing hymns. They served their local community in practical ways and made a huge difference. If you came into contact with the blue hooded grou ps over the week, you'll know what I mean!
 Phonebox Magazine 41