About Upcott
Upcott is a Christian youthwork charity working with children and young people from various parts of the country.
Since January 2007 our work has been based in Minehead, Somerset, where we own a property called The Beacon.
Our Vision
The VISION of the Axe Valley Christian Trust is to encourage and facilitate young people to discover and pursue God's best for their lives.
The Bible teaches us that God has a plan for every individual life which is the best and should be pursued wholeheartedly and lived with excellence. We see God's best being centered in relationships both with Him and other people that are open, deep and long lasting; best characterised by the term "family". We also believe that young people are uniquely placed to establish God's best as a way of life.
For us, Jesus' model of discipleship through sharing life is the key. We want to pursue and demonstrate God's best in every aspect of life and disciple others, primarily young people, to do the same. We want whatever goes on at Upcott to fully reflect this vision.
Values
The Bible
Studying the written word of God as the basis of our teaching and ministry.
Prayer
Founding our work on a lifestyle of regular corporate and individual prayer. We are hoping to provide a prayer room for residents, guests and local Christians.
Community
Establishing and developing "family" relationships in the context of the resident and wider Upcott community. Through living together as a community the Upcott Team seeks to model a godly lifestyle to young people. We consider the Upcott community to be complimentary to and supportive of the local relationships and Church authority.
Creativity
We love to encourage and facilitate young people to discover and develop their creative giftings. Including, but not exclusively, music, art, film making, teaching and leadership.
Worship
Exploring fresh expressions of worship to broaden our understanding and experience of God and to allow all kinds of people to meet with Him in a personal and life changing way.
Justice
We recognise the importance of expressing our faith through giving to those worse off than ourselves; through service, money and prayer. Providing opportunities and information to facilitate people to do this.
What this means in practice is that we want to share our lives with young people in ways appropriate to their individual situations.
Outworking
At present are:
- Running the Upcott Weeks
- Team members visiting churches and youth groups
- Running 'eXcellent Life'
- The use of Upcott by local churches and youth groups.
- Hosting other Christian groups
Trustees and Governing Body
Louise Coningsby
MCIPD, works with a range of organisations and individuals as a catalyst and facilitator of change and development. Her main foci are leadership, organisational, human resource and Board development. Louise is passionate about prayer, seeing this and future generations of leaders reach their full potential and Christian organisations and Churches moving towards greater excellence. Louise attends her local church in St Margaret's and has three god-children, one of which lives in Shanghai.
Viv Craig
lives in Seaton with Brian, her husband of many years. They attend Crossroad Christian Fellowship, a church which brings together people from a wide variety of Christian backgrounds. She has worked in education for over 25 years and is presently headteacher of a nearby infant school.
Pete Ingleby
entered into relationship with God on an Upcott Week in 1997. He spent a year working for Upcott after leaving school, and has helped on many of the Upcott weeks since then. Pete is now a Maths teacher in Southampton. He is part of City Life Church in the city, where he is part of the worship team.
Ali Sanderson
lives in Minehead with her family and attends Minehead Baptist Church. Upcott weeks played an important part in her childhood and in her Christian growth, and have done the same for her three children. She is the senior organiser for local family support charity Home-Start West Somerset, which recruits and trains parent volunteers to provide home visiting support to families who are experiencing difficulties.
Jann Thorpe
is an Early years teacher at a Primary school in Macclesfield. She is one of the original 5 people who came to the very first Upcott week in its first year of opening. She is licensed as a Reader in the Church of England. She is married to Mike and they have three children. Together they attend a small church in Macclesfield.
Paul Welch
is head of year 7 / transition at Gordano school near Bristol. He has been involved with Upcott since 1988. Paul is involved with his local church in Bristol where he helps lead worship and run a kid's club.
Alex Wilson
has been a Christian since 1985 having been converted through the work of Upcott. She currently lives in Devon and is a secondary school teacher in Tiverton. She attends Crossroad Christian Fellowship in Seaton and is involved in the youthwork there.