John Trend 49, Director of the Kingston based youth work charity Oxygen, is running his first marathon to raise money to work with disadvantaged and marginalised young people. 

Oxygen is a Christian youth work charity that engages young people who are most in need and often beyond the reach of other services.  Many of the young people Oxygen works with are struggling with some major challenges including mental health issues, bereavement, special needs, family breakdown, poverty, bullying, under achievement and many more. 

“I am running this marathon for all young people who struggle to cope with the challenges life throws at them and need someone to believe in them.  I know what it is like to have your world turned upside down and not know who to turn to.  I lost my father to leukaemia when I was 16, and despite having a lot of support, I struggled to carry on with life and lost my way.  I finally discovered my sense of purpose by helping other young people as a volunteer through my local church.  A local Barnardo’s youth worker saw something in me and employed me to work in a project for young people coming out of prison.  I have been a youth worker ever since with a career spanning over 30 years!”

Oxygen’s motto is “Believing in Young people” because so many of the young people they meet have little or no aspiration and need others around them to help them see their potential and believe that there is a purpose in life.  “We can give young people hope and the support they need to help them to take a few steps forward.” 

Oxygen’s staff team is highly skilled in building positive, long term relationships with young people of all faiths and backgrounds and takes the time to understand each individual and how to help them overcome the barriers they face.

As a Christian organisation Oxygen receives about half of its financial support from local churches and local Christians who see the work of Oxygen as a way of demonstrating their faith and reaching out to young people.  Oxygen also relies on funding from local trusts, Kingston Council, Love Kingston and generous donations from the public and local businesses.  

Oxygen is responsible for running the Kingston Street Pastors project which helps to keep people safe in Kingston town centre.  They also work with young people who are Not in Education Employment or Training (NEET), deliver “What’s the Point?”- A peer led knife crime awareness project and run after school clubs, a Mentoring programme, and work on local housing estates.  Oxygen also started a project called Man and Boy to help boys to engage with and build relationships with a male role model which is now set up as its own charity.

John, who is married with 3 children, has been juggling running the Charity with his training for the marathon and believes that the Marathon is the easier of the two!  “It has been hard work but rewarding.  I have learned a lot about myself and discovered that with the right motivation and encouragement, I stand a good chance of achieving something I thought would never be possible  In fact I would go so far as to call it a minor miracle. 

We can all find life tough at times.  I believe we all need someone who believes in us, someone who is prepared to go the extra mile to show that they care about us.  Who knows what we could achieve together!”
You can sponsor John and help disadvantaged and marginalised young people at: http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-web/fundraiser/showFundraiserPage.action?userUrl=gotrendy&faId=770124&isTeam=false
You can find out more about Oxygen at:
https://www.oxygen-online.org/
https://www.facebook.com/OxygenKingston/

Article supplied by John Trend