Our Story & Vision

In 1996, a group of Christian youth workers got together from across Poole, Wimborne and Ferndown with a common desire to work together to plan events for christian young people - events that were lively, relevant, and would encourage them in their faith. After choosing 'The Farside' as our name, we put on our first celebration at Poole Arts Centre, which attracted around 100 young people from 8 churches. It was a success, so we consulted with other church and youth group leaders and agreed to put on bi-monthly celebrations. The word spread, more christian youth groups got involved, and the numbers of young people attending has steadily grown. In 2009 people from 44 churches attended, with an average of 22 different churches per celebration.

Present...

Future...

It is our hope that over the coming years The Farside will continue to be a vehicle through which local churches and other christian organisations can work together to put on credible christian youth events that will encourage and equip young people in their faith, and assist them to contribute to the lives of other young people across the area through personal witness and practical projects.

If you would like to join us in developing this work in any way, please get in touch with Simon Harwood (The Farside Coordinator). For more information about how to get in touch, click here.

Aims...

Through the Celebrations we aim to:
// Support young people in their individual gifts, by involving them in the band, the drama or dance groups, in speaking, or in whatever other areas we can support them.
// Encourage people from churches where there are few young people, by showing them they aren't the only young christians in the area!
// Invite young people to get involved in practical projects and share their faith in ways which are meaningful and relevant to their setting.
// Inspire young people to grow in their understanding of a different aspect of life, faith and God at each different event.
// Strengthen young people's faith, and demonstrate that it is something that is both exciting and challenging to be part of.
 // Equip young people for their everyday lives as christians

If you are a young person yourself, or if you are someone who works with young people in the area, and you want to get involved in encouraging and equipping young people in their christian faith - please get in touch with Simon Harwood (The Farside Coordinator) or come along to one of our celebration planning meetings. Forthcoming dates for these meetings can be found on our events page.