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About In2venture |
Mission Statement A network
of Christian communities committed to enabling the exploration and
expression of faith through outdoor activity
History In 1983 the vicar of West Pelton, Rob Bianchi, set up the West Pelton Activity Centre as a non residential centre for activities as a means of reaching young people both locally and nationally. The centre existed as an office and store for outdoor equipment, with activities taking place wherever suitable. Many of the young people were either unemployed or social service referrals, which meant that the Centre also ran probation courses. 1987 saw the formation of the West Pelton Centre charity.The work mainly relied on volunteer support. In 1989 the work had grown to such an extent that Church Army Captain Alan Rainford joined the Centre as assistant manager. From this point a training course in outdoor activities was started and schools also started using the Centre. During this period various outdoor activity clubs were started. In 1995 Rob left and Alan took over the running of the Centre. Also that year the Centre started to run activities for the Barnabas Trust centre Whithaugh Park, in the Scottish Borders. This work developed and in 1997 Whithaugh Park became the main operating base. Due to the need for an Adventure Activities Licensing Authority (AALA) license, various groups started to affiliate to the centre during this time. Cockerton Outdoor Activity Club (COAC) started at this time, later to become a full project running under the centre in 2002. In 2001, Church Army Captain Paul Little joined the centre to support Alan as the youth worker at Whithaugh Park. After joining Paul developed an underground tunnel system called the Walk of Life at the Park. This gave us the opportunity to discuss various topics of faith, such as creation, choices, valuing people, and life after death. In 2002 the name West Pelton Centre was officially changed to In2venture to signify the growing scope the work that the charity was undertaking; COAC became COAC In2venture in 2003. Paul Little started making links throughout the Scottish Borders and beyond, and in February 2003 the Grafted Project started to form. From the end of September 2005 the activity contract at Whithaugh Park came to an end, with Barnabas moving in the Barnabas Adventure team to run the residential activities. Alan’s role changed from being activities manager at Whithaugh Park to general In2venture manager, and the office moved into Newcastleton itself. From April 2005 In2venture started to run activities at Blaithwaite House, a Christian residential centre in the Lake District; this was part of an ongoing relationship that had formed. Due to the retirement of the existing centre manager in 2006, In2venture went into partnership with the Dennis Donald Discretionary Trust to run Blaithwaite House from April 2006. Mal and Kay Tabb were appointed as the new centre managers; both had been volunteers with In2venture for a number of years. At the same time, in April 2006, Northern Inter- Schools Christian Union (NISCU) became a project with In2venture to develop their ongoing youth work in the area of outdoor activities. The mission statement of the In2venture charity was changed in August 2005 to reflect all the changes that have taken place. In 2006 Paul was joined by Church Army Captain Andy Walker. Andy’s role is to develop youth work in the local area, as well as developing new expressions of church. Also in 2006, the Grafted Project started the Window of Time, a government funded scheme that aims to take 10 of the most chaotic young people in the Borders and turn them into outdoor activity instructors. Working with In2venture If you feel that is any way that In2venture can support the work you are doing, please contact us. We are always open to new projects joining us; please get in contact with Alan to find out more. Team The In2venture team are based in Newcastleton, in the Scottish Borders. The team consists of Alan Rainford, the In2venture Manager, and Anne Hardy, our Administrator. The Grafted Project team are based at the Newcastleton office. Mal and Kay Tabb are based at Blaithwaite House along with the rest of the Blaithwaite staff. Paul Richardson acts as the contact point for COAC In2venture, and Jon Cook is the contact person for NISCU. |
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