The Oakes Turns 25!
Billie Thaw from The Oakes Holiday Centre in South Sheffield celebrates 25 years of disciple-making activity camps for kids.
The Oakes is 25 Today!
The Oakes Trust purchased its site - a large house with grounds on the outskirts of Sheffield - on 12th May, 1998. This means we are celebrating our 25th Birthday!
During this time, over 30,000 children and young people have heard about Jesus in a relevant and engaging way as part of a fun-filled activity holiday.
Hundreds of groups have visited from Sheffield Churches and local schools and many others have come on our “open camps” available to all during some weekends and in the school holidays.
Over 300 young adults have joined our ‘Impact Team’, taking part in our gap year training programme, designed to give opportunities to share Jesus, serve Jesus and grow in Jesus, and many of these young leaders have come from the Sheffield area. Many more have joined our ‘Support Team’, teenagers aged 15+ who come to help out, learn on the job and share the load at busy times.
As we look back, we want to say a massive thank you to God for his incredible faithfulness, but we also want to say thank you to the many Christians of all ages from across the city who have helped to make The Oakes possible.
Over the last 25 years we have received regular prayer, financial and volunteer support from 10 Sheffield churches and hundreds of individuals and families, and each one has been a massive encouragement to us.
Since the very beginning, 40% of our annual income has come from supporters. In addition, our permanent team are all supported by their churches and network of friends, as The Oakes does not pay any salaries. This support has enabled us to keep our camp fees as low as possible and continue to improve our facilities.
We are marking our 25th Anniversary in a variety of ways:
25 Hour Prayer Event
We are part-way through this right now, but it is not to late to join in!
Please pray with us on Zoom, starting on the hour, every hour today (Friday 12 May) until 9pm tonight, and also join us to celebrate and praise God together on-site, 8-9pm. (S8 8BL).
Visual Story Videos
Two years ago, we published our book, ‘A Story to Tell’ (available through 10ofthose.com). We have now created a long and short video version of the Oakes story, and these are going live on our website today! They have been produced to encourage, inspire and glorify God for all that he has done and continues to do at The Oakes. Team members would love to share these with your church, small group or youth group. Please get in touch if you would like to arrange a visit.
Family Fun Day - Saturday, 10th June 10-5pm.
Free fun for all ages (minimum age of 6 for some activities). Please invite friends, bring a picnic and celebrate our Birthday with us!
Other ways to support The Oakes
If you would like to make a booking, become a prayer partner, or support the ministry through a gift, please go to our website (www.oakes.org.uk). If you would like to volunteer to help out, maybe with maintenance, gardening, catering, housekeeping or administration, please contact karen@oakes.org.uk
Residential camps are an incredible way to share Jesus with children and young people. We would love to see more gospel focussed centres established in Yorkshire, the UK and beyond. Please pray with us as we seek God’s guidance for the way ahead.
Thank you so much to the Christians of Sheffield for your partnership with us, we are truly grateful.
Billie Thaw