Young people need to know the love of God through the care of the church, especially when life is tough.

The Big House exists to help young people to know God’s love as they encounter Jesus and are cared for by the church, especially in difficult situations.

That's all very well and good; but how exactly can we help? Good question!

We believe there are two main ways that The Big House can achieve this aim. Firstly, through providing residential youth programmes that address the difficult issues young people face from a Christian perspective and as part of an enjoyable programme; and secondly, through training and resourcing youth leaders, those who work alongside young people in their day to day lives.

Why provide residential programmes? There are two main reasons for this, they are highly effective and they are great fun! Ask any youth leader what the most important part of their programme is and many will tell you it's the weekend away or camp. These programmes are hard work, but they make a big impact provided they are part of an ongoing work and not one-off experiences in a vacuum. This is one of the reasons we restrict ourselves to working through churches and youth organisations, so that Big House residential programmes are part of an ongoing commitment to care for a young person.

Just as it is not fair to take a young person away for a great weekend and then abandon them, it is also not fair to ask youth leaders to take responsibility for caring for those young people without offering them some help. There are already some great training programmes and resources out there for youth leaders, but sometimes they are hard to find, or don't cover the specific issue you're faced with. The Big House will seek to supplement existing training programmes and provide youth leaders with links to other groups and people who can help with any specific pastoral issues. We don't expect youth leaders to become expert counsellors or therapists, indeed recognising when to hand over to someone properly qualified is very important, but rather to give them some basic tools so they can help a young person even in a small way, and some contacts so they can talk to someone who knows more about a given issue or has relevant experience.

With residential programmes at the heart of what we aim to do, we need a place for young people to be resident, at least for a weekend or a few days.

As the name "The Big House" implies we aim to be based in a location suitabel for groups of young people to come and visit. We may run programmes in other locations for various reasons but we feel that the place is important, especially to the current generation of young people.  People often return to places to encounter particular people again or to relive a particular experience. Our hope and prayer is that The Big House will be a place where young people meet people who show them God's love in very practical ways, where they have great fun, and where they encounter the presence of God.

At present we are seeking an appropriate place for The Big House.  Our desire is to have literally, a "big house" as the main venue, providing a relaxed and homely atmosphere, so that young people feel they are staying in someone's home. Having said that, we recognise the need to accomodate large groups of 60 or more young people, so purpose built sleeping accomodation and facilities for indoor activities will be needed alongside the main house.

We want young people to feel that they are getting away to a special place. Some will relish the opportunity to take a break form a difficult situation, whilst others will be excited by the location and the programme of activities. So we are looking for a place that is rural and beautiful, but also offers the possibility of wonderful experiences. Many people involved in youth work will testify to the value of getting young people away from their day to day situation and those who work with young people with limited mobility know how much of a difference something a simple as lovely view can make. A key feature of the whole site will be accessibility, with facilities for disabled and able-bodied young people integrated together as far as possible. Inclusion is a vital part of what we are about and our venue will be built around this value.

We are concentrating our search on the North Coast area of Northern Ireland. This region is not only a natural holiday location with many outstanding beaches, but it is also rich in potential volunteers, has good transport links and other important services including a hospital.