EARLY in January, St Paul's, Manningham, set up an after-school
homework programme to help some of the hard-to-reach people from
the area surrounding the church. Because Manningham is a largely
Muslim part of Bradford, the nine or ten students
who now come are mostly Muslim, mostly boys, and studying for their
GCSEs, the Vicar, the Revd Alistair Helm, says.
He tells me that it is a "tight" area. Even though some of the
houses are quite large, there may be as many as ten children in a
family; so the young students need somewhere quiet to work. One of
the Muslim development workers said that on the very first evening
they were delighted with the club. "We were all made very welcome,
and the facilities were exactly what we need.
"There is quiet space for study, a room for refreshments, and we
can use the hall for games. It is a great venue, and we hope to
attract more people along."
The church teamed up with the Manningham Youth Project, and the
homework programme has been made possible by a £4000 grant from the
Church Urban Fund. There is a tutor to help the students with their
work, and they have recently been learning how to write their own
CVs, Mr Helm says, and will also be doing mock job interviews.
