We gathered a keen team of sixteen men and women ranging from 16 to 60 years old, packed our bags and began the 70 mile journey South to London. With accommodation from one of our community houses "Spreading Flame" we set off on the long journey at 40 mph.
On Wednesday night we hit Leicester Square for a practice run and some fear breaking. We began by performing some skilful ballet and other such dancing techniques. Then we joined up and created a "human train" to Piccadilly Square. Slightly embarrassing but it did the job and broke the fears!
Thursday we sent most of the morning stuck in traffic on the North Circular. We finally arrived in Tottenham with a brilliant parking spot outside some of the burnt out buildings from the riots. It was hard to believe we were standing in a place where only a few weeks ago it was like a scene from a war film. Within a few hours we began to make a scene. The smoothie maker made its way out and as soon as the schools and colleges finished smoothies began to flow. We took with us a few art boards covered with pictures and phrases showing things such as 'equality', 'peer pressure' and 'role models'. With these we invited people the write their thoughts on these subjects on the boards. Not only did this create a scene around us but really helped in opening conversation with some of the local kids.
After a few hours of smoothie making, spitting lyrics (rapping) with the lads and dodging the traffic warden we found a local park and cracked open the BBQ. We had a few hours of throwing a ball around and yamming (eating) some burgers until we called it a night, ready for the next morning. On Friday we hit the same street in Tottenham to continue where we left off. I found Tottenham to be a completely different vibe to what I expected. I was expecting some tensions and maybe a little bit of trouble considering the recent uproar on this very street only two weeks before. How wrong could I be? The locals were all polite and very welcoming. We began to build up a clearer picture of what Tottenham really is about! Asking around to find out what the local youth do in the evenings, it seems there isn't a lot for them to do. The word on the street is that since the Government starting making cuts the few youth clubs around started to close. This seems very dangerous to me- taking away the youth's entertainment. Don't get me wrong, I'm not justifying what happened in Tottenham, but I was beginning to ask if I blame them?
We wanted to make an impact on the streets and it was happening. We struck lucky when a local church, St Marks, in Tottenham offered as free use of one of there halls on the Saturday. We quickly had a load of flyers designed and printed by our graphics team and begain to invite everyone in Tottenham we could see. We stayed on the streets till 2am when we run out of flyers.
On Saturday morning we were back on the dreaded North Circular heading towards Tottenham for the third time in the week. With more flyers to hand we parked the bus in our favorite spot. We were very thankful for the support and patience of the local shops who allowed us to park where we did. The day started well with three lads (all brothers) stopping by, tempted with one of Miracle's (now famous) smoothies. New to Tottenham they were looking for something to do to keep themselves out of trouble. They found Nathan and the Jesus Army (better luck next time boys)! Throughout the day we invited more to the meeting and BBQ in the evening. At 5pm we once again lit the BBQ and waited for the masses to turn up. And they did! Within and hour we had giving away nearly fifty burgers and sausages. The meeting was great too! With at least 20 new friends, of which fifteen were from an unchurched family there was a sense that lives where changing. The three brothers were so touched by what we had as a church they decided to come back to Nether Heyford (nearly 100 miles away) to see what we are really about. And they loved it.
To be continued...
