Soul Action: the noise

noisy ideas...

So, how do you go about making a right old Noise?

This page is packed full of ideas to get you inspired about serving your communities.

It doesn't all have to be hard graft, lugging garden rubbish around or scrubbing off graffitti. You could do something a little more fun.

noisy stories...

Read a few case studies from people who've done Noise projects. Find out what worked and how they organise their initiatives.
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Check out what's on the Soul Action TV...

If you're good at football, you could set up a half term sports programme on a local estate, or if you're into making jewellery, why not set up a little worskshop for kids in a nearby community centre. The key is to have fun - we want to serve those around us because we want to show them God's love, not because we begrudgingly feel we have to. One way of doing this effectively is to do stuff for people that we're good at and enjoy. Everything from dj workshops to dance classes have been done in the past and proved really sucessful, so why not give that a go alongside the more traditional servant hearted Noise project?

Ideas that have worked before...

Anyway, enough advice, on with the ideas. All of the projects below have worked at events around the country in the past, try one, all or any combination of them over your Noise weekend:

1. Litter Picking
2. Car Wash
3. Sports Events
4. Extreme Makeover
5. Gardening
6. Community Party
7. Something Different

Click the links to find out more, and don't forget to 'share the love!'

Litter Picking

A classic of Noise events from years gone... classic because it's easy and effective. The basic principle is to get a group togther, walk round an estate or park and simply clean it up. You might want some of those pincer litter picking devices, some gloves, bin liners and maybe some tabbards as you split into teams and pick the street or area free of old crisp wrappers, sweet packets, beer cans and all sorts of other stuff.

Your presence is obvious and is likely to generate stares of confusion from most local residents, but as you go you can explain why you're there and that you smply wanted to bless the local community by getting rid of some of the litter. It's always good to inform a local residents group about what you're doing (so they don't call the police) but otherwise the preparation needed is quite minimal and the effects of your actions are obvious... a cleaner local environment.

Just remember, be careful what you pick up, especially if you stumble across broken glass, used needles etc and maybe have a designated leader to deal with that sort of thing.

Car Wash

Not the seventies disco nights that go on around the country, but actually a free car wash, where you physically scrub car windows, hub caps, bonnets and the rest (however, there's no harm in playing some Sly and the Family Stone, donning flares and an afro wig and making it a seventies serving fest - the first youth group to take on this theme and send in their photo's will get a special feature page on our site! email in now>>).

You could do it in your church car park, or get in touch with a local community centre and do it there. Advertise by putting big placards along the road on the approach to the car park and maybe do a leaflet drop... Alternatively you could pick a particular street and work your way down the road asking people if they'd like their car washed for free. Some might say no, but other's will be well happy to take up the offer. This is a great way of putting on this type of project if you've not got a big church car park.

Anyway, it's fairly easy to organise, you just need some water, buckets, soap, elbow grease and a few cloths... remember wear gloves if you don't want to get wrinkly skin.

Sports Events

A bit of a different take on the Noise project which might need a bit more planning and preparation. Whether it's a afterschool football club, a weekend of competition's culminating in a bank holiday monday afternoon final or a one off skills lesson with a local professional, it's a great way of attracting kids and putting on an event they can get involved in.

You'll need to advertise a bit before and if you have limited spaces encourage kids to sign up somehow.

If you're up for doing this sort of thing then you'll need to consider health and safety, and child protection issues. You may already have this policy based stuff available in the regulations of your church, but it's best to get your youth leader or leadership team in on the planning so they can advise the most appropriate and safest plan of action. However, don't let these things stop you from getting out there and doing it!

extreme Makeover

Girls love that cheesey american TV show where they practically knock down a house and rebuild it entirely from scratch. Most churches won't have the resources to do that sort of thing, but if you know someone locally whose moving house, or looking to redocorate, but simply doesn't have the money to get round to it then why not get a team from the church together and get them to help out.

Everything from repainting an old room, to helping clear out a load of mess, or even a larger house change project would be a great way to really serve a particular person. You could make it an ongoing project or something over an entire weekend... it's up to you and the needs of those peopke you know in your community.

If you choose to do this sort of project you could make a video, have a presenter and document the changes that take place to the house over the period of the project. You could even finish with a little unveiling party where you show the homeowners round the house, room or garden for the first time since it received the 'extreme makeover' challenge.

Let us know how it goes, and definately send us the video, we'd love to see it!

Gardening

Some gardens can get pretty messy, some just need a bit of a tidy...

You don't have to be amazingly green fingered for this type of project, especially if the garden or area in question needs a load of rubbish shifted. Similalrly older people who love their gardens but just can't get out to weed or mow the lawns any more would love the help and really appreciate what seems even the most basic of efforts.

For this project you'll have to do a bit of research, finding out where the need is and what sort of stuff is to be done. You'll probably need gardeining tools and maybe even a van or trailer to get rid of cuttings, weeds and rubbish. This kind of project is a bit dependent on the weather so it's always good to have a backup too.

If a garden is in a right state you could even do something like the extreme makeover above and totally re design a particular garden. This would be a great weekend project and could end with a small BBQ or party in the newly created garden.

Community Party

These events have become really popular over the past few years, acting as a great way for local churches to serve and bring together local people.

Often these events happen on the Bank Holiday Monday of the Noise weekend, offering free BBQ's, music, face painting, bouncy castle's and all sorts of other imaginative stuff that brings the church and the community together.

Not only can they be a great laugh, but also a way of connecting a community together. Any communal event that takes a 'no strings attached' approach will get people chatting, help develop relationships and make people excited or proud to live where they do.

These events need quite a bt of planning and advertising, plus there's a bit of a cost in getting food, BBQ equipment and other entertainment together. If you want to do this sort of thing you may want to do some fundraising and get your whole church on board with the project.

go:local...

If your serious you can get your hands on a copy of our CD ROM, GO:LOCAL, a guide packed full of info on how to do Jesus centred community action.
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hope 08...

Find out more about the Hope 08 year of mission and what part the Noise is playing in that!
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Something different

If you can't think of anything you'd like to do as a Noise project then why not think about the kind of things you love doing and are good at and do that. Everything from dj worskshops, makeovers, dance classes, temproary nail and beauty bars to gigs and cafes have been organisied and run over a Noise weekend in the past. The important thing is to have fun and offer a interesting service to those around you. As people begin to see the church serving practical needs and also inspiring creativity by investing in people, we will see our churches come to life playing an active role in the towns and communities they are a part of. Have a look at the list, be inspired and drop us a mail to let us know what you are doing however 'different' it is...

Why not try:

Run a temporary nail bar
Organise some dance classes
Create and host a temporary skate park
Organise a under 18's nightclub/party
Put on a gig
Run a few dj workshops

... the list goes on... why not add to it?

Share the love

Whatever you're doing we'd love to hear from you. You can register your project here and keep us up to date with how everything is going.

The important thing is that we do this stuff and as an encouragement to us and others it would be great to be able to advertise your events and projects, so once you register you're projects will have thier own page linked from here (GO>>) so let us know what you're up to..

register your event...

Fill out our simple regsitration form and add your events to our list of Noise projects from around the UK and world.
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your noise pages...

Check out what everyone else is doing by checking out the list of Noise events registered with us.
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helpful stuff...

Some stuff to help you organise and publicise your Noise events from the basic forms through to some leaflets to adapt and use.
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