Soul Action: the noise

noisy stories...

So, you've thought about the Noise, but aren't really sure what to do or how to get started. Or, maybe you ran a couple of projects a few years back, but aren't sure how to take them on any further. Well then, this section is for you.

Check out some of the featured projects from around the UK who that might just offer you a bit of encouragement!

noisy ideas...

Some ideas to get you thinking about what you could do as a Noise project in your local area.
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Check out what's on the Soul Action TV...

Below are some interviews with organisers of various projects that explain a bit about what they've been up to. Check out the examples, take a look at their sites and be inspired by others doing stuff all over the UK.

Example 1:
North Bristol Noise...

The North Bristol Noise is a fantastic example of what The Noise can achieve. A few churches got involved in The Noise and were so inspired by the experience and the results that they took it further. With a pretty impressive website, newsletters, 3 G videos and all, the guys from North Bristol have taken the Noise to another level.

In terms of actual work on the ground the North Bristol Noise have a “Detached youth team”, reaching out to the young people on the fringes of their community. In addition to this they also organise more traditonal Noise style projects including: free car washes, clearing up gardens and public spaces, scrubbing off graffiti, re-painting walls and re-planting gardens and flower beds. They even have a creative team that paints murals on walls of local school playgrounds, and two free kids clubs.

Not being content with all this they hold a free banquet for senior citizens, and perform maintenance tasks in local schools, helping them to be safe and attractive environments for the pupils.  

Apart from the fact that the projects communicate the love of Jesus in a real and pratical waythe North Bristol Noise is a great example of unity within the church. Several congregations, of different denominations, are working together to bring the message of Jesus into the local community. In various areas of their city, the churches are becoming more and more well known, and the local people are aware of their presence throughout the year, not just over The Noise weekend.  We caught up with Stewart North, one of the orgainsers behind the North Bristol Noise and asked him a few questions!

How did you get started and what did you do?
Our first Noise project was in May 2001. We initially started connecting with all local community leaders and people of influence in the community. We got them together and shared the vision, fed them a nice meal and started to network and build partnerships. A number of us got involved in local community committees. We also provided a lot of volunteers to help run two local community festivals. We aimed to serve them and build trust.

What problems did you encounter?
We have had some difficulties with working with the local council but over time, the results have proved themselves, as over 170 volunteers have been involved and served with no strings attached. We have also learnt from mistakes in not planning some events too well: eg. a Fun afternoon - although sucessful to everyone who came, behind the scenes it was a bit of a last minute stress. We have learnt from mistakes.

What would you have done differently?
We would probably have done a few events on the Noise weekend, but kept them slightly smaller on the first couple of occasions. Also, we needed to have more people taking leadership responsibility of different aspects of the weekend rather than the events resting on a small core team. We have now put in to place a whole structure of leadership and those at the core are mainly overseeing and looking at long term strategy of developing the project.

How do you publicise your events?
We publicise by flyer dropping the whole area (10000 houses), putting up posters and banners. We also have two websites: one for volunteers to sign up (www.northbristolnoise.org.uk) and one website for the local community (www.thenoise.org.uk).

How many people were involved in organising and conducting your Noise projects?
Initially we had a core team of 3 people. Now there is a core team of 4 plus others are involved in taking the lead and responsibility for each area of North Bristol Noise. That means we have specific people who are involved in organising the publicity, administration, detached team, youth/sports teams, kids clubs, community development projects, working with the elderly, the fun afternoon, a prayer room and loads more...

What advice would you have for somebody wanting to start up a Noise project?
Visit other projects. Make sure it's not a hit and run kind of project, but instead work on ties into the local community and connect the Noise with what you are doing all year round; make it a high profile event that all the community know about and are invited too or are involved in. Plug really hard all the time for volunteers - it takes people ages to sign up!!! Keep prayer as the engine room! Have fun and show God's love in practical ways!

We want to thank Stewart and the team over in North Bristol for their time. Check out their site and if you live close get involved, they're doing some amazing stuff!
www.northbristolnoise.org.uk or www.thenoise.org.uk

Example 2:
east2west...

east2west was established in 1996 by a chap called Steve Holloway. Since then it has changed from a one-man operation to a team of over 40 highly committed, passionate and skilled Christian youth workers. Based in Staines (Middx) UK, east2west works in a variety of ways ranging from school’s work to community service; running prayer, discipleship and leadership initiatives to presenting national events, festivals and programs.

Every year as part of the wider commitments of the team, east2west organise some pretty impressive Noise initiatives.

On Friday the 24th and Saturday 25th of March 2006 50 volunteers of all ages made a loud NOISE by showing the community of Englefield Green that actions speak louder than words. We pitched a few questins to Noise coordinator Nate Polsfut and here are his responses!

What did you do as part of your Noise project?
The Noise 06 started off on the Friday evening with 45 volunteers meeting for a pizza party. The volunteers were divided into working groups in which they discussed the projects for Saturday. Some of the projects undertaken over the weekend were:

Cleaning up and repainting a disued police station, litterpicking and clearing up tow paths and estates, and a gardening rennovation project.

The press were involved in the day and local Police representative Officer Tom Kimnell was over the moon about the project - he even went around and encouraged the teams using his loud speaker!!
The day ended with a free community BBQ at a local day center and a team even entertained those who attended with dance, drama and a brief gospel presentation.

How did you get started and what did you do?         
I have always had a strong passion for servant evangelism and random acts of kindness. The first Noise project I organized was in 2003, I had only recently come to England and my boss Steve first told me about the initiative.

I chose to do a project on an estate I was already working in and I knew would benefit from this. I was already in contact with the community police officer so, I started with him. We walked around the estate and he told me the problem areas etc.
 
Who did you get involved?  
Loads of people got on board with this years Noise. The Police, the local council (including the refuse deptartment and the highway and safety agency), the local Mayor, several local churches, businesses, youth clubs and a few students too.
 
In fact, we were really lucky, as east2west is a registered charity we already had relationships (lots of coffee and time) with our Mayor and the local police. Therefore we didn't have to work too hard to get them on board again.

How did you get your young people fired up about it?
Well I pitched it to them in a number of ways. The Noise is all about the young people getting out to serve the community so we had to ensure they wanted to be involved!

We told them this was an opportunity that for young people to really show some care for the community and to challenge the stereotypes that the youth are all bad.

With my Christian young people I encouraged them that our actions can be loud and that they can make a real difference; that we should preach the gospel at all times and if nessassary use words.

What would you have done differently?
So far nothing to major… maybe advertise more for the free BBQ to get a few more residents along. Generally though we were pleased with this years events and projects.
 
What problems did you encounter?
Well, I have done this 3 times. The first time was a bit harder because we had never done this before and learning how to go about organising an event with projects across a large area was quite difficult. But during the most recent projects I've been overwhelmed by all the support I've had.

What advice would you have for someone wanting to start up a Noise project?
Get involved, I think it’s a great discipleship tool.
Get the young people to work in their own community.
Open it to believers as well as non- believers!

Thanks to Nate and Louise for giving up some time to answer our questions. If you want to find out more about East2West then check out their website:
www.e2w.org.uK

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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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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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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getting started...

Some tips and advice on getting started with a Noise event including stuff on prayer, research and follow up.
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noisy ideas...

Some ideas to get you thinking about what you could do as a Noise project in your local area.
MORE...