Making a difference on Openshaw’s ‘Yellow Brick Road’

A team of 29 young people took to the streets of Openshaw this Thursday and Friday afternoon (August 6 and 7) to collect litter and broken glass, and cut back overgrown greenery alongside local young people, staff and volunteers from Eden Openshaw.

The project is one of 50 taking place this week as part of the Audacious 09 Christian youth festival.

The site chosen was the ‘Yellow Brick Road’ area of Openshaw, the site of several serious assaults in recent years.

Pete Askew, Community Projects Manager for Eden Openshaw, explains:

‘When the Yellow Brick Road site was suggested by Environmental Services at the Council, I jumped at the idea. It seems perfect to pick this area which has had a bad reputation for violence in the past, and to do something positive there alongside local teenagers and this clean-up team. We want to increase visibility for people walking down the Yellow Brick Road, and to work to improve the reputation of this patch.

‘We believe that God can bring hope to areas and people who have no hope, and we want to do something practical towards this in our community.’

As the team from Audacious set about clearing the paths around the area, they were joined by young people from the local area who Eden Openshaw have been working with for years, opening up opportunities to share their faith in Jesus.

‘That’s been a personal highlight of mine,‘ Pete added.

Jonny Grafton, youth pastor from Outreach Christian Centre in Barnsley brought 16 young people with him to serve in Openshaw. He remarked:

‘We try to teach the young people that you’re always growing into servanthood, never out of it. So this has been fantastic. It’s been great building relationships with the young people the Eden project has been working with too.’

More pictures from the Openshaw project are available on Flickr.