Princess Project | Emma Tanner

In it for the Long Haul

by Emma Tanner

Image made by the icon that is my younger daughter in 2021, for reasons best known to herself

This last couple of weeks have been a bit of an emotional rollercoaster. In fact, the whole year has. Actually, who am I kidding? I’ve been on this blinking ride since the birth of the Princess Project in 2011 and I keep waiting for it to slow down, but it hasn’t yet.

Recent challenges include two major funding applications being rejected, a replication partner pulling out at the last minute, as well as some pretty chunky spiritual and relational battles being fought on the side-lines along the way.

But, as is so often the way, during all of this I have heard the still small voice of God. The whisper. The reading words in the Bible that seem to have been written just for you, in the season you find yourself. Things that happen at just the right time to reinforce what God seems to be saying. Lots of that.

And what God seems to be saying is “Go deep, not wide.”

Let me rewind and unpack that a little.

We recently took some time as both a staff team and a trustee board to think about our strengths and weaknesses as an organisation and one of the things we all kept coming back to was that relationships were fundamental to everything we do. Prioritising our relationship with Jesus, being led and guided by him and keeping him at the centre of everything that we do, sets us apart. Forming meaningful, long-term relationships with our mums, but also within our team, and with our partners- this is something we do well.

We had previously had lofty aspirations of the Princess Project becoming a national organisation, a recognised name, rolling out what we’re doing all across the country. And who knows, maybe God will use us in that way in the future. But right now- I get the sense that he’s asking us to prioritise strengthening what we already have, and reminding us of the Kingdom value and importance of that.

As a small, independent charity we might have our struggles (financial security is overrated, said no-one, ever), but we also have the freedom and flexibility to do things our way, and to adapt and change rapidly (this stood us in great stead during covid). So many other organisations, and definitely our colleagues in the statutory sector, are time-limited in their interventions- 6 weeks here, a few months there, a project that is grant-funded for a year and then has to stop. Our funding strategy of seeking God, trying our best to walk where he wants us to walk and trust that he will provide the finance to do that has meant that we always have what we need, when we need it, and can run programmes and maintain relationships without a time limitation. (I do have a ‘proper’ funding strategy as well, honest, because we know that God can work through grant applications and fundraising events and all the other things we do to keep the wheels turning- but we know and acknowledge that the source of all that is God, not us!)

Standing alongside hurting people long-term is a messy privilege. Although we pray for miracles, serious, long-term mental health conditions and generational trauma are usually not sorted overnight. Healing and transformation can be gradual, often one step forwards and two steps back, fraught with challenge, disappointment, pain and rejection. It can be incredibly costly. And that has weighed quite heavily on our team recently.

I am a reformed (reforming?!) conflict avoider, but God has taught me over the years that walking through conflict, not running from it, is incredibly important for building relationships. Relationships with the mums we support, with partners we may not agree with, with members of our team. Fighting for a seat at a table that I’m terrified to sit at, not because I want to be there or think I deserve to be, but because I know that those we represent- marginalised because of their gender, age, socioeconomic status, sexual orientation, whatever it may be- deserve a voice at it. I have learned not to avoid these things- but again, they take their toll. Sometimes I think my calling is just to be a pain in the backside to as many people as possible in order to bring about change. Not really something to put on the CV…!

These days I spend most of the time in an office or in meetings, applying for funding, networking (eeeeewww), building relationships with partners, leading the team, problem-solving, trying to see the big picture and keep us walking where God is leading. I don’t see the mums we support very often; I’m not the one running the busy Hubs, multitasking, sorting out the accident forms and the Totcycle appointments, watching the first steps, being there with the kind word and the hug, crying with mums, praying with them. Much as that used to drain my introvert batteries, I miss it.

Then those doubting voices start to creep in. What are we doing? Is it all worth it? Are we really making a difference? You are totally out of your depth! You aren’t doing a good job! You’re a fraud!

Yada yada.

This has been a recurring theme of my reluctant leadership journey and most of the time I can dismiss those voices, recognise them for the distortions they are. But sometimes, when things are particularly challenging, it can be hard.

And God knows that.

This weekend we had a stall at the Park Wood Fete. Park Wood was the first area we started working in, starting a Mums’ Drop-In in 2012 (the prelude to the Hub!) and Totcycle as a monthly pop-up event in 2013, before opening the Hub and Totcycle in its current format in 2020. Back in the early days it was a small team, all of us volunteers, and I got to know the families pretty well. Things have sinced moved on- children who were toddlers are now teenagers, my role has changed, how we deliver our services has changed- but the relationships remain. Face after friendly, not-seen-for-years face walked past our stall, and as I shared hugs and caught up with years’ worth of news and gawped at 6 foot tall boys who I used to offer to hold whilst their mums picked out some new clothes for them at Totcycle- I was in awe at the goodness of God, at his faithfulness, at his kindness for giving me the encouragement and reassurance that he knew I needed- that what we are doing, however imperfectly, is real, and has stood the test of time.

First Park Wood Totcycle in 2013 (saw the ‘baby’ in the pushchair again on Saturday!); Park Wood Fete 2015; Park Wood Fete 2025

But that wasn’t the only encouragement that God gave our team this week.

A mum popped into one of our Hubs who we hadn’t seen for several years- but during that time one of our team has been faithfully keeping in contact with her, messaging her, asking about her life, her wellbeing, her children, praying for her. She is in between jobs at the moment and so took the opportunity to return to the place where she felt welcomed, accepted, seen, known, for a cuppa, a hug and a catch up. Part of our family.

Another of our team bumped into a mum we used to support, and pray for regularly, who has walked a horrendous journey and come out the other side. She gave God the glory for bringing her through and said that she was standing there thanks to the power of prayer.

I caught up with one of our community support workers yesterday who had just heard from a mum she had been walking alongside for some time, as she journeyed through the court system. She was very upbeat as the final hearing had gone in her favour.

“You’ve been praying for me for 5 years- I know that’s what’s made the difference! I’m going to go to church now!” she said.

By now I had got to the point where happy tears outnumbered unhappy ones (tears just come with the turf!)

What God has shown me afresh this week is the importance of relationships, especially those that have been forged in the fire over years of walking together through adversity. Many of the mums we support have not experienced love and friendship that not just survives conflict and rejection but is strengthened by it. Our aim at the Princess Project is to model (albeit in our imperfect human way) the unconditional love that Jesus has for each one of us. He will never leave or forsake us, no matter how far we go, what we do, or how inadequate we might feel. Our prayer is that as we stand alongside families for years (over 10 years in some cases!), our mums would come to realise just how precious they are in God’s sight; that their lives have value, and purpose, and meaning.

He has also reminded me about the power of prayer. The Bible urges us to pray persistently; it is such an incredible encouragement that we are now starting to see answers to prayers that were first prayed years ago. It is mind-blowing that God includes us in his plans and purposes- he could do what he wants to do in the lives of our mums without us, but he chooses to use us, with all our frailties and weaknesses, to help build his kingdom. I love that our mums are starting to acknowledge the power of God and to recognise his hand at work in their lives- that’s what it’s all about.

These kinds of relationships, these answers to prayer, these lives changed by the power of the Holy Spirit over months or years- these are almost impossible to quantify. I can’t evidence them in an impact report for a funder, or a snappy Canva infographic. But they are the most important part of what we do and our team is committed to partnering with God as he challenges us to go deeper. Will you join us?

If you’d like to partner with us financially or join our team, visit our website www.princessproject.co.uk for more information.

Princess Project The Journey

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Surviving Big Church Festival: Overcoming Anxiety, Physical Limitations, and Social Challenges

by Emma Tanner

I have just about recovered from what was an absolutely amazing weekend at Big Church Festival with the Princess Project. What a fantastic opportunity to meet and speak to Christians from churches all across the UK about what we’re doing and how they might be able to partner with us. It is a truly remarkable event – such a chilled, happy, family vibe, with 30,000 people coming together to worship Jesus and have fun (I wondered what the security guards made of it… Surely not the usual stuff they see at festivals…!)

But for full disclosure I thought I would share a bit about the challenges this event posed for me (because otherwise we all think everyone else’s lives are idyllic, right?!)

First of all, I was pretty anxious about the logistics. Putting up our beautiful new stand for the first time (big thanks to Souter Charitable Trust for the grant funding that paid for it and to the fab team at Bison Print in Maidstone for making our dreams a reality), knowing where to go, putting up the tent, working out the timings (there were only 2 of us and the stand needed to be manned 9.30am-8pm), getting the car out of the muddy field it was parked in…. These things all preyed quite heavily on my mind.

Then there were my physical limitations. I have osteoarthritis in my feet and inflammatory arthritis pretty much everywhere and (of course) a few days beforehand things had flared up a bit so I was in quite a lot of pain. I really didn’t know how I would cope with camping, lifting heavy stuff, and standing for 3 days.

Finally, as an introvert, talking to strangers for 10 hours a day is pretty much my worst thing to do ever (even about something I’m as passionate about as the work we do at the Princess Project).

But (spoiler alert) I survived- and on balance had a fantastic time.

An amazing team of prayer warriors had been on the case before and during the event, praying that God’s will would be done for PP, and for my physical wellbeing as well. And I really saw a pretty miraculous answer to prayer. My joints settled down and behaved themselves, and didn’t even have a tantrum when forced to stand in wellies in the mud for prolonged periods. I was actually in less pain than I am on an average day. God is good!

By Sunday evening though I was absolutely at the end of myself. My dear friend (and PP trustee) Joy, who was a total rock all weekend, had to put up with the grumpy results of what happens when a tired, hungry introvert who has had to socialise and talk and be enthusiastic for 3 days straight has to pack down a display stand for the first time in a muddy marquee (reader, it was so boggy we found AN ACTUAL TOAD on our stand when we packed away…!)

I threw everything into the boot (packing the car, especially when we go camping, is very definitely a blue job in our house and I tried not to think what Mr T would say when he saw the messy, muddy carnage), said goodbye to Joy and rather hysterically prayed my way out of the field (my state of mind wasn’t helped by the van parked behind me getting stuck in the mud.)

As I got nearer and nearer home, my spirits were gradually revived by the winning combination of prayer, tears, a rucksack full of snacks, and Queen Taylor on Spotify. As I pulled into the drive, the door opened and, despite the late hour, there stood Mr T and small munchkin who had been tracking me on Life 360 and knew I’d need a hug.

After a restorative night’s sleep I woke up to find that my wonderful husband had unpacked the car (keeping any judgement to himself!) and I was able to sit in blissful silence with a cup of coffee and reflect on how thankful I am for people- friends, family, even strangers- who partner with us, and how we can make up for each others’ weaknesses and infirmities and how much better we are together. And also how grateful I am for inside toilets and showers and a roof.

The goodness and faithfulness of God never ceases to amaze me. I know that my physical and emotional limitations force me to rely on him rather than to drift into the dangerous waters of thinking I’ve got it all together. My own resources may be limited but God’s are not- if we rely on him, he promises to equip us with what we need, every day. Now that really is worth celebrating.

Because of the extravagance of those revelations, and so I wouldn’t get a big head, I was given the gift of a handicap to keep me in constant touch with my limitations. Satan’s angel did his best to get me down; what he in fact did was push me to my knees. No danger then of walking around high and mighty! At first I didn’t think of it as a gift, and begged God to remove it. Three times I did that, and then he told me, My grace is enough; it’s all you need. My strength comes into its own in your weakness. Once I heard that, I was glad to let it happen. I quit focusing on the handicap and began appreciating the gift. It was a case of Christ’s strength moving in on my weakness. Now I take limitations in stride, and with good cheer, these limitations that cut me down to size—abuse, accidents, opposition, bad breaks. I just let Christ take over! And so the weaker I get, the stronger I become.

‭2 Corinthians 12:7-10 MSG‬

Princess Project The Journey

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For Such a Time as This- a Princess Project Update

by Emma Tanner

Jordan and Louis rainbow Artwork by Jordan and Louis

This morning, I suspect along with a significant proportion of the nation, I find myself feeling more than a bit unsettled. Life as we know it has completely changed. Our Prime Minister is seriously ill in intensive care. People I know have lost loved ones. The need around me is huge. It is difficult not to feel overwhelmed.

Breathe. Pray. Reflect.

So much has happened over the last couple of weeks. I feel out of sync with much of the world, whose pace of life has slowed to a snail’s pace; we have been so busy at the Princess Project that I realise I haven’t really given myself much time or space to think, and adjust. But as it all started to catch up with me this morning, and I did think, and cried, and prayed- I was struck by how much I can see God at work.

Right from the outset of this crisis this verse from the book of Esther has been slooshing around my head:

“Who knows if perhaps you have come to your royal position for just such a time as this?”

Esther 4:14

Just like Esther, who became queen at the time her Jewish people faced great danger, maybe God has positioned our little organisation (and countless other churches and organisations like us) at the heart of our communities, so that we can be His hands and feet to His precious children when they need us most. I know that in our strength, responding to this huge need is too much, overwhelming, impossible.

But God.

Suddenly being a small, independent charity has given us a massive advantage. We have been free to listen to God’s prompting and adjust the way we work- just like that. Our overheads are small, and we have always been used to a hand-to-mouth, having to trust-God-for-everything existence, and at making limited resources go a long way. So the current financial uncertainties are familiar territory for us.

We are privileged to already be in relationships of trust with many of the vulnerable, isolated families who are being hardest hit in the current climate- mums on a low income, often parenting alone, many in small flats with no outside space, many with children with additional needs. Their lives were hard before- and even harder now.

God had already showed us a way forwards and so when the lockdown hit we already had new plans and processes in place for how to continue to provide support and build relationships and community when meeting together physically became impossible. Our team are in frequent personal contact with at least 100 of our ‘regular’ mums, messaging or phoning at least weekly, providing a reassuring, encouraging voice to counter the understandable panic and anxiety and fear; to remind our mums that although they may be physically alone, we are still all family together.

We have started Facebook Live sessions three times a week when our Hubs would have been meeting, which hopefully provide a friendly, familiar face for our mums and their children, as well as providing links to free activities to do together at home and family challenges to complete together. Despite this being massively out of our comfort zone (some of us more than others!), and being let down by technology on more than one occasion, they have been viewed nearly 4,000 times so far, and, more importantly, mums are engaging with them and telling us that their kids are enjoying watching them, and sharing lovely photos with us of them trying out some of the activities at home. Definitely worth the moments of awkwardness, blind panic, and Facebook making every effort to choose the most unflattering pictures possible as the video thumbnail images!

We have also been delivering formula, nappies, food parcels and other baby and toddler items from Totcycle (our baby/toddler bank) to both mums known to us already, and to sick or self-isolating mums who have been referred to us by other agencies, including the council-led community hubs in both Medway and Maidstone. We have made 32 such deliveries over the last 2 weeks. At the outset, we had estimated that we would need £2,500 to be able to provide this service free of charge for 6 months- and, as usual, God has provided exactly what we need! This has come in the form of a generous grant from our local Park Wood County Councillor Gary Cooke (always so supportive of community initiatives such as this), an equally generous anonymous donation, and numerous smaller donations to our emergency response fund. Amazing!

As well as providing practical and emotional support to our mums and their families, it is our greatest privilege to be able to pray for them. We believe that God didn’t cause this situation, but that He is in it with us, and that Jesus can bring hope, peace and healing into every circumstance. We have been praying for scan appointments, for safety, for housing situations, for healing…. we know that no worry or request is too big, or small, for our God to be concerned about.

Even as the ground seems to shift beneath our feet, I am reminded that it is not sand we are standing on, but rock. The solid, Jesus-shaped rock that doesn’t change, doesn’t falter, is the same yesterday, today and forever. That is absolutely trustworthy. So I will choose not to let my heart be troubled; as our foundations are shaken, to look up and not down; to trust in the God who has, time and time again, proved Himself to be infinitely trustworthy.

Good Grace by Hillsong United

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Ready or not

by Emma Tanner

ready or not

Miracles come in all shapes and sizes. Some of them are big, obvious, must-give-God-the-glory kind of miracles, like healings and resurrections. Many of them are less obvious, more mundane, but no less significant. Indeed, so commonplace are these little miracles that there is a real danger that we start to take them for granted; that we can forget how totally amazing they are, or- even worse- forget to give God the glory that is rightfully His. But let me back up a bit.

For some time now, the Princess Project trustees have been thinking about how we might be able to replicate some or all of our work more widely. I have always had a sense that the Princess Project was going to grow beyond what I could envisage or understand (let alone be comfortable with) and this is something that other trusted voices have shared with me, too. But how? Where should we start? What was the next step? Where did God want us to go?

Just before our March trustee meeting I saw a post on Facebook saying that the Cinnamon Network was inviting ambitious church-based projects that want to replicate their work across the country to enter the Project Lab 2019 competition. The winners would receive both funding and, more importantly from our point of view, a place on the Cinnamon Project Incubator where they would be able to get support from industry leaders to develop their project so it can be replicated through other churches. The more I looked at the application form, the more excited I became. It seemed to me that we ticked all the boxes. It seemed to be exactly the opportunity we had been praying for and waiting for. I raised it at the meeting and said I thought we should enter Mum2Mum, our befriending service for young mums.

“Go for it!” said the trustees, in typically encouraging fashion.

So I did.

This involved submitting both a written application and a video in a pretty tight time frame, made even more hairy by my penchant for leaving things until the very last minute (my deadline-driven personality is a slight bone of contention between my Creator and myself). The deadline was the day after the Easter weekend- so of course, this is how I spent the majority of Easter Saturday and Monday, roping in the girls to help with the video.

(“No mummy, you look a bit deranged, try it again.”

“I don’t know what you’re doing with your hands but it looks weird.”

“Is that bit supposed to be funny?”)

Eventually we came up with something that met with the approval of a 10 year old and a 13 year old and by that point I was hoping that the Cinnamon judges would be somewhat easier to please.

From that point on everything happened rather quickly. I received an email to say we had been shortlisted, and then a few weeks later another to say we had made it through to the final and inviting us, along with 6 other finalists and reserve finalists, to a presentation masterclass up in London to prepare us for it.

Beth (my right hand at Princess Project but also a good friend and all round wonderful person) and I felt quite excited and grown up going up to town on the train looking smart with all the commuters in the rush hour. We arrived in a grey, rainy London and once I had handed over control of Google maps to Beth, who unlike me could at least manage to work out which direction we were facing, navigated our way to Mercer’s Hall.

And then it all started to get very real.

Those who know me well know that I am a confirmed introvert. My own company, quiet, a book, a pen, Netflix, cats- fantastic. A room full of strangers- not so good. Having to go round the room and introduce yourself and your project- slightly uncomfortable. Writing a pitch from scratch and presenting elements of it to a room full of people- you what now?

I just about survived the first session and then they took us into the rather grand and imposing room where the final would be held (think a lot of wood panelling, high gilded ceilings, renaissance art, velvet chairs) and informed us that we would be standing on a small stage at the front of the room and presenting with just a hand-held microphone- no lectern, no stand, nowhere to hide- then taking questions from the judges afterwards, Dragon’s Den-style. I honestly thought I was going to throw up, or burst into tears (the latter would probably have been more manageable but I didn’t appear to have much control over my physiology at this point so to be honest anything was possible). Beth looked over and saw me on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

“Are you OK?” she whispered.

“No! I can’t do this. I just can’t.”

“You can, and you will,” she said (always good with the tough love). “God’s brought us this far, He will see it through.”

And she was right. That’s where my little miracle comes in.

The rest of the day passed in a bit of a blur. I held it together until I got home and then when my husband asked how it had gone, the emotion of the day came pouring out like a snotty tsunami and I sobbed on him until I felt a bit better. He gave me very similar advice to Beth, and although I knew deep down they were both right, it didn’t shake the worm of anxiety eating away inside. I thought about it all the time. I was waking in the night worrying about it. Although I told myself that no-one had ever died from talking for 12 minutes, that reality did not seem to be getting through to my overactive brain.

A few days later I was driving back from our Gillingham Hub and listening to a new worship album, Hillsong United’s ‘People’. A song came on, Ready or Not, that I had heard before but never really heard before. As I listened it seemed as though God was talking directly to me.

He’s already seen the ending
He’s already seen us through
He’s already breaking out in us
He’s already on the move

He’s already won our battles
He’s already paved the way
He’s already gone ahead of us
And He is ready when we are

Come now
For all we’ve seen
We ain’t seen nothing yet
Are you ready
Are you ready

Come now
Bring Him praise
For what He’s gonna do next
Are you ready
Are you ready or not
Come

I felt my anxiety about the whole Cinnamon thing lift and I knew with certainty that God had gone ahead of us, He had already equipped me for what He wanted me to do, and I had peace that His will would be done, whatever that may be. I didn’t know what lay ahead but my daddy God did. He has proven to me over and over and over again that He is faithful and trustworthy and as I surrendered all of this to Him I knew it was going to be alright. I had been trying to do what was impossible- to do this using my own limited resources. And that’s the whole point! God delights in calling us to do things that we could not possibly do in the natural, so that we don’t start thinking it’s all about us and what we can do, but instead are compelled to cling to Him and trust Him to do through us what we couldn’t do in our own strength. As Paul says in 2 Corinthians 12:9

“The Lord answered me, “My grace is always more than enough for you, and my power finds its full expression through your weakness.” So I will celebrate my weaknesses, for when I’m weak I sense more deeply the mighty power of Christ living in me.”

I drove home worshipping my God with all my heart and soul and with tears rolling down my cheeks. I knew He was with me and that it was going to be OK.

And it was.

When the final came around, it was a gloriously hot and sunny day, and despite a warm-up session where we had to talk about something we loved (cats, obvs) and present our pitch to the other finalists in a deliberately over-the-top style (yup pretty much my worst nightmare), I was remarkably devoid of panic. Sweaty palms, yes, and a little shaky- but at peace knowing my God was right there with me and trusting that His will would be done. We weren’t one of the overall winners, but that was OK. I felt I’d given it my best shot and we knew that we were walking in God’s will for us and trusting that He knew better than us what was the right outcome. We secured over £4,000 of pledges from members of the audience on the evening, and a place on the Incubator, which was what we really wanted. Our aim is that eventually Mum2Mum will be able to be offered as a service by churches or groups of churches all across the UK.

We have just held another trustee meeting. When I look back at where we were in March, compared to where God has brought us to now- the answered prayer, the open doors, the new opportunities, the provision, the equipping- once again I am on my knees in wonder at the greatness and faithfulness of our God.

Come now
For all we’ve seen
We ain’t seen nothing yet
Are you ready
Are you ready…

Princess Project The Journey

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Keeping the Faith: presentation from Princess Project charity launch February 2014

by Emma Tanner

This week has been a very memorable one. On Tuesday we held an event to celebrate the Princess Project achieving registered charity status, and for the mayor of Maidstone, Cllr Clive English, to officially open our new office. There was lots of information on display boards around the room explaining what activities we are engaged in, and getting across the facts to those interested in finding out more about what we do. What I wanted to do in my presentation (to an audience made up of supporters, volunteers, and professional partners) was to talk a bit about the why.

Below is a transcript of that talk, but first of all I have a big thank you to make- to Gillan Scott who writes the excellent blog ‘God and Politics in the UK’. It is my go-to source for all matters to do with faith, politics and community, as he provides links to all recently published reports, research etc. It’s a great and balanced resource. Do check it out!

” In 2005, when I was expecting our first child, my husband and I were leading a team from St Luke’s Church going into Trinity Foyer, accommodation in Maidstone town centre for young people who might otherwise be homeless. Some of the girls resident at Trinity at the time were also pregnant, and the difference between our situations really affected me. Even though I was blessed with an extensive support network- supportive husband, family, friends, church family, house, car- I still found those early days of parenthood difficult. For those without those support structures in place- young single mums in a flat with a baby, without family around, and with friends who were no longer interested in them when they couldn’t go out clubbing any more- frankly I didn’t know how they coped at all. As a Christian I knew that God loved these young women, His precious daughters, so much- and I felt that he wanted me to do something to demonstrate that to them.

The Princess Project officially came into being in June 2011, with a vision to support and encourage mums, especially those parenting in challenging circumstances. The first 2 years brought lots of networking and training; we made extensive efforts to set firm foundations, establish high quality services and build relationships of trust with other agencies working in the same field. The befriending service and Princess boxes came first, followed by parenting courses, drop-in coffee mornings, and then Totcycle, our baby goods exchange, this time last year. All of this has been achieved by a team of dedicated volunteers, who between them donated an impressive 700 hours of their time last year alone.

Rather than give you a long list of activities that we do, I’d like to tell you a couple of stories.

Ellie‘s befriender met her before she was pregnant, and walked with her through miscarriage, the subsequent birth of a healthy baby daughter, domestic violence, relationship breakdown, financial difficulties and post natal depression. Now Ellie is mum to a healthy, happy 3-year-old who is thriving at nursery and a credit to her mum. Ellie has recently found a part-time job, and is one of the founding trustees of the Princess Project.

Katy is the single mum of 3 boys living in a deprived area of Maidstone. Her health visitor referred her to the Princess Project as her baby was sleeping in his pushchair at night- his cot had broken and Katy could not afford to replace it. We delivered a cot to her (via Totcycle), along with stairgates to make her flat safer for her two boisterous older boys. As a result of ongoing contact and the relationships she has made with the Princess Project volunteers she has signed up to take part in our next parenting course.

So what’s next for us at the Princess Project? It is an exciting time for us! Our new office is open 3 days a week, meaning local mums can pop in, members of the public can drop off donations for Totcycle, we can hold client, volunteer and partner meetings on-site, and assemble Princess boxes too…. one of our ‘regular’ mums spent an afternoon here last week helping to wrap presents to go in the Princess boxes, and we are hoping this would be a regular, mutually beneficial activity. We have a parenting course starting here in Parkwood tomorrow, which was fully subscribed the day we started publicizing it.

We also have a lot of fundraising to do this year. I currently manage the project on a part-time, voluntary basis, fitting that in between a part-time job and my own family commitments. As the charity grows, I am finding that there are simply not enough hours in the day to get everything done. The trustees have decided that to allow the Princess Project to grow and develop further, they would like to employ me full-time. This means that we need to raise an additional £24000 annually to cover a salary and other costs associated with employing me. This will mean I can spend more time recruiting and training additional volunteers, promoting the project to other churches and partner agencies, and in the conventional and social media, and, most importantly of all, ensuring we continue to develop and deliver the high quality services for which we are becoming known, to as many mums as we can.

Although we are applying for funding from a variety of sources, our long-term aim is to cover our day-to-day running costs by donations and fundraising, especially regular standing orders from our supporters. This means that the level of service we can offer to our clients will not be affected by variations in external grant funding. If you would be interested in becoming a supporter of the Princess Project, please do contact us.

People often ask us why we do what we do. The motivation of the Princess Project trustees and volunteers is our Christian faith. We believe that God loves us, and that He has called us to love the world around us, our community, as He does. We believe that this love should be demonstrated in practical ways, and not just talked about. And we’re not alone. A study carried out in London last year showed that 35% of all social action community work was being carried out by Christian groups. And that would seem to be the case all over the country. Here in Maidstone, there is so much amazing work being done by faith groups. Street Pastors. Maidstone churches winter shelter for the homeless. Maidstone Christian care and the Food for Thought community food share scheme. Celebrate Maidstone. Countless toddler groups. And that is only the tip of the iceberg.

‘Faith in the Community‘ is another recently published parliamentary report that makes for interesting reading. It examined the level and type of interactions local authorities have with faith groups, and identified many examples of where this partnership is working well, but also many examples of misconceptions on both sides. In the words of North Yorkshire County Council,

“There is a perceived fear (within parts of the public sector, public and media) that faith groups will seek to use public sector-funded service delivery as a means of increasing the number of followers of that faith group; and/or seek to discriminate between users of public sector-funded service delivery on the basis of the users’ faith or adherence to the beliefs or practices of the faith group, in particular beliefs that are or might appear to be contrary to equality legislation. There is a perceived fear (within faith groups) that local authorities won’t work with and/or don’t value faith groups. Generally, all of these perceptions are false or can be overcome through discussion and better understanding of each other – but they do create barriers.”

We want to work as hard as possible to remove these barriers- to be upfront about what we do- and what we don’t do. All our services are open to everyone, regardless of beliefs, background, colour, sexual orientation. We don’t attach any conditions to the services we provide. However, we don’t think it’s right to never talk about our faith. We would not be being true to ourselves if we did not discuss what motivates us, gives us hope, a sense of self-worth and identity. Only addressing people’s physical and emotional needs and leaving out the spiritual dimension is only looking at part of the whole picture. A report was published in April 2013 looking at faith and spirituality in the lives of homeless men and women, through interviews conducted with more than 70 people. Written by Carwyn Gravell, a self-confessed atheist, the report states that

“Faith has become a dimension of life that is largely ignored within the philosophy of mainstream service provision, regarded as irrelevant, or as a private matter best avoided, and even perceived by some in the sector with suspicion and outright hostility”.

However when the service users themselves were interviewed, a vast majority said that they would welcome the chance to talk about faith and spirituality. For many of them faith had been an important factor in recovery from drug and alcohol addiction, or in preventing them reoffending. They spoke of faith bringing hope, fellowship and a sense of purpose. We, too, are working with people with often complex and deep-rooted needs and insecurities, and we think we would be short-changing them if we did not give them the opportunity to explore this aspect of all of our personalities.”

More information about The Princess Project can be found on the website, www.princessproject.co.uk.

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Beginning to Bloom: A Princess Project Update

by Emma Tanner

Yesterday morning, as I was thinking and praying about the Princess Project, a picture of a rosebud came into my mind. A tightly closed, deep red rosebud, just beginning to unfurl; a tantalising taster of the beautiful bloom soon to be revealed. To me it was a powerful metaphor for the development of the Princess Project. We’ve spent many years dreaming about what the garden will look like, and two years preparing the soil, planting the seeds, watering them, nurturing them. And now we are starting to see signs of vibrant new life. Carry on reading…

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Worth the Wait

by Emma Tanner

I am not a fan of waiting. I feel myself getting irrationally impatient with the person at the front of the queue at the supermarket who seems to be taking an interminably long time to find their purse. If I post something on Facebook or twitter (or even a blog page!) I’m looking for a pretty instant reaction. As I’m watching my children take an age to put on their coats and shoes to go out I can feel my blood pressure rising. And it seems that I’m not the only one. A 2009 study conducted by TalkTalk looked at how long it took people to reach their ‘point of impatience’ in a variety of scenarios. Apparently the average UK resident loses patience with being kept on hold after 5 minutes 4 seconds (I’m sure the 4 seconds make all the difference!) We don’t like to be kept waiting by our friends for longer than 10 minutes, and we expect our texts or voicemails to be responded to within 13 minutes and 16 seconds. Mark Schmid, communications director at TalkTalk said

“The speed of the online world is making us less prepared to wait for things to happen in the offline world, causing people to reach the ‘Point of Impatience’ earlier than ever before.”

(TalkTalk, 2009)

Since the Princess Project was born in 2011, God has been teaching me a lot about the importance of waiting. Starting the project had been a deep desire of mine for so long, that once it finally started to become reality, I felt more impatient than ever before. Carry on reading…