Heather Bellamy spoke with Becky Galloway

Becky Galloway

In certain areas of Stoke-on-Trent one in every 10 teenage girls becomes pregnant and a study by the City Council shows that although conception rates among under-18s have fallen over the past 10 years, more needs to be done to educate and support young people. Looking to help meet that need is Stronger, a new residential training facility for young mothers, or mothers-to-be between the ages of 16 and 25 and their pre school children. To find out more Heather Bellamy spoke with Stronger Director Becky Galloway.

Heather: Stronger is a brand new project from Bethel City Church; what is Stronger?

Becky: Stronger is a ministry of Bethel City Church, as you said and it's a facility for young mums and their children. It's a residential facility that mums can come to and be housed for a year. By the end of the 12 months our hope would be that they will be stronger. The year would involve all kinds of things. There will be a programme tailored to each individual girl to help them where they're at, to give them parenting skills and to give them the kind of help they need to help them with their self worth, what they think about themselves and basically in every area of life.

Heather: So what sort of women is it aimed at?

Becky: Becoming a mum is a massive thing and often if you're on your own without the support of a partner it can be an even bigger challenge. Some girls out there haven't even got the support of their own mother's or family members. They find themselves in a situation when they are pregnant or with a young child and it's just really daunting and they don't know what to do. Stronger is there to help that type of girl. The girls that come into the house need to have a real desire to want to be able to improve and challenge themselves and accept challenges to really help develop themselves to become better mothers; to help themselves as well.

Heather: How many women are you able to take?

Becky: We are able to take four mothers and their children and we've got a lovely facility in a large spacious house in a rural location in Stoke-on-Trent. We also have a resident House Parent on site that is available out of hours and to help with any queries during the evening time. Bedrooms are large and spacious and several of them are en-suite. There are fantastic facilities. There's a swimming pool in the garden. There's a nice play area for children and it really is just a beautiful facility where mums can come and just really take that time to get stronger.

Heather: In what ways would they become stronger?

Becky: Girls don't need to be a Christian to come and be accepted into the house, but they do need to be willing to adhere to Christian principles. Obviously I'm a Christian and I work for a church and I believe that the way that we ultimately can get stronger is by having God in our life and letting God help us on that journey of becoming stronger. Our desire would be that girls would come into the house, maybe knowing God or maybe not knowing God; maybe having known God previously but now struggling in their walk with God; but they would be able to connect with God during that 12 month period and God really would help them. He would be their rock, their salvation and would help them, on that journey of becoming stronger.

Heather: You mentioned earlier about some individually designed courses, what are they?

Becky: We currently work with a lot of parents across the city with our Cafe Kids programme. We work with an organisation called First Step Psychological Service. They are part of the NHS and they provide our parenting courses for us. They are supporting the Stronger project and they will be helping us with parenting courses. There will be courses like Triple P which is about helping your child to behave the way we want out children to behave; magic meal times, which is helping our children to eat healthy meals; relationship play, which is about learning to play with your children. In addition to that there will be other things depending on what's needed by the individual girl. It may be that we'll be helping them to cook healthy meals, learning to budget and then there'll be a chance to start to get involved in church life activities as well.

Heather: What level of need is there for something like this in the city?

Becky: I think there's a massive need. I've worked with young people for about 18 years, either in Cardiff or here in Stoke-on-Trent and I've seen a massive need of young girls getting pregnant and they're really struggling. There's a high rate of homelessness here in Stoke-on-Trent. There's a high rate of girls feeling very lonely, feeling very isolated, so yes, there is a need. We have been informed by local midwives and health visitors that there is a great need for this project.

Heather: And what motivates you personally to do something like this?

Becky: My desire is that women would become what the Bible calls Proverbs 31 girls. Proverbs 31 is a passage in the Bible that talks about this woman who is confident, she is capable and she looks after her children well. She's great with her money, she knows how to handle finances and she's kind of a pillar of society. She knows her self worth and she knows God and she understands what God thinks of her. I believe every girl should have that.

Heather: So if people want to know more or apply to come, what should they do?

Becky: They can come onto our website which is www.bethelcitychurch.com/stronger. You can go direct then to the 'stronger' page on our website where there's information packs, application forms and there's also my details so you can contact me direct.