The St.Mellons and Trowbridge estates in east Cardiff have had their fair share of bad press over the years for stuff like drugs, crime and broken homes. Lots has been done over the years to tackle the problems, but there’s still lots to do!

EZ36 was born in November 2001 when 3 blokes moved into a house on St.Mellons estate. 7 years on, things have really changed! There’s now 4 volunteers living in the area and working alongside the local Beacon Church (meeting at the Beacon Centre). Crime’s come down, the worst areas are being regenerated and the church is growing! Obviously we’re absolutely stoked, but there’s still so much more that we believe that God wants to do!!!  We really need more people to catch hold of the vision and come join us!

The EZ team are heavily involved in supporting some of the Church's established ministries, including clubs, Sunday school, worship, preaching, prayer meetings and Aquasplash (now the Beacon Family Festival) . We’ve also helped pioneer loads of new outreach projects too:





The Urban Sanctuary is a double-decker bus with a difference! It’s a mobile youth outreach facility that’s used every week in Trowbridge and St.Mellons by scores of young people (many of whom are all too familiar with the local police).

Facilities on the bus incude a DJ booth (there are some incredibly talented DJ’s and MC’s around here), PS2, X-Box, Fairtrade Coffee Bar, Table Football, Art & Crafts, and social seating areas. There’s also an information point on the lower deck, with information about everything from God to drugs, and from unemployment to counselling. We also sponsor an Ethiopian girl through Compassion. Youth are able to sponsor her with their spare change, write letters, draw pictures and pray for her too. At the end of every session we run the ‘Upper Deck’ where there’s an opportunity for youth to hear more about Jesus and ask questions.

The role of the bus in keeping kids off the streets and giving them an alternative to crime was recognised back in 2002 when BBC Wales did a news item on the old bus (which is now dead and has been replaced by the slinky new one!).


To watch the bbc wales video you will need the latest version of flash installed.

There are several cell groups that happen throughout the week for kids and youth of different ages. Some are for Christians, others are for those who are sussing out what Christianity is all about. In these groups we have a serious laugh, the Bible is taught and its relevance for life today is explored and discussed. One of the numerous EZ dogs is normally on hand to bring a bit of comedy to the night!

Because we live alongside most of the youth we are seeking to serve, detached youth work is not exactly hard to do. Even simple things like going to Tesco can prove to be effective youth work! Although there is absolutely no golden rule in doing effective detached work, we have found two things in particular to be highly advantageous:

1] Dog Evangelism
Involves having a dog and walking it around the estate. A great way of legitimately being on the streets or in the parks and a tremendous conversation starter! However, try not using a dog that likes to eat small children and don't let it Jimmy-Riddle on anything/anyone it shouldn't!!!

2] Basketball Hoop Evangelism
Involves buying a basketball hoop and sticking on the side of your house. Attracts youth like bees around honey and can help to make them too tired to do anything illegal afterwards! However, try not to put the hoop so low that small children can use it as a hammock as this may damage the hoop and you could get done for kidnap if they get stuck!!!





Aquasplash is now called the Beacon Family Festival.




Every May half-term, members of the EZ team help to run a 5-day soccer school for junior school age kids at Oakfield Primary School. It typically involves getting about 50 crazy kids together on the field (even when it’s raining), helping them to develop their footy skills and learn about Jesus. The week ends with a tournament on the last day! It’s always an amazing week, and a great way to get kids off the street, meet their parents and generally share the Gospel with them!




We have been able to organise several trips for our youth. These have included Soul Sista, Youth Trek, Go-Karting, Paint-balling, Bowling, Community Farm, and trekking up mountains! These young people really appreciate the opportunity to get out of 'the ghetto' for a day and it's a privilege to be able to help make that happen!




Rolling up the sleeves and getting stuck in is one of the simplest ways of showing the estate that we actively care about them and their environment. The EZ team have been involved in loads of different 'clear-up' operations. We've helped to clear streets, streams and woodlands as well as being involved in the provision of youth and children's facilities in the area. Ignite Hope 2008 saw a team of 15 young adults join us and members of the Beacon and Bethania Churches to get stuck in to some big cleaning up on the Estate (see news section for more info).





Every Friday night we hook with another church in east Cardiff and bus a load of kids off the estate to kids club.   It’s aimed at junior school aged kids and basically involves lots of noise, crazy games and a Christian talk every week!



While we love St.Mellons, we are very aware that the world’s a little bit bigger, and God’s love stretches much wider, than just this little bubble! Therefore, several members of the EZ team are committed to outreach in other places too:

Reaching out to night-clubbers in sub-zero temperatures, student evangelism, prison work, supporting other local churches, working with Ignite, overseas missions…

We want to see God glorified anywhere and everywhere!





Click here if any of this stuff grabs your noodle and you think you might be up for getting involved at all (even on a voluntary or short-term basis).