Trekkers

We believe that everybody, whatever their level of ability, is an important and vital part of our Big Family, and is able to know and encounter the love of God.

Why not take a look at the video we made together?

We recognise that for some people, accessing church and events can be challenging. Therefore, we seek to provide a welcoming, safe and accessible programme for all. Thanks to an amazing team of volunteers we are able to run a number of groups for children with additional needs. These coincide with our 10.30am and 6pm Sunday services. Which group your child will be placed in is based on an initial home assessment of need by the Additional Needs Team.

Trekkers is the name of the additional need children’s ministry at St Saviours. We have a committed group of volunteers who want to share the love of Jesus with children with additional needs and facilitate parents and carers to access the church service. There are three branches that run to coincide with our 10.30am and 6pm Sunday services during term time only. All of the sessions involve fun, activity-based bible themes with craft, drama and individual prayer. Advance booking is essential to ensure a safe ratio of children to volunteers.

Here is a summary of the three branches that the Trekkers Additional Needs has to offer:

Hikers Inclusion Our default wish is for children to be a part of the age appropriate mainstream group. If it is apparent that Inclusion is best for the child, then this is facilitated by volunteers who work to help the child feel included and valued in the group.

Adventurers During the 10:30am service Adventurers provides care for children with complex additional needs who would not benefit from the inclusion programme. Children of all ages are paired with volunteers according to their individual needs and abilities.

Trailblazers This runs during the during the 6pm service. Trailblazers is mainly for children aged 12-18 with additional needs.

Thursday Groups

Alongside these Sunday groups there is a midweek group for parents and carers. This will normally run on Thursdays during term time unless otherwise stated. Footprints (10am-11:45am) Craft and Chat (11am-2pm) Trekkers Lunch (12pm-2pm) All Thursday events are held offsite, please contact Joanne (joanne.gillard@st-saviours.org.uk) for more information!

Trekkers Festival 2025

We’re really looking forward to having our Trekkers Festival this summer, and we would love you to join us! We’re excited to announce that this year we’ll be holding a wonderful festival at St. Saviour’s Church (Woodbridge Road, Guildford, GU1 4QD).

The festival dates are: 12th 13th 14th August 2025.

Our festival this year is for ages 4-14 years, their siblings and young carers.

Please complete the combined registration and medical forms at the link below. This will enable you to go ahead and book your child’s/young person’s place. Do ask Joanne if you have questions!

We hope to have one to one helper available for the children and a café for parents from 10am to 11:30am. After this, parents will join the Trekkers in the church for upfront time. We will then finish at 12pm for home time.

The themes for each day are.….

TUESDAY | Noah and the Ark | ABBA & Party Songs

WEDNESDAY | Jesus calms the storm | Children’s Entertainer – Balloons/Temporary Tattoos

THURSDAY | Jesus welcomes a friend for tea | Farm Day

Please note that volunteer one-to-one pairings for your children will be available on a first come first served basis – we’ll do our very best to find a pairing, but if we aren’t able to accommodate a one-to-one pairing, we will ask you to supervise your child for the sessions.

Click here to sign up!

Find out more

If you wish to discuss these Sunday groups or if you’d like to help out at Trekkers, please contact the team via joanne.gillard@st-saviours.org.uk

All our volunteers are fully DBS checked.

Our Safeguarding Policy