Valley Cids

General information

Valley CIDS an independent Christian charity based in Derbyshire, committed to serving children, young people and families through out-reach work in schools and the wider community.

Valley CIDS (Christians Involved in Developing Society) was launched in 2000 by a group of Christians with a passion to serve, inspire and equip children, young people and families to develop their full potential in society today.

‘Investing in the next generation.’
Valley CIDS was borne out of a passionate belief that by ‘investing in the next generation’ we can make a positive difference to the lives of children and young people and their families. An investment of time, energy and money sets in place strong foundations giving children the best possible chance in life.

The Start
Throughout the 1990’s, a group of Christians in Swanwick met regularly to pray for the local schools. From this faithful prayer God gave a vision to set up a charity which would employ Youth and Children’s Workers to deliver outreach work within schools and the wider community. Our aim was to serve the schools by offering Christian assemblies and RE support, and to serve the needs of young people by providing responsible role models, and offering healthy activities in a safe and caring environment.

At the time we were unsure as to how we would fund the Workers, but it soon became clear that setting up a Charity Shop was the answer!

A small village shop was offered to us at a ‘peppercorn’ rent to set up as a ‘donated goods’ shop, and as soon as we obtained Charitable status, this became our first Lighthouse Charity Shop. Along with generous donations from individuals and churches, the Lighthouse very quickly generated sufficient income to enable Valley CIDS to employ its first Children’s Worker.

So the Valley CIDS vision was launched and from small beginnings the Charity has grown and developed to become a very significant and exciting organisation, impacting the lives of thousands of children and young people. We now operate 28 Lighthouse Charity Shops, which financially support our ?Quest Children’s Team working in over seventy Primary Schools, along with our Blend Youth Team and two large Youth Centres. We also run Zest Breakfast Clubs in four Primary Schools and the Saltpot community café.