Don't be afraid to ask for what you need

Many years ago I was a youth worker. One Christmas we decided to participate in the Christmas Cracker Restaurant Project. For those of you too young, or too old to remember it was a youth project initiated by Oasis. Its aim was to encourage young people to raise cash for projects in the two-thirds world. 

We asked the church for a loan of £500 to get us started. We then went looking for a vacant retail outlet that we could “borrow” for the 4 weeks leading up to Christmas.

Right in the centre of town was an empty shop that was up for letting and owned as it turned out by the Co-op. It was 2000 square feet of prime real estate. For our purposes that was huge. 

Being cheeky

We discussed whether to approach the Co-op and rather cheekily ask if we could borrow their premises. The young people agreed and I was commissioned to make the contact.  After a few conversations it was agreed that we could indeed borrow the premises free of charge.

I learnt a lesson that day that has stayed with me ever since: if you don’t ask, you already have your answer.

Sometimes we hold back in our attempts to engage the community because we think we don’t have the necessary resources to do so. But if we asked around we may find that there are those who do, who are willing to loan or give us what we need to get started.

Embarrassment can hold you back

Often we feel too embarrassed to ask; or that we couldn’t cope with the rejection if they say no. We can think that they are bound to say no, so why bother? The truth is that if we don’t ask, we will never find out and we already have the wrong answer – ‘No’.  

Sometimes we can be surprised how willing others are to help. I have found this to be the case on many fronts.

• I have found those churches that are effectively engaging their communities only too willing to share what they know.
• I have found local businesses are at the very least willing to give your idea a hearing.
• I have found funding agencies often want to help and make sure that you present your bid in the best way possible. Their problem is there are so many great causes and so little cash.

I have also found churches failing to ask. I have found other churches giving up too easily and failing to ask again. I have also found that those churches that ask pleasantly, professionally and persistently are eventually successful.

Some of the best church-based community projects in the country have started because someone plucked up the courage to ask, and weren’t afraid to go back again and again.

Last Updated 03 December 2010