Creating in God’ s Image: Gillian’ s Story
Roofbreaker Gillian Clayton from Colchester has been building her confidence in sharing her giftings and her story – on video and in writing. Sharing our voice is so important, including for disabled people, with many potential barriers to being heard and responded to.
Gillian has found a calling as a Roofbreaker disability champion – moving along the ABC Journey of disability inclusion to‘ C for Commission’. It is great to read Gillian’ s encouraging words below. Gillian writes:
“ I feel as if I am a member of Through the Roof – that I am the Roofbreaker for this group in Highwoods. I am trying to support people in the community that I have made friends with due to having an understanding of disability, as I am disabled in quite a few ways. I try to listen and pray for people as this seems to help.
“ At St Luke’ s church, we have a few disabled people that have different disabilities ranging from Mental Health, Autism and hearing impairment. We have had a [ Disability Awareness Sunday ] service to help support some disabled people who have been attending St Luke’ s church here in Colchester – that went very well.
“ This gave us an opportunity to share our gifts and talents. We had Testimonies to share. This also gave us a chance as disabled people to learn how to express ourselves and build confidence.”
Gillian took part in a Kingdom Storytellers workshop recently, to learn how to share her story of faith and disability in 90 seconds using a smartphone.
The girls fundraised with these cute craft creations.
Save the date!
In-person retreat on Wed 10th – Fri 12th Sept 2025 at High Leigh Conference Centre, Herts.‘ Finding Hope through Disappointment’, with pastors Neil & Sonya Chitty. Cost: £ 265 pp. See website, call, or email together @ throughtheroof. org
Calvert Trust Activity Holiday on Mon 15th – Fri 19th June 2026( Provisional dates only). See next issue.
Vital Link Summer 2025 | www. throughtheroof. org
Gillian, a disabled Roofbreaker, shares her story.
The workshop was run by Roofbreaker and Kingdom Storytellers founder, Jazz Shaban, who filmed Gillian’ s practice‘ Photo story’ live, and shared it, with Gillian’ s permission, on TTR and KS social media: https:// youtu. be / xt6Tf _ Fi2zE
You can watch other video stories, including many Roofbreakers’ stories( from Debbie, Gillian, Judy, Karen, Katie, Kereena, Louise, Lynda and Marisa) on the new Kingdom Storytellers website at https:// kingdomstorytellers. org. uk / story-portal
Let’ s share our journeys, listen to people’ s lived experience, and encourage each other.
Crafting for the Cause: Young Creators Raise Funds for TTR
Melanie( 13) and Bethany( 10) recently turned their creativity into a force for good by raising funds for Through the Roof. Inspired to make a difference, the sisters got crafty, hand-making adorable wool pompom teddy key rings and colourful scoobie bracelets.
Melanie showcased their work online, offering custommade items to friends and family, and the orders started rolling in! Every bracelet and key ring sold brought smiles not just to buyers, but to those helped by the girls’ generous donation to Through the Roof.
A huge thank you to Melanie and Bethany for their big hearts and brilliant initiative!
Do you have a talent or hobby you could use to support the work? Whether it’ s baking, drawing, or crafting- your skills could help change lives.
Get creative, get involved, and let’ s make a difference together!