You might look at our catalogue and think, "well that looks good but how would I use it?". This is collection of ideas, resources and equipment that have all been used on missions and similar events by ourselves and others. Some ideas will be right for your situation, others will not. This is more of a toolkit than a recipe book. We are always available for help and advice, or just for a chat.

The organisation that is now Great Big Resources began five years ago with a single Giant Jenga set which was built for a Church YF. We gradually built up the equipment and services we offer, firstly by getting the things we needed for the youth and childrens work that we were doing ourselves, then listening to what other people were wanting where they were.

Although we are regularly involved with big national events and huge, high tech shows, this is where we started off and where we continue to devote the majority of our time and resources. We are entirely committed to making available the resources you need for the work you are doing, in worship, evangelism, kids work, youth work, all age, and everything else. We want you to have affordable access to the tools you need, whatever stage your mission is at.

- Holiday Clubs
- Youth Clubs and Cafes
- All Age & Adults

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Holiday Clubs

We have an extensive range of juggling and circus skills equipment which can work with all ages from about Primary Three upwards. There is a wide range of activities available which can suit all abilities. Kids can master the basics of Diabolos and Plate Spinning with a few minutes, and then work on a whole variety of more advanced tricks and techniques.

You could run circus workshops as an optional activity, alongside other choices such as crafts and cooking, or give your whole holiday club a circus theme. Another idea that works very well is have a daily challenge slot, where kids can demonstrate their proficiency at a particular skill. It is a great confidence builder!

Big novelty games can be good things to have on hand (for smaller groups to play or as an up front event) and maybe keep in reserve for when you have some time to fill. With a bit of imagination, you can also tie big games in with your story, to illustrate the teaching in a vivid, dramatic fashion.

If you have a large hall, or an outdoor area available, there are a number of exciting games you can play using an earthball. You can involve a large number of children, and they are great for burning off energy. We have up to three earthballs available, for even more fun!

If you are in a large hall with reasonable numbers of children, consider using a sound system. Even once you have everyone quiet, there can still be a high level of background noise to compete against, and it is a huge help to be able to communicate without having to shout all the time. We have a range of easy to set up systems available, and have radio mics available so you are not restricted by trailing cables.

If you have team members doing readings, prayers and talks, some properly set equipment can provide enough reinforcement to make them easily audible, without giving an overpowering or boomy sound. This is particularly important if you have softly spoken people, or those who are not confident up front.

Video soundtracks and recorded music sound a lot better when you use a proper sound system. TV speakers and ghetto-blasters are not designed to be used anywhere bigger than a living room. It is worth making the effort so that everyone can hear what is going on. The same goes for your musicians, we can provide a range of mics etc., to get them plugged in, and they will play a lot better if they are not having to hammer their instrument to try and make themselves heard.

Doing any drama? If you are, make as good a job of your stage as you can. It is amazing the difference a few well placed lamps can make, and there are a range of other effects you can use to make your sketches really memorable. For example, if you are doing Going Bananas, put a smoke machine in the Time Shed to guarantee great looking entrances for the characters!

Some simple scenery and decoration can make a huge difference to a hall, and reinforce your theme. If you have built a backdrop, make it stand out by focusing a few lights on it. We also have some suitable banners etc. available, as well as loads of fairy lights and other effects.

Everyone loves a gunging! Except the person in the tank, that is. Our gunge makes for a great spectacle and provides a real talking point. You can spend a whole week building up to a gunging. Get the kids to nominate leaders for the finale, and then have everyone vote on the winner! We have genuine gunge available for sale - much, much better than kitchen scraps!

Make sure everyone can see any videos that you are showing. If you are using Going for Gold, Storykeepers, or any similar material, it is essential that children can make out all the detail in the clips. We can provide a range of solutions; projectors, screens and large screen monitors are all available, and at the very basic end, we can even provide equipment for plugging multiple televisions into one video recorder.

Kids love seeing themselves on screen! We have video cameras available for hire, along with tip sheets for making the most of your filming. Videos can have great promotional value and are brilliant for showing parents and churches what has been going. Team members can use videos to help "report back" to their home churches. We have a range of editing facilities available at very reasonable prices. Ask for a demo tape and further details.

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Youth Clubs & Cafes

If you are running a café style event, a good sound system is almost essential. Ever wonder why you are nearly deafened when you go to the shops? It is because the retailers realise that pumping loud music at their teenage customers makes them more likely to stick around and spend more money.

Music creates atmosphere and gives life to a venue, so its worth taking care to get it right. If your crowd feel relaxed, you are more likely to be able to start up conversations and get to know them. Meet them on their territory, culturally speaking, and you will start to see barriers come down. What is more, if you start off with capable equipment that is designed for high volumes, you will get rich, powerful sound when you crank it up. Drive domestic equipment too hard, and you will get a distorted racket which will get on your nerves far more quickly.

Lets face it, church halls are rarely the most attractive spaces, especially for style-conscious teenagers. The best way to hide an ugly room is to turn the main lights off, and use soft coloured lighting to add mood or atmosphere. We have a large range of banners, signs and drapes. They are great for theming a venue, blacking out windows, or hiding any notice boards.

For a serious café, consider some of our furniture. We have bars and tables available for that genuine café atmosphere, as well as a fridge to keep your drinks cool. We have an entire "Comfy Zone" available for hire, consisting of sofas, large cushions, and suitable throws and signs. Everything you need for an evening of decadence! Provides a great setting for teenagers to relax and chat. (Or for the team to chill out in later!)

Whatever style club you are running, try to keep your programme as varied and flexible as possible. Our games equipment can add a whole new dimension to an evening, and many items can be used either as an up front challenge, or work with a small group in a quieter setting.

Playstations and other consoles are a very popular activity. We can provide large screen monitors to upsize the action, and multitap controls for four player games. We also have the odd console available if you are short.

Video is a very powerful way of setting theme, raising questions, and putting points across. We can help with various sizes of video projectors and monitors. One very cost effective idea is to get people in the host churches to lend their spare TV sets. We can provide you with cabling and equipment to hook them all up.

For instant randomly generated computer imagery, put an audio CD into a Playstation, then press select once the disc is playing. The fire buttons change the colour and patterns. Now all you need is TV sets dotted around your hall, or a large projection screen, and things will start to look really good.

If you are using clips from films to base a talk around, give us the tapes a couple of weeks before hand and we can put all the relevant clips together on one tape, with smooth fades in and out. No more scrambling with the remote control and trying to find just the right point. We can also edit out unwanted scenes, or even bleep out expletives! If you have a particular theme or idea, we can produce a customised video. Please phone for more information and a demo tape.

For a very reasonable price, we can produce a whole range of materials to theme your event, for example quality logos for publicity, animated video titles, and visual loops. Also available are customised screensavers which you can e-mail to teenagers after the event. Ask for more details about all of these. Strong theming makes a huge difference to an event.

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All Age & Adults

The Acoustic Café formula is an effective one, especially for adults. We can put together special combination lighting and sound packages to suit the venue and band. Put as much effort into the staging and scenery as you can, think of the look you want for your venue and go for it! We can help with drapes and blackout. We also have some small staging segments available.

Discos are popular events for a wide range of ages. Make a good job of it. If your evening is on a smaller scale, we offer easy to assemble packages including sound, lights, and DJ equipment. For a truly spectacular show, we can ship in everything required equipment-wise and provide DJ, lighting and video operators. Our aim is always to produce a magical, memorable evening. If children and young people are going to their school discos saying "This is rubbish, the mission disco was better" then we have done a good job.

Ceilidhs are great family events and a good way of getting parents along. If you are on a budget and what to run the night yourselves, we can provide a basic package with an appropriately sized sound system, CD players, and a few lights. We will also throw in some suitable ceilidh CDs, a suggested running order, and a sheet with some of the steps. However, there is nothing like live music. Some of our staff play in a lively ceilidh band which we can heartily recommend.

Many teams run family sports nights, although some are a bit more like It's a Knockout. We have a variety of resources that will make these events even more fun. Some have been mentioned elsewhere, but there is still great mileage in having gunge, or some other messy gunge-related game. Giant Jenga works well as a co-operative team game, and traditional favourites like Buzz Off and Duck Hunt (hook the ducks) are always proving popular. Also available is Giant Twister; see which team can last the longest before a player has to drop out! Around twenty people will be able to play at once.

We will soon have a set of stocks available (no doubt with a copious supply of wet sponges) for some good clean fun.

Quiz nights are a very popular activity, whether as a family event of a pub evening for adults. We can supply a number of extras to supplement the traditional question and answer rounds, for example the Mangled Music Round, video based rounds such as What Happened Next, and a host of visual rounds such as Guess the Signs and the infamous Craptown Factor. We also have a fully interactive version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire. (It is better than the computer game, and you can set your own questions). All of this stuff will run on minimal equipment and is provided on CD, videotape, or CD ROM. For a quick fire head to head round we can supply a pair of buzzers to add excitement and end disputes about who was in first.

Ever thought of running a Murder Mystery? They are a great way of getting people interacting together in a non-threatening environment and are especially appropriate for reaching couples. Why not run an alternative event for children at the same time so that the parents can have some fun without them?

We have two Murder Mystery plots available, complete with an extensive script and character sketches, lots of clues, and a few red herrings. We can provide ideas and advice for props, costumes and atmospheric sound and lighting. It is amazing how a few neat props and effects can really spook people! One of our plots is designed for a long event taking up about ninety minutes, the other for a shorter investigation, perhaps taking place after a meal.

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