Energize youth/kids material review by Becky Lawrence, Youth and Childrens Worker at St Marks MK
Energize is an online resource portal by national youth charity Urban Saints, that you pay monthly for on a subscription, you get material included for ages 3+ to age 15+ which is really great value for churches looking for an all encompassing resource package. 
It has loads of material on there that is easy to pick up and use to lead kids and youth sessions. I have used it in a previous role with my 11-14’s age group. For each session there is way more material than you need – on purpose! – so that you can pick and choose games or activities and formats that would work with your group. It was an ideal resource for our Sunday morning volunteer team to be able to use as they could log in to pick and choose activities for the session. It gives you a clever guide of how long the activities & whole session will take so you can select the right amount of activities, plan for the right length and then save & print off the notes.
We could add each volunteer as a user with their own log in 
which made things really efficient. We found it took all the hassle out of planning something from scratch and gives you plenty of engaging content. Our youth found the games and teaching really engaging too. It has all different themes on there including Bible characters, apologetics, christian foundations, and more. You can search by theme or follow a series.
It also features bonus resources to help equip and encourage leaders too with online training resources, tips, videos, articles and blogs, for leaders or teams to help develop skills and explore characteristics to help them be empowered to be better leaders.
Plus it also features resources to help equip, mentor, and disciple, young and emerging leaders.
Here is Urban Saints say about Engergize:
Sessions are the heart of Energize. You can either explore our existing library of 1,800 sessions or create your own using our collection of over 28,000 activity ideas. One Energize subscription enables you to access high-quality, age-appropriate, Bible-based resources for every stage of a young person’s development. Energize will equip you to understand, engage with and respond to their needs, from ages 3 to 15+. Your subscription includes unlimited access to all resources for as many leaders as you wish to add to your account.
For our part, we want as many people as possible within your organisation able to enj
oy all of the benefits from the changes we have made over the last 18 months. That could be the new search launched at the end of 2019, the group profiles that mean you can automatically optimise sessions for theme, duration, venue, group size and stage of faith – saving over half of your reading time, the different font-size prints, easier password resets, the YouthVids and Messy Church resources, the new session builder, the downloadable presentations for visual learners, the new series, or the ever-increasing new media. We know that time is tight for you and the potential volunteers you recruit – because we’re youth and children’s ministry volunteers too. So please do get in touch if you need help to make the most of Energize.
Urban Saints are also continuing to support churches starting out with youth and children’s work and small churches working in disadvantaged areas. If this is of interest to you and your context, let Energize know and they can get back to you to figure out a deal.
Energize Standard price – £21 per month/£252 per year
They offer a 30 day free trial with no obligation to subscribe, which has access to all resources for all age groups (Includes permission to view, edit and save sessions). It excludes adding other users, sharing sessions with others using Energize, and automatic optimising of sessions for your groups but it should give you a good taster before choosing if it is right for you.
Find out more about the resource and subscription here https://www.energize.uk.net/
Find out about Urban Saints and other resources and events for kids/youth here
