Chris Turner has spent nearly three decades doing something quietly extraordinary — helping some of the world’s most vulnerable children find their way to school. We sat down to hear the story of Edukid, a calling born from faith, and the parish that keeps him grounded.
2,400 Children. One Simple Idea.
It started with a trip. In the late 1990s, Chris Turner — then a newly trained youth worker — took a group of young people to Cambodia. What he saw there changed the course of his life. Children living in grinding poverty, cut off from any chance of education, with no obvious route out. He came home and started Edukid.
Today, Edukid supports around 2,400 children across the developing world — most of them orphans, children from HIV/AIDS-affected families, those with disabilities, or youngsters so poor that school simply isn’t a realistic option without help. The charity’s approach is practical and holistic: school packs and scholarships for younger children, vocational training for teenagers, university scholarships for those who show exceptional promise.
“Education is the way out,” Chris says simply. But he’s quick to point out that getting a child into school is rarely as straightforward as paying the fees. Edukid also tackles the barriers that keep children away — unsafe drinking water, hunger, the need for fostering when there is no family, and the ever-present importance of safeguarding. “You can’t learn if you’re hungry, or frightened, or sick,” he says. “So we try to deal with all of it.”
Back in the UK, Edukid runs a Global Citizenship Awards Programme in schools — from Year 1 right through to secondary level. Around 200 schools take part, using Edukid’s films, assemblies and lesson plans to help British children understand poverty and inequality. In response, those pupils raise money to fund the work overseas. It’s a circle of education: children helping children.
Faith as Foundation
Chris grew up in a Christian household and, as he puts it, has never really known life without faith. He committed at Sunday School, drawn in by the stories of Jesus — the care, the compassion, the radical attention to those on the margins. The church congregation he grew up in felt like an extended family. It set a template he has tried to follow ever since.
That faith led him to make a significant sacrifice in 1996, when he walked away from a well-paying corporate career because he felt God calling him towards youth work. He enrolled at Oxford Youth Works, a Christian training college, where he was equipped in what he describes as “incarnational and relational” approaches — meeting young people where they are, on their own terms, particularly those falling through the margins of society.
It was at Oxford Youth Works that he also met Debbie, his wife. From that decision, and that training, and that trip to Cambodia — Edukid grew.
“I still consider myself a youth worker,” he says. “The job title has changed, but the heart of what I do hasn’t. Faith has guided me on this whole journey.”
Kept Going by Grace — and Miracles
Chris is refreshingly candid about his faith — warm but not pious, honest about its complexity. “I’m not the most typical Christian in the world and certainly no saint,” he laughs. But what has kept him going through nearly three decades of working in poverty-stricken contexts?
“The beliefs and values make sense to me, and they give me hope in a world that often doesn’t inspire hope,” he says. “Jesus is my friend. Life without him isn’t for me. Faith gives you hope, and forgiveness — that I can be a better person than I sometimes am.”
Working closely with people living in extreme poverty — people for whom faith is often one of the very few things they possess — has reinforced rather than diminished his belief. “To see how faith keeps someone strong when they have almost nothing else — that’s a very impactful thing to witness.”
He also speaks, quietly and with evident conviction, about moments that can only be described as miraculous. “There have been very many times with Edukid where we have been in helpless, overwhelming situations,” he says, “and God has provided.” He doesn’t elaborate — perhaps some things are best held close — but the certainty in his voice is unmistakable.
Why St Mary’s?
Spending your working life on the sharp edge of poverty and injustice does something to a person. It makes it harder, Chris admits, to sit comfortably in mainstream society — to switch off from what you’ve seen, to ignore the failures of systems that should protect the vulnerable. He struggles, in general, with church.
St Mary’s, though, is different. “It has a passion for social justice,” he says. “The congregation holds widely differing views, but it comes together in faith as one body, embracing people as a family. I feel part of it. I celebrate it.”
For Chris, Sunday mornings at St Mary’s offer something he genuinely needs: stillness. A space to stop, breathe, and try to reconnect with God after the weight of the week. In a life shaped by urgent need — 2,400 children depending on the work continuing — that stillness is not a luxury. It’s a lifeline.
Find Out More
To learn more about Edukid’s work — or to find out how your school, business, or family can get involved — visit www.edukid.org.
