Andy Fitchet - Minister, blogger and campaigner - The God Cast Interview

The God Cast with Fr Alex Frost and Guests.

Background Andy was raised in Andover after the family settled there with the Army. He was brought up in a normal, single-parent family, on benefits on a council estate. He has a young son. A youth worker, chef, gardener and Local councillor he went on to train as a Baptist Minister in 2013. He studied theology at Regents Park College, Oxford alongside reviving a dwindling 362-year-old Baptist church in Hampshire. Experience Andy was elected to the newly formed Andover Town Council in 2010, aged 20. He served the council in many capacities, including being Vice-Chair (deputy mayor) of the Council between 2013-14 and being the Chair of the Staffing Sub-Committee during the same period. He was also one of the main Councillors, along with Chair of Council Cllr Geoff McBride, to push for and form the Andover Youth Council. Andy was co-opted back onto Andover Town Council in January 2016 and then re-elected in 2019. Andy was the only serving councillor to be re-elected to the Council in that election. He served on the council until his resignation in October 2019 (https://www.andoveradvertiser.co.uk/news/17929625.councillor-andy-fitchet-resign-andover-town-council/). He has stood for election at all levels of government from Andover Town (2010 & 2019), Test Valley Borough (2011, 2015, 2019 and by-election 2021 and 2023 - losing by just 25 votes!), Hampshire County (2017 & 2021) and Parliament (2017). Andy achieved the highest ever Labour vote in North West Hampshire. He was Chair of the North West Hampshire Labour Party between 2015-2023. Andy is an authorised Minister in the Methodist church and since September 2019 he has been the Methodist Minister in Andover, bringing together the two Methodist churches in Andover into one church and overseeing a major redevelopment of the town centre church building. Andy became the Minister of Hungerford Methodist church in September 2023 also. Andy has worked for a number of charities, most recently for the Good Neighbours Network, helping to tackle social isolation and loneliness through acts of kindness across Hampshire. For Good Neighbours Network, he trained voluntary groups on GDPR, Safeguarding & DBS checks, Insurance, Constitutional matters, volunteer management and volunteer recruitment. Before that, he worked for the leading Disability charity, Enham Trust as a Corporate, Community and Events Fundraiser. Andy is often invited to preach across many denominations and invited to speak at conferences & events. He speaks on topics including social justice, political engagement, Christian engagement in public life and LGBTQ inclusion. He is a Co-Director of Affirm, Baptists Together for LGBTQ+ Inclusion and a Governor of a local primary school