“We are never at the end of what we do, nor are we at the beginning, we are in the middle”
-Gabriel, young person, St Bonaventure’s
On Tuesday 2nd July, Million Minutes attended Called to Action, a day of celebration, reflection and inspiration run by Citizens UK. One hundred and fifty young people, accompanied by school leadership attended to share the amazing work they have been doing as community organisers, and through this living out principles of Catholic Social Teaching.
Citizens UK’s approach to community involves deep listening and hearing the stories and lived realities of people. Groups encourage others to get involved in campaigns and hold meetings with people in power to hear these stories. This methodology places people at the heart of community and at Million Minutes we advocate for the voices of young people to be at the heart of communities.
We heard many stories of successful community campaigns including getting mental health counsellors across all schools in Brighton and Hove council, advocating for living wage accreditation among employers like London City Airport, Tate and Lyle and the London Excel, securing £1 bus fares for 16-21 year olds across Tyne and Wear, creating resources and promoting dialogue for inclusion and breaking down barriers that cause racism in a community in Birmingham.
We have been inspired listening to these first-hand stories of young people, experiencing their tangible passion for change, and learning about their fun and creative ways of campaigning. These young people are leading their communities, they inspire hope.
Guest speakers including Cardinal Nichols, Raymond Friel and Anita Motha from Million Minutes helped to frame the day in Catholic Social Teaching and the Common Good. The Cardinal reminded us that the Common Good does not and should never exclude people, he told us: “if anyone is left out, then it has failed” – it is no longer the common good. Working for the common good requires us to listen to and serve everyone. Raymond shared the rich history of Catholic social teaching across different cultural contexts, and Anita thanked the group for sharing their profound wisdom with us and called Catholic communities and young people to work together to continue to advocate for the voices of young leaders and changemakers.
We took the opportunity to ask the youth panel for advice on how CEOs of Catholic charities could help to support this shared goal of working towards the Common Good. They said:
“Be transparent. Don’t make us empty promises or tell us you’re going to do something and don’t. We would rather have leaders be honest and upfront.”
“You should consider being open and taking the ideas of people who think outside the box.”
We have taken this on board and have come away even more energised to work with our Catholic schools and organisations like Citizens UK to place youth voice at the centre of driving change our Catholic communities.
If you think outside the box and would like to get involved with our work, consider joining our board of trustees (over 18), or one of our advisory groups: schools or youth. To find out more contact us at info@millionminutes.org