The vision for youth ministry in practice
Parishioners in north London connected with their local Catholic high school looking for a project they could start with young people who needed help. They were put in touch with the school’s behavioural unit. Before long they were working with individuals from the unit, arranging placements in the local community including a primary school and a park. The group were encouraged to reflect on their experiences and work together as a team to support each other to overcome barriers. At the end of term they were rewarded for their hard work and dedication to the project with a fun day out at an areal assault course. The chance to volunteer and help other people had changed the young peoples outlook on life. Used to being disciplined in school and excluded from activities, the young people were very grateful for the opportunity to prove themselves saying the project helped them ‘interact with respect, be comfortable, be myself and not be forced to be someone else’
If you would like to lead a project in your locality but need some help getting started contact us here.
Inspired by this success another group of parishioners, with support from Million Minutes, committed to undertake a similar project. Volunteers met with students from the behavioural unit at their local school and worked with them for several sessions, at first simply getting to know them and discovering the young people’s stories. The group spent the rest of the term volunteering at a local charity which supported people with visual impairments. Parishioners accompanied the young people to spend several hours a week helping out at the pottery class, talking to the service users and aiding them if they asked for help. Participants in the class were delighted to have them in the group, remarking how helpful and also amusing the pupils could be. One of the volunteers who had organised the sessions remarked on how the young people had shown “huge improvement since we first met them”. She continued “They are so much more confident now, and have participated diligently in every weeks session”.
An urban parish runs a holiday club for disadvantaged children in the local area who don’t get the opportunity to go away during the long summer break from school. The two week scheme is filled with a variety of activities, visits from external organizations and fun interactions with young children from across the area. However, the parishes dedication to young people goes one step further: young adults are at the heart of designing and running the holiday club, giving them the opportunity to see their value through the eyes of the children they work with. This invitation to volunteer gives the young people the chance to gain new skills through working with others, develop mentoring relationships with children in the club and prove themselves confident and capable team members. One individual, who claims to have always struggled with authority and discipline said “Here at Field of Dreams we don’t tell the young people off - we use other approaches. Being involved as a volunteer has showed me different ways of dealing with behaviour and I know I would have benefited from these techniques when I was younger.”
Artur was just 17 when he volunteered to help engage with young people in his local area. He has been walking the streets and building relationships with young people ‘hanging around’, with nowhere else to go or ‘nothing to do’. The group of volunteers started with small steps, slowly forming relationships and then offering support, inviting young people ‘on the edge’ to come to the parish drop-in space. Artur was part of this, and an example of living out Catholic social teaching – building community, fostering participation and supporting people’s dignity in life and work.
Jake, a very isolated young man, met Artur through the outreach work in the local community and received support from the project. From a quiet, fearful beginning, he came out of his shell, and got involved, building up confidence day by day. Jake is only one person the parish volunteers managed to reach out too, they have positively influenced countless young people’s lives through their interactions. Their vision for young people has grown. They are now developing a community café and want to create a ‘safe haven’ for young people at risk, using the parish resources and skills.
