New YCW Group Sets Up In Oldham

There is further good news on the development of our movement following another YCW group being set up in St Edward’s Parish in Lees, Oldham.

The new group emerged after Fr John Marsland, the current National Chaplain for the YCW, moved to the parish earlier this year and got quickly to work in finding interested people. His appeals for both adult companions and young people in the parish were responded to with great enthusiasm and this month the group met for the first time.

As expected, the first meeting of the group looked more deeply at the fundamentals of the movement. Marc Besford from the National Team joined the group to help them explore Cardijn’s 3 Truths: the Truth of Faith, Reality and Method - as Cardijn described them: “The three truths that light up and explain the problem of working youth in the world today”.

It is through the contradiction between the truths of Faith and Reality that we can truly understand and appreciate the need for the SEE-JUDGE-ACT method. This gives the young people an opportunity to discuss their own realities and examine how this all fits into their local communities and the wider world, but then inspires them to act upon this with authentic Christian action.

Fr John welcomed the new group, saying: “This is hopefully the beginning of a very exciting journey for these young people; a journey of discovery about their own selves, their power to be leaders and make a difference but also a journey of faith and how this can be their guide throughout their lives.”

Past YCW Members Meet Again To Update On Work

Following a fantastic response from past members last month, who gathered at the YCW HQ to discuss how they can support the movement, the group came back together to update the National Team on their progress.

Work had been carried out in various sub-groups to look at finance and fundraising, communications and support for existing groups/creating new ones. These discussions are in an early stage and we are hoping to support it by drawing in more past members who may be interested and available.

This doesn’t have to mean meeting in person, it could be as simple as passing on contacts, writing/looking over a funding applications, advocating in parishes and schools for groups, and much more. Anyone interested can contact the HQ for more information, using the details on our website or by emailing info@ycwimpact.com.

By meeting up again it was also an opportunity to share with past members some of the latest work being done by the National Team and YCW/IMPACT groups across the country. This included the latest information around the MIND! The Gap national campaign on young people and mental health and the development of our YCW Leadership Programme, which is being launched soon.

Marc Besford, National Training and Development Worker, who hosted the past members said: “We are really fortunate to have so many enthusiastic and experienced past members who are willing to share their thoughts and ideas with us, but also give up their time for the movement.

We already rely on many past members to act as adult companions, who volunteer their time to accompany groups across the country, so to receive even more support is incredibly helpful. We aim to share more about this network through our monthly newsletter, social media and word of mouth, so please keep an eye out and share the information as far as you can!”

Training For New Adult Companions In Whitefield

The YCW have been working to continue our expansion of YCW and IMPACT! groups across the North West and North East and an essential part of this work is finding adult companions to help with the creation of such groups and support the young people to take on the leadership for themselves.

Following efforts in St Bernadette’s Parish in Whitefield, we can now announce that we have successfully trained several new adult companions who have already began the search for young people to join.

This has all been supported by past members in the area who have been advocating for the YCW and encouraged others to get involved in building the movement.

Fr John Marsland, National Chaplain of the YCW in England and Wales, welcomed the new adult companions at last week’s training, saying: “The mission of the YCW is to put the reality of young people at the centre and ensure that the young people themselves realise their God given dignity and leadership abilities.

However, we can’t do this without the amazing support of our adult companions. They act as a sounding board for the young people, giving advice and guidance when necessary and support their journey of faith through many of life’s challenges.

As Joseph Cardijn said: “Everything by the young people, nothing without the Chaplain!” - we still hold true to this and these new adult companions will do a great job delivering on this.”

Work And Mental Health - YCW Survey Results

Earlier this year the YCW launched our national consultation on Young People and Mental Health.

As well as a general survey on mental health issues, we also wanted to ask about the reality of young people’s mental health in relation to work. We had well over 500 young people in work (either full-time, part-time or casual) or seeking work, who responded to the survey and we wanted to share some of the insights from it.

The first result shows clearly that many young people are not yet finding full-time work - with two-thirds (67%) in part-time work and over a quarter (27%) describing themselves as unemployed/seeking work.

We then asked about the factors around work that have an impact - positive and negative - on mental health.

There were a range of answers to the question on what has a negative effect, which we have grouped together under common headings. By far the biggest response was about stress and anxiety, with over a third of young people (37%) highlighting this as a point of concern.

Following this were a set of issues relating to a lack of dignity in work - including bullying, bad bosses and a lack of job satisfaction. A fifth of respondents (21%) raised these points.

The subsequent categories related to young workers feeling unhappy or lonely at work (16%), having poor working relations with colleagues (15%) and having to deal with rude customers (7%).

When asked what had a good effect on young workers’ mental health the responses were also grouped together. Overwhelmingly (at 45%), respondents highlighted having positive and supportive colleagues or managers, underpinned with good communication, as the biggest factor in establishing good mental health.

Following this was the recognition of being treated with dignity in work as an important factor (26%), with examples being given of having time for breaks, being given encouragement and support to develop in the job.

In addition, 18% of young people responded that having a comfortable, clean and calm working environment had a good effect on their mental health.

Interestingly, only 3% felt that their pay was the the most important factor in their mental health.

Finally, we asked the young people to describe any mental health initiatives in their workplace. Shockingly, only 7% could do so, with the vast majority responding that their was nothing, or that they weren’t aware of anything.

Some examples included training on stress management, mindfulness courses and opportunities for mediation.

YCW Helping To Support Local Schools Project

Earlier this year the YCW launched our national campaign on Young People and Mental Health.

We were looking at reality for young people when it comes to this incredibly important issue and an overwhelming amount of our members expressed their deep concerns about the current help available to young people with mental health problems, as well as the stigma attached to it.

Because of this concern the YCW began MIND! The Gap and have been working through the SEE, JUDGE and ACT method with our groups.

On the back of this work, we have been asked to help support a project in three Salford Catholic high schools - St Ambrose Barlow, St Patrick’s and All Hallows. Newly ordained Fr Gavin Landers is organising a programme of issues to be explored at each school - ranging from the environment to mental health - and was keen to collaborate with the YCW on it.

Marc Besford, National Training and Development Worker, met with Fr Gavin to talk about how the YCW can help. He said: “When I heard about the initiative I thought this was something we could help support. We have been grappling with many of the issues around mental health over the past year and of course, have lots of experiences working with young people. I hope that the project goes from strength to strength and want to thank Fr Gavin for his willingness to work together on it.”

Work Progressing On New Group At St Charles, Swinton

This week the YCW HQ hosted parishioners from St Charles in Swinton who are being trained as Adult Companions in the hope of setting up a new Group in the near future.

Gill and Charles, both of whom have worked with young people throughout their lives, felt they wanted to find a new way of supporting young people to develop their leadership skills and deepen their faith at the same time.

Fr John Marsland, National Chaplain, gave them an introduction to the YCW - from the origins and three truths of Cardijn to the recent campaign on young people and mental health. He also ran through what it is to be an adult companion, drawing on his many years experience in this role, at both a local and international level.

Gill and Charles are now planning to invite young people in their parish over the next few weeks and aim to start in October. They have already drawn up a letter that they will send to these young people and follow this up with appeals in Church. There are also plans to use social media to advertise the YCW across the Parish.

In response to the visit, Marc Besford, National Training and Development Worker, said: “It was fantastic to see new Companions coming through from our training and I look forward to visiting the new group when it gets off the ground. If anyone is thinking of becoming an adult companion, please do get in touch. We have great training on offer and a range of resources to support this essential role in our movement.”