Loreto YCW Group ACT To Support Mental Health Of Young People

Loreto Catholic Grammar School for Girls have used the focus on mental health over the past year to come up with a series of actions to help support their peers and raise awareness of the issue across the school.

They shared the work at a recent visit to the school by National Training and Development Worker, Marc Besford. The visit followed on from a previous one where the young leaders set out how they planned on doing their own mental health pupil survey, in order to understand the reality of young people at the school and were also helping their Chaplain, Sue Perkins, with developing a peer-to-peer mentoring scheme.

Both the survey and mentoring scheme are now well underway and have made a really positive impact on the well-being of the young people in the school. Establishing new support systems and resilience amongst young people was an important part of the YCW’s National Campaign, MIND! The Gap. One of the aims was to see a continuing impact once the campaign was officially over and these changes in the school should see this happen.

Added to this has been the call from the YCW leaders in Loreto to open up access to tutors in the school for mental health support. The school is now promoting drop-in sessions for students to go and discuss any concerns, with mental health being a key focus.

In response to the visit, Marc Besford said: “It is fantastic to see the group at Loreto working through the YCW Method so well and producing clear actions in response to what they have seen and judged. As I go round the country I hope to see more good work like this happening.”

Sandbach YCW IMPACT Group Hit Fundraising Target For Refugee Sponsorship

There is further good news from the Sandbach YCW IMPACT Group’s efforts to raise enough money for a refugee sponsorship in their local parish.

A few weeks ago the YCW National Training and Development Worker, Marc Besford, visited the Group to get an update and was told they had raised the full amount needed - £12,000 - after several fundraising efforts organised by the young leaders and the parish.

The Group have been raising money since last year to aid efforts for a Parish refugee sponsorship scheme, initiated by the Group. Not only have they been raising money but they have organised the rental of a house, collected furniture, helped with DIY, tidied up the garden and recruited volunteers.

The parish is now waiting on the family to arrive and are planning various welcome activities.

To build upon this amazing example, the young leaders are now looking at other issues through the YCW method of SEE-JUDGE-ACT and we hope to hear about more inspiring actions in the near future.

New Adult Companions Trained At HQ

Last month saw 10 new adult companions complete their initial training at the YCW HQ, setting them up to support the development of YCW/IMPACT groups in their parishes and schools.

The YCW prides itself on being ran by and for young people but we do ensure that a group can only start when there is an adult (over the age of 18 for an Impact group or over the age of 30 for a YCW group) who is willing to act as a chaplain or adult companion to the group.

The presence of an adult in the life of the group is very important. The founder of the YCW, Joseph Cardijn famously stated that the YCW should be “everything by the young people but nothing without the chaplain.”

In endorsing our Guide for Adult Companions, the Bishop of Salford, Rt. Rev. John Arnold, said: “Having a companion on a journey, especially if that journey is long and sometimes difficult, is a great blessing. A YCW adult companion has the privileged task of accompanying young people on their journey as they face the challenges of teenage years, explore the meaning of their faith in everyday life and turn ideals into practical action.”

The training ran through the fundamentals of the YCW and role of an adult companion but was also an opportunity to share some best practice from existing chaplains.

National Chaplain, Fr John Marsland, welcomed the new companions, 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. These new adult companions will do a great job delivering on this.”

Working In Partnership With Salford Diocese

Over the past year, Salford Diocese has been running the “Hope In The Future” initiative, which is designed to help grow the Church for future generations; and answer the call of Pope Francis for us all to be Missionary Disciples.

As the Diocese has so kindly hosted our HQ since 2015, we wanted to help support these efforts and work in partnership to share some of our experiences with younger people in particular, but also how we have engaged our adult companions too.

The first stage of Hope in the Future focused on celebrating all that already exists in the life of parishes - with several YCW groups being highlighted as important parts of the community there. Stage Two builds upon this and aims to “Harvest Our Talents” and put them to use in local parishes.

There are lots of opportunities as part of this phase to truly engage our young people and inspire them to be the leaders that Cardijn spoke so often about. We have already attended smaller working groups to discuss how we can facilitate this, using our own leadership programme to harvest the talents of young parishioners across the Diocese.

To celebrate a successful first year, as well as look in hope towards the second, the YCW also attended a service at the Cathedral. It was a wonderful opportunity to speak to people from across the Diocese and catch up with many of the parishes that we are already working with.

Marc Besford, National Training and Development Worker, said: “We see the mission of the YCW and the aspirations of Hope In The Future as very much part of the same journey. Our young leaders make a incredible contribution to the life of the Church in parishes across England and Wales, and even the world, so to be able to celebrate this was very much welcome. Now we are looking to keep up the growth of our movement and support local parishes at the same time.”

YCW Returns To Middlesbrough Diocese!

After almost a decade away from having a group presence in Middlesbrough Diocese, the YCW has successfully formed a new group in St Patrick’s Catholic College, Thornaby.

It follows the appointment of former YCW member, Damian McCann, as Deputy Head of the school and a visit up to the area from the National Team earlier this year.

In recent years there has been an increase in requests from Catholic secondary schools who wish to start groups. This can lead to a renewed level of energy in the pastoral care of students and an increase in charitable works and community outreach.

Many teachers and chaplains have come to understand that the methodology and mission of the YCW is an appropriate way of combining all of this.

It also enables young people grow in confidence and responsibility, deepen their faith and develop their interpersonal skills and talents. 

Marc Besford, National Training and Development Worker, welcomed the new group setting up, saying: "As a local lad it is great to see a growing presence of the YCW in the area. We have an enthusiastic group of young leaders who are keen to develop their own leadership abilities through our method."

NEW Resources for YCW Groups NOW AVAILABLE

At the heart of the Young Christian Workers is the opportunity for young people to come together and discuss important issues in their lives. The realities of our young leaders is what drives the movement forward.

That is why we produce essential resources for Groups to engage with and help kick-start the YCW method of SEE - JUDGE - ACT.

Kate Wilkinson, National President of the YCW, writes in the foreword: “These booklets are a guide to setting out on a great adventure. It gives our young leaders a plan to follow and some useful tools to help them on their way. It will be up to them to make the journey but we believe in the YCW Movement that young people people can do great things and given the chance, they can make a real difference in the world.”

For Adult Companions there is a special guide on "The Art of Accompaniment" with a foreword by Rt. Rev. John Arnold, Bishop of Salford. It sets out the all-important role of the Companion in accompanying the young people on their journey of faith, letting them lead but being there to support them.