Our wonderful Young Leaders decided that we needed a summer ball so they set about planning and organising an extravaganza with music, food, an impossible quiz (thanks Anto), games, decorations and even a photo booth. The ball was for all our young people aged 14+ and included some of the gang who were back from University too. It was a brilliant night with lots of fun and I was struck by the love the young people have for one another with younger members immediately included in their family. Special mention and thanks go to Tushar who carried the vision and made it happen. I think the video of unedited pictures captures the evening quite well…
We’ve had a wonderful year with our Seekers, Anointed and Sent youth groups who continue to astound us with their dedication, eagerness to seek God, love for one another and openness to all Jesus wants to
In May we started a second Seekers group based in a different Parish – St Andrew’s in Cottam. It is early days and it has had a bit of a slow start but we are hopeful that when we return in September it will go from strength to strength. We’ve loved getting to know the new children who attend and look forward to walking with them in the years ahead.
We had a fantastic time in June with 8 Primary School afternoon visits and a whole day with around 60 Year 3s from the Small Schools Cluster. We explored themes from trusting in God to following Jesus to the Eucharist! The children loved their sessions and joined in so well. They had some amazing ideas and answers too. Our Yoke 
Young Leaders helped us to lead the days which added a boost of energy too. These sessions were so successful that we are now looking at setting aside regular time each week to work with Primary Schools. 
There has been so much going on over the past few months that there has been no time to write about any of it!! A huge bit of brilliant news though is that Nora Lord joined our team here in April as Children and Families Coordinator. We are very blessed to have her with us and to receive the benefit of her enthusiasm, joy and hard work. There are already a few new plans in the pipeline and we can’t wait to see the impact Nora has on our ministry. Please keep her (and all of us) in your prayers.
Last night the Seekers Youth Group spent the evening using up huge amounts of energy at Rascals play centre. Having the place to ourselves meant that there was more than enough room on the climbing frames, slides, trampolines, scramble nets etc to keep the young people entertained for a couple of hours only stopping half way through for pizza and chips followed by jelly and ice cream. 
Everyone had a fantastic time – we managed to get one sensible photo of them all but the following photo probably captures their personality and their evening more accurately!
In February Half-Term we took our young leaders away for a retreat full of teaching, prayer, creativity and training. They responded so well with their openness to the Spirit, their love for one another and all their hard work. We stayed with Fr Philip Conner (and of course Bosco the dog) at St Joseph’s in Lancaster where we were made to feel really welcome and at home. The church in Preston is blessed to have such a dedicated, talented and holy bunch of young people who are leading the way for others. Here are what a few of them said:
Having spent a frantic few weeks fundraising, the staff and pupils at Corpus Christi High School presented us with 20 Rucksacks all full of underwear, socks, sleeping bags, chocolate, t-shirts, shower gel and a New Testament. They also had a few items spare! We were blown away by their efforts and generosity especially in such a short space of time. The people who attend our Wednesday Drop-In were delighted to receive such a useful gift for Christmas and were so touched by the love and care that was demonstrated to them. If you would like to be involved in a similar project in the future then please get in touch.
On Wednesday 29th November 32 young people from the Seekers youth group came with us to Energi Trampoline Park. This group have huge amounts of energy to burn off so this was the ideal place for them! I was very impressed by the skills that many of them had – including even a backward somersault landed perfectly by one of them! I have lots of very blurred photos from trying to capture their fun as they moved way too quickly for my skills…However here are a few that came out okay. It was a great evening with lots of very hot and tired young people at the end!
Sunday 26th November was the Feast of Christ the Universal King and each year the Church in England and Wales asks us to celebrate National Youth Sunday on this great feast. So we gathered the young people who attend our groups together at St Clare’s and spent a few hours with around 50 young people exploring the theme of Christ the King and preparing for Mass. Then we joined the Parish for the evening Mass during which the young people provided the music, readings, bidding prayers including a sung response with sign language, and a dance with flags to the entrance hymn. They also made a banner which was displayed in the church.