Our Diocesan Youth Office has been working hard to set up new events for young people across our Diocese. They have started by establishing monthly youth evenings for young people in P7-S6 in St Joseph’s, Kilmarnock (KA3 1HB) and will be launching in St Teresa’s, Dumfries (DG2 9DE) in May.
The evenings rely on the support of Junior Leaders from our cluster Catholic secondary school who lead the games and activities, as well as adult facilitators who attend to supervise and support the evenings. Without the Junior Leaders and adult facilitators the Youth Evenings cannot happen. As we look to expand into the other deaneries, we’ve got Junior Leaders keen to get started, but without facilitators we can’t start. Could you spare three hours a month on the third Sunday of the month to volunteer as an adult facilitator and support a youth evening in your deanery?
Read on for more details, or to register your interest please click here and we’ll be in touch.
What’s involved?
- Each evening runs from 5.00 – 7.00 pm, as a facilitator you’d arrive early to help set up the Church and hall, and assist with tidying the space afterwards.
- Alongside the junior leaders, you’d greet and register all of the young people participating.
- Support junior leaders where necessary to ensure the flow of the evening.
- Cook pizza and snacks for the break.
- Supervise the evening to ensure the safety and security of all young people participating.
- Where necessary, speak to parents and answer any questions arising.
- (One leader per evening) Lead the talk on the theme of the evening.
- (One leader only, this could be done on rotation) Liaise with Youth Office to arrange order for pizza and snacks according to the number of young people participating.
Optionally
- Assist as a facilitator at Diocesan gathering days to which young people from all deaneries are invited.
Core leaders only
- Liaise with the secondary and meet with the junior leaders prior to the event in school to plan the next evening.
All resources would be provided by the Youth Office, so your role is to meet and discuss the previous evening, identify areas for improvement, and to plan job allocation for the next evening. Starting out, a representative from the Youth Office will also attend to support you. - Complete online registration after each evening to record who was present and to update any parental consent forms.
- Serve as the delegated person for Safeguarding, ensuring that all applicable policies are followed and logging and reporting any concerns to the Youth Office and Diocesan Safeguarding Office.
- Attend a monthly online meeting with other Deanery Core Leaders and the Youth Office to feedback experiences and identify opportunities for growth/ changes to improve the arrangement and delivery of evenings.
What does the evening look like?
- From 4.30 pm – Registration
- 5.00 – 5.30 pm – Mass
- 5.30 – 6.00 pm – Games & Activities (led by Junior Leaders)
- 6.00 – 6.10 pm – Talk (led by an Adult Facilitator)
- 6.10 – 6.30 pm – Pizza & Social Time
- 6.30 – 6.50 pm – Games & Activities (led by Junior Leaders)
- 6.50 – 7.00 pm – Prayer & Close (led by Junior Leaders and Adult Facilitators)
All of the games and activities tie into the theme of the evening and help build on and develop it.
What training and resources are available?
- Prior to starting, you’ll participate in a gathering day with representatives from the Youth Office to discuss what’s involved, their own experiences, to discuss the structure of the evenings, and to renew/ complete SCSSA Level 1 training.
- The Youth Office will prepare and provide resources for each evening, in this way, all of the evenings will follow a familiar structure for the young people involved, and minimise the time commitment required of adult facilitators.
- For those giving the talk, the Youth Office will provide key points to serve as a guide for the theme/ topics to focus on.
- All of the Youth Evenings are prepared using materials from Life Teen International and are intended to provide young people with evenings which are Catechetical, sociable and fun, through the use of games, activities, a talk, and pizza.
What support will be available?
- The Youth Office will provide ongoing support to any groups as appropriate/ necessary.
- Throughout the year, there will be the opportunity for adult facilitators to gather at a Diocesan level – to meet others from other deaneries, and to receive some ongoing formation. There are also opportunities to meet with adult facilitators from other Dioceses in Scotland.
What do I need to do to register?
If you would be interested in joining our team, please register your interest here and we’ll be in touch.
Do you have any questions/ need additional information?
Email youth@rcdg.org.uk