Argyll & the Isles: A new form of youth work

Sketches, music, games, catechesis and prayer are all part of Craig Lodge Primary School Missions

“When can you come back?” this kind of enthusiasm is what every youth worker wants to encounter. It has been the response to a new form of youth work taking place in the diocese of Argyll & the Isles. This is a diocese that presents huge challenges to youth work because of its geography. It covers a vast area, 31,000 km², stretching from Stornaway in the Isle of Lewis in the north to the tip of the Mull of Kintyre in the south. There are no big centres of population, no Catholic secondary schools and only five Catholic primary schools.

When Denise Roberts started work as the Diocesan Youth Officer three years ago she imagined she would be working mostly with groups of young teens. “I gradually discovered from visiting parishes that this was going to be very difficult. It can often seem like there’s one Catholic family here, another there and over 20 miles between them!” The limited opportunities to meet other young Catholics often leave teenagers feeling very isolated in their faith. This situation undoubtedly contributes to the disconnection from the Church that, sadly, so often happens during the teenage years. Denise realized she needed to adapt her approach to youth work in the diocese and re-focus on a much younger age group. This has resulted in a programme of Primary School missions.

“I am working with Craig Lodge Community on this as they have a lot of experience working in secondary schools. Basically I asked if they could adapt what they would do in a secondary to suit a Primary 6 & 7 age group. They were delighted with the idea.”

The programme is now underway and consists of visiting each school, each term, to spend a day working with the Primary 6 & 7 pupils. Each visit has a theme: God’s Love, God’s Mercy & God’s Mission, and complements the, ‘This Is Our Faith’, catechetical resource teachers are using. The summer term includes an invitation to take part in a youth pilgrimage to Iona.

“We want these missions to be rooted in solid Catholic teaching and also celebratory and fun! We use sketches, action songs, very silly props, a bit with a dog in it (by far the most popular) as well as catechesis and praying together.” Their aim is to build up friendships with the pupils that will last as they move up to secondary school. “If we can stay connected we hope they will be more inclined to say ‘yes’ to invitations we extend to other youth events locally and nationally. There is no quick fix here, and no one expects to see the results from this for some time but based on what we are seeing right now, we are very hopeful.”

For more information tel: 01838 200347 email: argyllyouth@craiglodge.org or visit: www.craiglodge.org/