Archive for category WYD 2011

An exciting autumn ahead for young people in A&B

Flick.com user: gisleh

Okay, okay… well we know you’re probably a bit gutted that the summer is over and that those sunny days have been replaced by clouds and rain, but we are fairly confident that the autumn ahead of us is going to be a great one. There is just so much coming up for young people in the diocese. Here is a small taste…

By the way, before we get into it, just a small point: As you’ll see below, we are making use of Facebook events via our Facebook page. If you click on the links below, the Facebook events will give you the details, like times and places etc etc. You can also use the Facebook page to tell us you’re coming – though in most cases you still have to book properly with the youth office. Got it…!?… Good :)

Plenty of reunions for the Redshirts

Getting together at Guildford and Dalesdown

The experience of being a Redshirt is one that people will continue in Lourdes in the future, and also something that they will hopefully continue in their parishes, communities and their lives. If you have been a Redshirt, you’ll know that it changes you in a lot of positive ways.

To help people reflect on the experience there are a few reunions in the months after Lourdes. We are all meeting together for an overnight stay at Guildford on September 11th and then again for a weekend at Dalesdown in December.

A chance to apply for Redshirts 2011

If you want to go to Lourdes with the Redshirts in 2011, watch this space… details will be appearing on the site during the autumn. In the meantime, why not have a look at our Redshirts page, which gives loads of information. Or you can have a look at what past Redshirts have got up to by clicking the categories on the left hand side of this page (and down a bit!)

Preparation for World Youth Day next summer

Now that World Youth Day 2011 is less than a year away the preparation with the Diocesan pilgrims will step up a gear. There is a day for pilgrims at DABCEC (Crawley) this coming Saturday, and then a weekend at Dalesdown in December.

Youth Gather 2010 at St. Richard’s, Bexhill

This promises to be an awesome day, as always! Have a look at the Facebook event page for more details. If you are bringing a (school or parish etc) group, then purleeeeeze tell the youth office. Also, if you feel like doing a bit of walk marshalling, then please tell us that too!

More work on yaab, including a database of youth groups

As you might have noticed, we have been waving a bit of a magic wand over yaab lately – and thanks for all the positive feedback, by the way :) – and we’re not done yet. We are planning to use the integration with the Facebook page to communicate more and more news, meaning that once you have become a ‘fan’ of the page (I mean… you’ve done that right??) you’ll get news on your Facebook news feed whenever you log in, as well as on the site.

The one part of this site that’s looking a bit sorry for itself at the moment is our Youth Groups page. Are you in a youth group? Or, do you run one? If so, tell us all about it because there may be young people in your area hitting the site who might be really interested to know about it.

National Youth Sunday 2010

We don’t have much details about this yet, other than the fact that it will be marked on Sunday November 21st – the Feast of Christ the King – and that the Catholic Youth Ministry Federation will be putting some resources together to mark the occasion. As soon as more news becomes available, we’ll stick it on the site. Until then, why not let us know what you are planning to do in your area?

The visit of Pope Benedict

It can’t have escaped your notice that Pope Benedict XVI is visiting the UK in jus a few weeks time. Some young people from the diocese are going up to London to see him, but this is just the tip of the iceberg. For more news and details, why not check out the official site.

Advent daily prayers for young people

Building on our successful daily prayers from past Advents and Lents we will once again be putting together some daily Advent prayers for young people. There isn’t much on the site yet, but by Advent time, there will be loads of resources as well as prayers for each day.

In the past, the prayers have proved popular with young people, Chaplains, form tutors, youth leaders, parents and loads of other people in A&B and beyond.

World Youth Day leaders gather at DABCEC

On Sunday July 4th, the leadership team for World Youth Day 2011 gathered once again at DABCEC for a bit of training and planning.

This was the last time together as a team before they meet the pilgrims on September 4th.

During the day, the group did a bit of planning for September and also had training on Safeguarding and Group Leadership.

There is a real buzz around the WYD group now. Bring on Madrid!!

Watch this space – we’ll be launching a ‘Fun facts about Spain’ section very shortly. If you have any fun facts you’d like us to post, please contact Lucy at DABCEC on lucy.jardine@dabnet.org.

Official website now in English!

How exciting! The official website for World Youth Day 2011 is now bi-lingual, in English as well as Spanish. It is updated frequently so check it regularly for the latest info from Madrid http://www.jmj2011madrid.com

World Youth Day leaders map the road ahead

On Sunday January 3rd the newly selected team of World Youth Day leaders met together at DABCEC for an initial day of praying, reflecting and planning.

It was a very tentative first step for us all… mostly just about getting to know eachother and mapping out the ‘road to Madrid’ over the next nineteen months. We heard some interesting stuff from Ray and Lucy about preparations being made by the diocese and we also had a chance to get together in small groups and talk about what we felt was needed in terms of a preparation programme. Some fascinating ideas came out of that, both in terms of preparation and formation for the leaders and also in terms of what’s going to happen when we get the whole group together.

It seems like we’ve got a great team. There is a good mix of people and they all seem to get on well together. We are now at the start of a very exciting journey… Keep us in your prayers.

World Youth Day Update…

Plans for Madrid are steaming ahead! Here at the Youth Office we are excited about our new Team Leaders, and we ask you to pray for them as they continue preparing for 2011. We are looking at places to spend our Days in the Diocese; Ray and Lucy will be heading over to Spain in January to check some places out.

We shall be publishing application forms online on 1 March and also sending them to all those who have contacted the Youth Office, expressing an interest in going to Madrid. Interest is high so we encourage you to apply early on!

Very best wishes for a peaceful, happy and blessed Christmas.

World Youth Day 2011. We almost have a leadership team… Almost!

This Sunday about 25 people gathered at DABCEC for the final day of selection for World Youth Day leaders. This was the last of three selection days, each of which aimed at exploring what World Youth Day is about, what leadership is about and what Ray needs to consider in selecting his team!!

At the end of the day, Ray thanked everyone for having taken part in the process and told them that they would know the leadership team soon…

Have a look at the Twitter feed on the right hand side of this page for some photos of the day.

Thinking ahead to Madrid…

On Sunday about 25 people came to DABCEC for a day, to meet others, to have fun, and to think about World Youth Day and leadership.

Potential World Youth Day leaders at DABCEC

Potential World Youth Day leaders at DABCEC

The purpose of the day – which was the second of three – was to think about World Youth Day and to think about leadership. It was also to help Ray in putting his team together for 2011… You can’t accuse the man of not planning ahead now, can you!?

World Youth Day takes place every two or three years and can attract literally millions of pilgrims. The diocese of Arundel & Brighton has had a presence there for many years now, and we are hoping to send a large group in two years time.

a bit of team building!

a bit of team building!

The next leadership discernment day will be December 6th.

World Youth Day 2011 will be in Madrid, Spain

World Youth Day 2011 will be in Madrid, Spain


Official WYD 2011 site

Looking back: World Youth Day ’05

Together with the Diocese of Brentwood, we sent quite a large group to World Youth Day in 2005. We spent the ‘days of encounter’ in Holland before travelling on to the main event in Koln.


Were you a part of the A&B group back in 2005? Do you have any memories to share? If so, post a comment…

Day for Potential World Youth Day 2011 leaders

The whole group at DABCEC

The whole group at DABCEC

World Youth Day 2011 may still be 27 months away, but we have already started to prepare.

Following a general advert asking for anybody who might be interested in leadership, around 25 people turned up at DABCEC this Sunday for the first of a few leadership discernment days organised by Ray.

The day was a real success, and it was great to see so many people. We had a chance to talk about the road ahead, as well as to discuss our idea of what leadership and youth ministry mean to us.

We all left with a real buzz about Madrid.

World Youth Day has been running in the Catholic Church since being started by Pope John Paul II in 1984. The last event in Europe (2005) attracted over 1 million people, and many are hoping that Madrid will be even bigger.

A&B have a great tradition of supporting World Youth Days… roll on 2011!