Past News

One Week is never enough!
‘Amazing’, ‘Fantastic’, ‘Humbling’ … just three words that young people used to sum up their experiences at Lourdes this year. A hundred young people joined the diocesan pilgrimage in July, and they came from every corner – Whitehaven, Workington, Carlisle, Barrow, Lancaster, Blackpool and Preston – and shared in a most [...]

Created for Some Definite Purpose.
Rosey Kennedy from Preston reports: “I remember when I started my training as a midwife, being told in one of our very first lectures that this wasn’t a job, it was a vocation. And yet as the word ‘vocation’ becomes more commonly used in the secular world it can sometimes seem [...]

Towards the end of the Summer term, seventy Year 7 students from Saint Bede’s in Lytham travelled to Jarrow to visit the home of St Bede, patron of the school. We set off at 7am and arrived at 10.00, and though the weather had been pretty changeable the night before, it was glorious when we [...]

Unlike Anything on Earth: The Cardy Crew in Lourdes
This past half term, Cardinal Allen High School in Fleetwood organised a pilgrimage to Lourdes for a coachful of young people from years 8 to 10. It had a remarkable impact upon all the young people, as Charlie Foley (15) recounts…
Monday the 7th of June marked the [...]

Making an Impact in Finland

Shaun Morgan, 17, Preston, writes, The 2010 International Youth Festival took place at Hirvijari campsite near the city of Kuopio, Finland. It saw young people from Finland, England, Germany, Estonia, Hungary and Russia get together and take part in workshops and activities throughout the week.
On Monday the group from England set [...]

Lizzie Cavanagh, 17, reports: A group of 18 Youth SVP members (from Year 11 through to the Upper Sixth) took part in a sponsored sleep-out in the grounds of St Mary’s Catholic College, Blackpool. The intention was to raise awareness of the plight of homelessness throughout the country but particularly in the Blackpool area. Earlier [...]

Much of what is best in the world of culture has often been inspired by the Catholic spirit- think of the great artists, the great musicians, the great poets. But another cultural phenomenon, the Football World Cup, was also inspired by the Catholic spirit. This year the Football World Cup is taking place in South [...]

At Christmas, Easter and during the Summer, there are opportunities for anyone to come back to Castlerigg for an ‘Open’ Retreat. Often people are really moved by their experiences here at Castlerigg when they come with their schools; the open retreats give you the opportunity to come back, to make new friends and enjoy time [...]

Over the Easter break, a group of young adults from Lancaster Diocese, ran one of the streams for the Catholic family Celebrate conference down in Devon.  Rosey Kennedy, 23, Preston, takes up the story.
I remember as a child sitting with my mum and sister and watching ‘Changing Rooms’. Carol Smilie, Lawrence Lewllyn-Bowen and their team [...]

The senior youth have recently been up at Castlerigg, busy making last minute preparations.
Here, Sophie Dodd from Barrow (20) speaks about the recent preparation weekend: “On Friday 11th July, a group of Lancaster Senior Youth descended upon Castlerigg Manor. For me, it was my first time at the retreat centre and after spending the weekend [...]