Welcome to Katerina - Our Communications Volunteer

We sat down with Katerina, our communications volunteer, to talk about what inspires her and her favourite Christmas traditions.

Q. Could you tell us a little bit about yourself?

Thirteen years ago, I came to this country driven by curiosity and a desire to explore. Now, I’m a proud mum to a young daughter who attends a Catholic school, where she’s learning the values of compassion, community, and dignity—values that resonate deeply with me. 

After spending six years raising my family and pursuing further education, I felt it was time to focus on my own personal and professional growth. That’s why I took the chance to volunteer with Million Minutes, and it’s been an incredibly rewarding experience. 

Q. Why did you decide to volunteer with Million Minutes?

I decided to volunteer with Million Minutes, because I wanted to be part of something meaningful. I believe we are raising a generation of smart, alert, and inquisitive children who have a voice and a vision for the world they live in. These young people are deeply aware of the importance of fellowship, justice and mutual respect, and we must ensure that their voices are heard. By providing them with the necessary resources and support, we empower them to make positive, lasting changes in the world. While I am not a Catholic myself, I’ve seen the positive impact faith and community support can have on young people which is why I was driven to get involved with its mission and help engage more parents and families in supporting the cause.

Q. What have you enjoyed about volunteering with Million Minutes

What I’ve enjoyed most about volunteering with Million Minutes is the variety of exciting and meaningful projects. Whether it’s writing a press release for the launch of Adventurous Accompaniment, summarizing impactful reports like the Synod on Synodality document or the Boundary Breaking project, or drafting content for social media and newsletters, each task has felt purposeful. 

One of my favourite moments has been our team brainstorming meetings. There’s something so energizing about working together to find solutions or spark new ideas. Everyone contributes, building on each other’s thoughts—it feels like solving a puzzle as a team (and I love puzzles). Those moments of collaboration remind me of the power of shared creativity and how much we can achieve when we work together. 

Q. What’s the most frequently used app on your phone?

Hmmm, apart from Yahoo mailbox and What’s App, I think it’s Ebay as I am always buying something for my daughter.

Q. If you could meet anyone (famous or not) from the past/present, who would it be and why?

If I could meet anyone, it would be Mother Teresa. She is an incredible inspiration for compassion and humanity, embodying selflessness and a deep commitment to serving others. Her dedication to helping the most vulnerable in society is a powerful reminder of what it means to live a life of purpose and love. I would love to hear about her experiences firsthand and learn from her wisdom about finding strength in faith and kindness in even the smallest acts.

Q. With the festive season being upon us, do you have any traditions that you look forward to at this time of year?

I absolutely do. My mum is visiting us from Bulgaria for Christmas, and I am really looking forward to spending some quality time with her. My favourite moment of the festive season is Christmas Eve when the whole family gathers to share a traditional vegan meal. It’s a special tradition where we prepare a specific number of dishes- 7 for the days of the week, 9 for the months of pregnancy or 12 for the months in the year. We also bake a special soda bread with a coin hidden inside. Whoever finds the coin is believed to be blessed with health and prosperity for the coming year. It’s such a meaningful tradition filled with love and gratitude, and I cherish these moments of togetherness. 

Q. What would you say to anyone who might be thinking about volunteering?

This experience has been both inspiring and transformative, showing me, how you can contribute to something bigger, while growing personally and professionally. It’s a sharing of knowledge, skills and perspectives that creates a feeling of unity and mutual support. I’ve also seen how effective communication can inspire action and make a real impact.

If you’re interested in volunteering with Million Minutes, get in touch by completing the ‘Contact Us’ form on our website and be part of something meaningful! Let’s build a community that strives to put the voices of young people at the heart of positive change. 

Press Release: Million Minutes launches Adventurous Accompaniment

Million Minutes are excited to announce the launch of Adventurous Accompaniment, an opportunity to explore the art of accompaniment through research-based, high-quality resources and bespoke facilitation. Work with us to explore how this may deepen understanding of Catholic communities and enhance pastoral areas of work. 

We need only to accompany and encourage them, trusting a little more in the Holy Spirit.

Pope Francis, Christus Vivit (2019)

In 2019, Pope Francis released the post-synodal exhortation Christus Vivit, where he emphasised the call for the Church to walk at people’s side - “a church which accompanies” (World Youth Day, 2013). Then, following personal experiences of the need for accompaniment during lockdown, Million Minutes and friends (Aseel Gilbert, Amy Cameron, David Wells, Danny Curtin, Phil Callaghan and Abbot Christopher Jamison OSB), together with the generous support of Jesuits in Britain and The English Benedictine Congregation, came together and commissioned research to better understand how accompaniment was practiced within Catholic spaces. 

This research highlighted a need for a renewed vision of accompaniment, one which allowed each person (the accompanier and the accompanied) to be led by the Holy Spirit on an “adventure” – walking along, side by side. 

Over the last few years, we have worked with parishes, dioceses and organisations to pilot and develop a set of resources and facilitated workshops to understand and explore the uses of Adventurous Accompaniment. 

Synodality seems to sit really well with Adventurous Accompaniment...[it] also involves a change in mindset...to one which involves us all being open to the prompting of the Holy Spirit. 

Adventurous Accompaniment, Pilot Feedback

We are excited to work with Catholic communities across the country, to explore how Adventurous Accompaniment can lead to community-building, participation and mission in your diocese, school, parish or organisation. If you want to find out more, please visit www.accompanier.co.uk. 

The synodal process has renewed the awareness that listening is an essential component of every aspect of the Church’s life: administering sacraments, in particular that of Reconciliation, catechesis, formation and pastoral accompaniment.

XVI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, Final Document (2024) 

Young Caritas Europa Forum 2024

Million Minutes and CSAN staff recently participated in the Young Caritas Europa Forum, hosted by Caritas Europa in Athens.  This was a weekend gathering of young adults from organisations across the Caritas Europa network to share experiences, learn more about the work of Caritas in Europe, and to discuss how to encourage young people to be involved in volunteering throughout the Caritas Network.

Photo courtesy of Rebecca Rathbone, Caritas Youth

Bernie Goddard reflects: “We spent a morning learning about the work which Caritas Hellas does throughout Greece, and in particular the work that the Adama Project does with refugees and migrants. This includes supporting people through the asylum process, especially in looking for work. We then had an opportunity to learn about ways that young adults are working with refugees and migrants in countries such as Italy, Slovenia and Lithuania.  

Many of these volunteers are involved in creating activities for children and families and delivering educational resources in schools, informing young people about the journeys refugees take and the difficulties they often face. 

Our second day started by looking at what motivates us and how we can build charity in our communities. This involved a group activity that addressed how we can engage young people and young adults to actively participate within our organisations. This was a great opportunity to share ideas and look at how Caritas organisations work in each country and enabled us to reflect on our own methods of youth and young adult outreach in England and Wales.    

We ended the afternoon with a scavenger hunt using scenarios which people often face when they are fleeing their countries, where my group looked at fleeing from climate-related impacts on livelihoods. 

The weekend was a fantastic opportunity to learn, network and share the work which we all do within the Caritas social justice networks. 

We wish to thank CSAN, Caritas Europa and all its affiliated organisations, for their hospitality and for providing us with an inspiring and thought-provoking weekend. 

Celebrating Young People: Revival 2024

This year we launched Celebrating Young People: Revival (CYPR), a project that seeks to put youth voice at the heart of change in communities. We worked with seven schools over the year, seeking to better understand young people's perspectives on issues that affect them within their communities. We have taken them on a learning journey to consider how young people can effect change through social action, prayer, and dialogue.

The 6 steps of CYPR have allowed an open platform for students to speak up and be heard. These steps have included asking questions directly, rather than presuming answers. The responses we received have been insightful, honest and challenging.

Importantly, at each stage, the young people's responses have been fed back to each school to give an understanding and perspective on the issues their students are concerned about. The young people have followed, not only by praying for some of theses issues, but also looking at what Catholic Social Teaching says on some of these topics. We also recorded a webinar with young leaders, to ask them about the importance of leadership, and how it feels for them to be inspiring others to be a change in the communities around them.

We celebrated the sixth step of our programme 'Dialogue', with an event at St Vincent's MissionHub in Sheffield. This was an opportunity to thank, encourage and celebrate the young people who were a part of this year's CYPR programme. We spent some time reflecting on the issues that had been raised over the previous steps, affecting both their local communities and the rest of the world. We delved deeper by looking at how young people can - and already are - making positive changes within schools, communities and the world. By calling the group to action in this way, it gave them the opportunity to look at and start planning what could be done to make change within the communities around them.

We hope to continue building relationships with Catholic schools, colleges and students over the next year, journeying with them and continuing to accompany them, guided by their voices on what young people want, need and feel is important to them.

We wish to thank our 7 schools that we have journeyed with this year, as well as Pax Christi and the Diocese of Hallam Youth Ministry for their collaboration and partnership.

We will be running our CYPR programme again over the next academic year. We are currently looking for schools and partners to work with us on this project. For more information contact bernie@millionminutes.org.

Accompaniment in Catechesis and Children's Liturgy

Anita delivered a day of reflection entitled Accompaniment within Catechesis and Children's Liturgy, for catechists and children's liturgists across the South Buckinghamshire Pastoral Area. The group reflected on sections of Pope Francis' letter on the Institution of the Ministry of Catechist and how accompaniment is cultivated through the wide range of formation and sacramental preparation activities being delivered throughout the pastoral area. The group were invited to recall and share their motivations behind wanting to be a catechist, and consider 'who' is being accompanied within and beyond moments of formation and sacramental preparation.

By reflecting together on both highlights and challenges of formation and sacramental preparation, the group were offered words of encouragement taken from Pope Francis to catechists: to live lives centred in Christ, the source of love, and with that be 'happy and full of joy always and despite everything' (Pope Francis, To Participants in the Third International Congress of Catechists, September 2022).

To find and focus on joy within any catechetical programme, whatever the attendance, number of volunteers or retention rate may be, is a key part of this important ministry.

We look forward to hearing more about their journey and the joy they find in accompanying young people in their parishes and we wish them every success along the way.

Towards Impactful Youth Ministry and Outreach - UCM Study Days 2024

In June, Million Minutes and Diocese of Hallam Youth Ministry were invited by the Union of Catholic Mothers (UCM) to facilitate their annual study days. The theme this year was ‘Towards Impactful Youth Ministry and Outreach’.

We discussed our hopes for the outcome of these study days, which included (but was not limited to): knowing more about the issues young people face, how to engage specifically with young people in parish settings and how to attract young people to be active members of church communities.

We reflected on the life span of young people aged 11-18 today, looking at the years 2006-2024. We discussed the many significant political, economic, religious and cultural events that have taken place in that time. Thinking of the UCM members’ own experiences around similar events that have happened in their lifetime, we were able to highlight how significant events and times shape the trajectories of the lives of all young people.

At the start of the second day, we opened by talking about the existing youth ministry work across England and Wales. We used this as a starting point to talk about opportunities that we can pass on to young people in our own settings; taking those existing opportunities for young people, we then considered the systemic changes that we could make in order to enhance existing opportunities or create more of them.

At the end of the final day, we invited small groups to reflect on what they had heard so far. They were encouraged to think again about their motivations for working with young people, where it became clear that they were now better equipped to articulate these motivations. They spoke about how they value young people as individuals, how they must meet young people where they are (and not where they think young people should be), and how they celebrate young people for their joy and enthusiasm.

“We need to recognise that for young people life is not a continuous party. We shall hold them in our prayers to give strength and courage as they encounter difficulties in life”

We are grateful to the UCM for the invitation to facilitate over these study days. It has been a real joy to work with the youthful energy of UCM members. We would welcome any future opportunities to work collaboratively with members of the UCM to accompany young people.

Schools Workshop Facilitation - Holy Cross, Kingston & De La Salle, Saint Helens

At the end of June, Bernie went to Holy Cross Girls Schools and De La Salle School to take part in their respective Faith in Action and Culture days.

After delivering the keynote speech at Holy Cross on the importance of using our voices as a tool for change and putting our faith into action, the students joined Bernie for workshop sessions where they could look deeper into what this means to them. In these workshops, the students looked at how they, as young people, can make a difference by putting their faith into action on issues they care about. In particular, they looked at how they could use their social media platforms to promote inclusivity as well as advocate on issues that they deal with day-to-day.

At the De La Salle school, Bernie looked Pope Francis' encyclical Fratelli Tutti. As part of this workshop, they looked at what culture means to everyone, including our misconceptions of other cultures, and how we can express and celebrate all culture. Whilst there, they discussed the importance of understanding other cultures and the issues faced by young people - both nationally, and as members of Catholic communities. The day ended with a marketplace of stalls, various activities and music - with dancing and food from around the world.

Both days were fantastic, and they provided an excellent opportunity for us to engage with young people, working with them to talk about the issues they hold close as well as celebrating other cultures.

Placing (Young) People at the Heart of Communities – Million Minutes at Called to Action: A Citizens UK Event

“We are never at the end of what we do, nor are we at the beginning, we are in the middle”

-Gabriel, young person, St Bonaventure’s

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On Tuesday 2nd July, Million Minutes attended Called to Action, a day of celebration, reflection and inspiration run by Citizens UK. One hundred and fifty young people, accompanied by school leadership attended to share the amazing work they have been doing as community organisers, and through this living out principles of Catholic Social Teaching.

Citizens UK’s approach to community involves deep listening and hearing the stories and lived realities of people. Groups encourage others to get involved in campaigns and hold meetings with people in power to hear these stories. This methodology places people at the heart of community and at Million Minutes we advocate for the voices of young people to be at the heart of communities.  

We heard many stories of successful community campaigns including  getting mental health counsellors across all schools in Brighton and Hove council,  advocating for living wage accreditation among employers like London City Airport, Tate and Lyle and the London Excel, securing £1 bus fares for 16-21 year olds across Tyne and Wear, creating resources and promoting dialogue for inclusion and breaking down barriers that cause racism in a community in Birmingham.

We have been inspired listening to these first-hand stories of young people, experiencing their tangible passion for change, and learning about their fun and creative ways of campaigning. These young people are leading their communities, they inspire hope.

Guest speakers including Cardinal Nichols, Raymond Friel and Anita Motha from Million Minutes helped to frame the day in Catholic Social Teaching and the Common Good. The Cardinal reminded us that the Common Good does not and should never exclude people, he told us: “if anyone is left out, then it has failed” – it is no longer the common good. Working for the common good requires us to listen to and serve everyone. Raymond shared the rich history of Catholic social teaching across different cultural contexts, and Anita thanked the group for sharing their profound wisdom with us and called Catholic communities and young people to work together to continue to advocate for the voices of young leaders and changemakers. 

We took the opportunity to ask the youth panel for advice on how CEOs of Catholic charities could help to support this shared goal of working towards the Common Good. They said:

“Be transparent. Don’t make us empty promises or tell us you’re going to do something and don’t. We would rather have leaders be honest and upfront.”

“You should consider being open and taking the ideas of people who think outside the box.”

We have taken this on board and have come away even more energised to work with our Catholic schools and organisations like Citizens UK to place youth voice at the centre of driving change our Catholic communities.

If you think outside the box and would like to get involved with our work, consider joining our board of trustees (over 18), or one of our advisory groups: schools or youth. To find out more contact us at info@millionminutes.org

Towards Hope: Strategy 2023-28

On this feast of St John Bosco, patron saint of young people, and the twelfth anniversary of Million Minutes, we are excited to share our new three year strategy entitled ‘Towards Hope: A Journey of Inclusion, Accompaniment and Renewal’. Looking forward to the next three years we have placed the theme of ‘accompaniment’ at the heart of our work and our mission is to equip the church to more effectively accompany all young people.

To engage in an authentic process of accompaniment we have to walk alongside young people and start listening out for the voices and needs that are highlighted. By working in this way with young people and their communities, we hope to respond to and empower young people and deliver projects that are both youth-centred and transform communities.

‘I am delighted to share some of our hopes and plans for the next three years on such a special feast day. I take inspiration from the life of St John Bosco who gives us a great example of reaching out to young people, meeting them in their environments and communities with a gentle presence and loving kindness. He was renowned for literally walking alongside young people in whatever situations they faced and for advocating for change on behalf of their needs in the height of the industrial revolution, in 19th century Italy. He was considered progressive, innovative, an ‘interrupter’, even counter-cultural; he challenged the status quo by putting the needs of young people at the heart of societal change.

Young people today live in a very different physical world to 19th century Italy. They are living in the midst of a digital and technological revolution in an vastly different geopolitical space. Though their needs may differ but we may take inspiration and hope from St John Bosco who reminds us to ‘read the signs of our times’ and meet the needs of young people where they are at. We know that this process of accompaniment works and can unlock meaningful encounters and the potential for working together for change. We a thrilled to invite others to work together with us to truly understand and serve the needs of young people in our communities.’ - Anita Motha, CEO Million Minutes.

To read more about our plans and dreams for 2023-25 download the strategy paper and contact us to find out how you can support our work.

Celebrating Young People Awards 2022

25 young people across England and Wales were awarded recognition at Million Minutes’ Celebrating Young People Awards 2022

Set against the backdrop of the London skyline, 115 young people, parents, teachers, youth workers and gathered to celebrate young people from across the country and recognise their contributions to their communities. Hosted by Siobhan McDonagh MP at the Terrace Pavilion, House of Commons, it was a truly memorable evening hearing the stories of how young people are actively making a difference and driving change in the world they see around them.

The awards – now in their fifth year – were powered by Million Minutes. Hundreds of young people were nominated in six categories, each celebrating a different aspect of Catholic social teaching lived out in action. As well as two awards for adults, one for volunteer youth leaders and one for clergy or religious.

Anita Motha, Chief Executive at Million Minutes, said:

We had the privilege to recognise and share the stories of young people from our schools and parishes. Their initiative and drive for creating change in their communities, whether through volunteering, fundraising, or advocacy work, is inspirational. Our future relies on young changemakers and it fills us with hope and joy to celebrate their achievements and accompany them in their journeys.

Cardinal Vincent Nichols presented the Pope Francis award to St Peter’s Mini Vinnies, a brother and sister duo, Rebeca and Daniel, who have shown such generosity to their local community. During lockdown 2020 they gathered items for their local foodbank, and even grew their own vegetables to ensure families had enough fresh vegetables as well as tinned food. They drew cards, posters and wrote kind letters to the elderly who were suffering from loneliness. They are remarkable young people who share everything they can, their time, and resources for the benefit of the vulnerable in their community, and have even donated their birthday wish lists for the good of others.

Cardinal Nichols congratulated the duo on their generosity of spirit and the important examples that can be set by the youngest in our societies. He added he was ‘particularly impressed by the selflessness’ shown in these two young people.

To name a few examples of the awards presented, Christine Allen presented the Barbara Ward Award (Caring for the Environment) to Tom and Harvey. In a statement posted on twitter after receiving the award, Tom said:

“Harvey and I are just two if the thousands of young people across the world dedicating their time to tackling the environmental issues we are facing in today’s current climate. We are so lucky to have been given a platform to raise awareness, spread our true beliefs and most importantly to us, encourage other young people just like us to try their best to make a difference for future generations. We strongly believe we still have a chance to save our planet if we all work together, so all we are asking from you is to stop, think, smile and face this climate crisis with all you have”

The new award for 2022 was the Rutilio Grande and Companions Award, sponsored by the Jesuits in Britain was launched. Aleem Maqbool, Religion Editor for the BBC presented the award to two recipients, Fr Paul Wilkinson and Sr Margaret Walsh. Sr Silvana Dallanegra was Highly Commended.

There are countless stories that can be shared from the evening. Andrew received the Dorothy Day Award, he is a gifted photographer using his talents for the good of the community of Brighton and Hove.

Maria was Highly Commended for the St Josephine Bakhita Award, and was nominated for raising awareness of Downs syndrome and promoting the inclusion of people with Downs syndrome in the Catholic Church and wider society

Sport and Cultural Society and St Vincent de Paul from South West London received Highly Commended for the Cardinal Hume Award. They reached out to their local community and beyond, running a food bank and supporting people who suffered due to isolation; during the pandemic, they supported on average 112 families per week.

This has been one of the highlights of our year so far and only the beginning of journey working with our inspirational network of award nominees. Keep in touch with Million Minutes to follow the stories of the Celebrating Young People Awards alumni.