31,000 minutes and 3,500 pounds

Over this season of Lent, we have created 31,380 minutes of silence and a staggering £3,500 and counting. Individuals, parishes, schools, and youth groups joined with thousands of others, to speak up for young people who are often overlooked and silenced in today’s world. The money they raised will help to transform young people’s lives across the country including young people like Tom, Shanea, and Carl.  

Over the course of the last three months, we have been inspired by the digital content that has been produced by our participants, whether that has been tweets, pictures, videos, prayers, or reflections. They have allowed us to raise awareness of our work and show solidarity with generation Z at this time of need.

Thank you especially to:

·       The Catholic Parish of the Durham Martyrs – Diocese of Durham

·       St John the Baptist School – Diocese of Arundel and Brighton

·       Brentwood Youth Service – Diocese of Brentwood

·       Holy Family Catholic School, Walthamstow – Diocese of Brentwood

·       Phoenix Youth Group – Diocese of Birmingham

·       The Columbans UK – Diocese of Birmingham

·       St John Vianney RC School – Diocese of Salford

·       Young Christian Workers – Diocese of Salford

·       St Hilda’s Catholic Chaplaincy – Archdiocese of Southwark

·       Institute of our Lady of Mercy – Diocese of Leeds

Some of our favourite content includes:

Sr Margaret’s Lenten Thanksgiving Prayer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzVWge164VQ

St John Tamworth’s TikTok video: https://www.tiktok.com/@stjohnscctamworth/video/6941102984864599301?is_copy_url=1&is_from_webapp=v3

Daisy Srblin, Director of Million Minutes says “In my first year at Million Minutes I have been so inspired by our participants’ time, energy, and creativity during this time. Their efforts give us all hope, as we head into the spring and we return to a different type of “normal”. Across the country, we’ve seen young people, students, teachers, parish priests, youth workers, chaplains, parents and many more, from across England and Wales, staying silent in solidarity with young people, and raising money for youth-led grants.

Our collaboration with Brentwood Youth Services particularly stands out for me, with Joseph Beattie and the team organising 40 days of Instagram content over on BCYS’s social media pages. It was also a pleasure to use our platforms together to contribute to Radio Maria. As we look to the spring and summer 2021, I am excited to continue our good work.”

Funds raised in SiLENT go straight into our grants scheme, which is open on a rolling basis, for a genuinely youth-led social action grant. We support young people as they change their world inspired by our Catholic social teaching principles. For more information, see: millionminutes.org/grants

Supporting a young activist

SiLENT is empowering Tom to use his voice and speak up for justice. Like many students, Tom took to the streets of Leeds to demand change regarding the grading of school examinations over the course of the summer. He hadn’t been able to sit his exams and didn’t meet his predicted grades the first time round. Upset and unsure of what to do, he started seeing coverage on the news and social media which gave him a bit of hope. Then when young people started to walk the streets of his hometown, he knew he needed to join them. It reminded him that he was not the only one suffering and change was possible. Their message was heard. After a few stressful phone calls and back to back emails, his grades were more fairly assessed, and he secured his first-place University choice. Tom was thrilled. He now has hope for the future.   

In 2021 Million Minutes is supporting Tom to continue using his voice to enact positive change through the creation of his own podcast series: Project Noise. Tom’s hope is to inspire social action across our local Catholic communities through sharing the stories of inspirational young people.   

Tom is a former recipient of Million Minutes’ Celebrating Young People Awards. Since 2019 Tom has engaged himself in the Alumni network of the awards attending a retreat and online conversations over the course of lockdown.  

Supporting young gardeners find community

Carl faces prejudice and challenges every day – but he has a huge heart and he wants to make the world a better place. siLENT is supporting him and his fellow students with learning difficulties at St John Bosco College. They are dedicating themselves to inspiring their peers to care for their common home.  

With love and commitment Carl and his fellow peers have revamped a once ignored patch of the school playground into a wildlife haven for plants and wildlife to flourish. The community garden project is the first of its kind at the school, and has become an integral part of the students’ daily school life.   

Despite a lack of resources and funding, the group have welcomed donations of seeds and materials from generous friends and parents and have repaid the generosity with not just devotion to the gardening club but also persistence, determination and humour when faced with the infuriating problems of slugs and squirrels. Rather than get disheartened, the Year 7s have sought innovative ways to protect their plants as well as seek advice from professionals and are enthusiastic when they see new shoots.   

In 2019 their hard work and passion saw them receive the ‘Barbara Ward Conserving the Environment Award’ at Million Minutes’ Celebrating Young People Awards. For Carl and Anna (founding members of the club) the nomination came as a complete surprise. Anna said, “I didn’t think we’d get nominated for something outside of our school, it made us believe in ourselves and we hope our work inspires others to care for our common home in the process. My favourite thing to plant was strawberries last summer…when they were ready, we were able to eat them with ice cream and chocolate cake, it was delicious!”.   

For many of the kids the gardening club is a rare moment to get outside. Carl adds, “I live over an hour away from school, in an apartment block, I don’t have any access to a garden. This club is my chance to spend more time outside.”   

Those who attend the club find it to be a safe space to come to after a long day. A teacher who oversees the group said “…many of our attendees have learning difficulties, these aren’t the kids who will sign themselves up for the football or sports club afterschool. The club is a space where they are respected and can be themselves. The transformation of these kids when they first arrived to now has been massive, and the gardening club has been instrumental in that.”   

The groups parting message to others like themselves who are caring for the earth is to keep going. Doing something big or small is important, Carl adds, “…our gardening feels like we are making an impact and we want to do our part to protect the things we love. You really don’t know what kind of impact you can have!”   

Sadly when the COVID-19  pandemic hit, the club had to partially close, much to the disappointment of the gardening members, but in the new year the club will be supported by Million Minutes with new resources to continue their amazing efforts.

Shanea the changemaker

Shanea, aged 18, is using her voice to bring peace to her local community of Newham. SiLENT is supporting her to engage with young people who are in need of support at this time.  

For Shanea the issue of knife crime and violence is personal. When she was younger, Shanea witnessed a young teenager being stabbed in her neighbourhood. At first all Shanea could hear from her kitchen window was someone screaming, and her first thought was to run outside and see if she could help. Shanea was the first responder on the scene. Unsure as to what to do, she took the young man’s hand and began to talk to him. She recognised the boy as a local lad. Soon after she was joined by her neighbour who was first aid trained and an ambulance was soon on the scene. Luckily the boy survived but the experience is something that Shanea says “will stay with me forever.”   

Initially angry and frustrated by the incident, Shanea eventually saw it as an opportunity to make real change in her community. Taking a holistic approach to the issue of youth safety and knife crime, Shanea decided on a range of actions going forward. This included brining in first-aid training to her entire sixth form at St Bonaventure’s school. As a result of Shanea’s efforts, all pupils were taught how to deal with stab injuries, which could potentially save someone’s life. Shanea has also used her creativity to create a social enterprise initiative titled “Your Life, More Life” bringing young artists, creatives, and academics together who share a vision of peace and unity in their community.   

Prior to the lockdowns, Shanea also spent her time going out into her community attending talks, workshops, and conferences to further educate herself on the issue of Youth Violence, and share her important experience and insight.  She adds “Newham has been labelled the murder capital, of the murder capital. It became important to me that I educated myself on violence, why there was so much violence on my streets, what violence is, what the root causes are, and how we can heal our communities and move forward.”   

The project, which was set to launch over the summer of 2020, was cancelled due to COVID-19. But with lockdowns taking place, the young in her community were increasingly feeling targeted – and seemed to be suffering most as a result of unemployment and poverty. They needed more support than ever.   

With Million Minutes’ help Shanea was able to adapt quickly and meet young people where they were at, through the creation of online communities. She has brought young people together to research issues impacting their community and these groups are now starting to find solutions. Shanea is also working closely with her local council to create their first ever Youth Advisory group. What was once seen as a massive set-back, has now been a blessing to Shanea, who says: “This year has allowed me to sit back, reflect and plan more. It’s also allowed me the time to connect with others and join in with other campaigns and movements that are committed to bringing peace, change and justice to our communities locally and globally.”  

Her passion to make a change saw Shanea receive the 2019 Jimmy Mizen ‘Promoting Solidarity and Peace’ award at Million Minutes’ Celebrating Young People Awards.   

Lenten Thanksgiving Prayer

A short Lenten Prayer from Sr Margaret Ochigbo from the Order Holy Child Jesus, they are a missionary congregation, their apostolates are; education, medical, pastoral, and missions.

Million Minutes is featured on ‘Padre’s Hour’ on Radio Maria England

Last week, Fr Sam Randall, Director of Radio Maria England, based in the Diocese of East Anglia, interviewed Million Minutes’ Director, Daisy Srblin as part of his weekly ‘Padre’s Hour’, for broadcast in Holy Week, in a special interview focused on Youth Engagement.

In the interview, Daisy and Fr Sam explored a whole range of different issues, exploring the ways in which Catholic parishes can improve their offers to young people via youth ministry, with a particular emphasis on engaging young people beyond the ‘visible’ Catholic community, including non-Catholics, lapsed Catholics and others. Daisy also spoke of some of the challenges young people currently face, with a particular focus on the impact of the pandemic.

Fr Sam and Daisy were also joined by Joe Beattie from Brentwood Catholic Youth Services, who discussed BCYS’s participation in Million Minutes’ annual SiLENT 2021 campaign, their motivations for joining, and where the money raised would be going.

Daisy also provided an overview for listeners of Million Minutes’ work, including our Awards, our annual fundraising, our grants, and our events and training.

You can read more about the interview here: Padre’s Hour: Spotlight on Youth Engagement in Brentwood – Radio Maria England.

And you can listen in to the interview here: https://anchor.fm/padres-hour-rme/episodes/Padres-Hour---Episode-46---Youth-Ministry-in-Brentwood-etkg68/a-a52o6hp

Please get in touch with the team on info@millionminutes.org if you’re interested in discussing anything mentioned in the conversation – and look out for Million Minutes alumni on Radio Maria England over the next few months!

Radio Maria England is a non-commercial private initiative within the Catholic Church, which seeks to offer its listeners an opportunity to pray, to learn, and to celebrate with the Church. Each day the station broadcasts the daily Church liturgy, the Mass, and the Holy Rosary. The station also provides teaching and catechesis covering faith and social issues, programmes focusing on human and social development, and news from across the world.

To find out more about Million Minutes work head to our website: millionminutes.org

Christus Vivit two year's on…

March 2021 marks the second anniversary of Pope Francis’s letter to all young people . Christus Vivit (‘Christ is Alive’) was ground-breaking on its publication, the first Papal encyclical of its kind, to address young people specifically.

In the encyclical, the Holy Father made a series of radical and powerful statements, including imploring us to build ‘a Church with open doors’ with a ‘heart for all young people’. Christus Vivit has been inspiring our work at Million Minutes ever since. It also serves as the grounding behind our pioneering ‘beacon parish’ scheme, launched in 2021.

The Pope’s message rings out a fresh invitation one year on from the start of COVID-19, where young people are facing unprecedented economic, educational, and social challenges, including an unstable future.

In Christus Vivit, as accompaniers of young people, we are reminded that “The community has an important role in the accompaniment of young people; it should feel collectively responsible for accepting, motivating, encouraging, and challenging them. All should regard young people with understanding, appreciation and affection, and avoid constantly judging them or demanding of them a perfection beyond their years.” (CV 243).

The framework used for building this relationship is the story of the Road to Emmaus. It is that same story we use at Million Minutes when referencing our foundations. When walking the streets, when listening to young people, we ask ourselves: How are we supporting their faith and wellbeing? How are we ensuring that marginalised voices are heard? How are we enabling them to become the leaders of tomorrow?

It is these sentiments that speak into our expression of Lent – siLENT. Over the 40 days of Lent 42 participants from across the country join us to create a deafening silence as an act of solidarity with young people

How do we reach the most vulnerable and support them and their families? How do we share our faith and support the well-being of our young people?  How do we ensure their voices are heard as the world considers the longer-term view? How do we ensure that young people are the means of ‘light and hope’ that we know them to be? 

Let us hope and pray as we near Holy Week and Easter Week that the lessons of Christus Vivit are not forgotten, and that they be applied more fully throughout our Church.

Kate Eastmond

Million Minutes welcomes two new Trustees!

Million Minutes is delighted to welcome Nina Mattiello Azadeh and Fr Ryan Service to its Board of Trustees, with both Nina and Fr Ryan joining in March 2021 after a competitive round of recruitment.  

Daisy Srblin, Director of Million Minutes says: ‘Fr Ryan and Nina are two wonderful new appointments to the Board of Trustees, bringing a wealth of experience with them. Young people now face a significant juncture, as society slowly moves out of the pandemic, and so Fr Ryan and Nina join us at a critical time. Their commitment and passion to the gifts of Catholic Social Teaching is clear, and I know they bring with them wisdom and knowledge as we enter the next decade of our organisation.’ 

Ewan Day-Collins, the newly appointed Chair of Trustees, says 'We are delighted to welcome both Nina and Fr Ryan to the Board of Million Minutes, their experience and commitment to young people will be such an asset as we continue to advance the vision of Christus Vivit to place all young people at the heart of the Church.' 

You can find out more about our newest trustees below, and find out about our existing Board members here.

Fr Ryan Service

Fr Ryan is an ordained Priest, serving in the Archdiocese of Birmingham. He also has a Licence in Catholic Social Teaching and Public Ethics from at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. Fr Ryan brings with him a wealth of experience, especially in regards to accompanying young people in the church and he is excited to get to work with Million Minutes in providing a platform for young people in their discernment along the path of Christian discipleship. 

Nina Mattiello Azadeh 

Nina joined the Trustee board in March 2021. She has worked in media for the Catholic Bishops Conference of England and Wales, and is now a content producer at the Royal Opera House. She continues to serve catholic communities, charities and groups as a freelance media consultant. She has written for publications such as Christian Today and The Tablet. She aims to work towards empowering young people to speak and act with confidence in Catholic and community spaces, and is particularly passionate about promoting the voices of women and people of colour.  

Zoom youth sessions

Over the last 12 months, I have been lucky to run 2-3 youth clubs online a week with an amazing team of volunteers. Safe to say I have a love-hate relationship with Zoom now! But I wanted to share some zoom session ideas that are easy to try for your youth groups. I have split them into 3 different groups, “All about the fun”, “Educational” and “Spiritual development”. If you have your own ideas add them in the comments below!

All about the fun:

1.       “Dan’s Quirky Quiz”

We have all been on quizzes over Zoom during lockdown, but I loved to go past the traditional question and answer. Instead, I focus on making “quirky fun and creative rounds”. For example, in one quiz the young people were asked to make up a sea shanty. In another quiz, raps were made to the soundtrack of SpongeBob SquarePants. Anything fun that is a little different I have found to be popular! These quizzes became so popular, I ended up running for all family, weekly they can have anything up to 20 or so families a week!

2.       Games nights

Around once a month I run a simple games night. Here I ask the young people to plan games for the whole group, although the often favorites are:

·       Pictionary (simply share a whiteboard screen and take it in turns to draw on it),

·       Scattergories, this is an easy to plan game with a group, the following website is great for facilitating the game: https://scattergoriesonline.net/

·       Two truths one lie, the classic game, very easy to play online!

·       Scavenger hunt, give a simple list of 10-20 items which can be found around the house, see who can find them all first

· One-word stories, each person says one word taking turns to make a story

3.       Your area has talent!

A simple talent show is incredibly easy to run online, I found it was a great way for young people to be proud of their skills they don’t often get to share.

Educational:

1.       Debate nights

A simple idea, come along and debate two different views. For instance, in our youth group, we had members debate over the Black Lives Matter movement, how Churches should respond to the LGBTQIA+ community etc.

2.       Minecraft nights

If you have the skills to play Minecraft it can be a great online experience in playing games together, but it also allows the youth group to learn about history (by building ancient objects together), the Bible (by recreating biblical stories), and how to work as a team.

3.       Home arts and crafts

If people live in the local area you can drop arts and crafts equipment off at the young people’s houses, then together lead an arts and crafts activity together. I have heard baking works great like this too!

4.       Guest Speakers

Guest speakers are always great. With the internet being so accessible, it’s easier than ever to have someone from the other side of the world giving a talk to your youth group. Take advantage of this!

Spiritual development:

1.       Bible study sessions

Bible study does feel a little odd online but it is very easy to adapt to be virtual. I have found it to be great fun to ask young people to act our Bible stories etc, then we can share the biblical story, etc.

2.       Youth Alpha

The Alpha program is a very simple program where as a group you watch a video, then talk about different views and opinions. Online it really is that simple! But it is a great program to encourage the young people to think about their own views and opinions while reflecting on the bigger questions in life. It is the most simple and resourced program I have run over Zoom: https://www.alpha.org/youth/

3.       Sycamore

I personally have not used the Sycamore program just yet, however many of my friends have and report how great it is. It is another program to explore the bigger questions in life.

What is the key?

The most helpful bit of advice I can give right now, is just have fun. It sounds so simple, but there are so many pressures in the world. We are all being challenged in a new virtual youth work world, but it is something we can enjoy. It is a time to try new things and use our creativity to support young people in new ways. All good youth work is centered in the relationship, focus on that and enjoy the journey of accompaniment into this new world together.

Celebrating International Women's Day, 2021

Each year, International Women’s Day shines a spotlight on the women that keep things going, often quietly, and often without seeking credit.

Nowhere is this more true than in the Catholic Church itself. In this country, women are the backbone of the Church. You’re likely to find women doing everything from serving as readers, to doing the cleaning. They’ll more often than not run the catechetical courses, work with children, make and serve the refreshments, and so much more. Women have also been the backbone of the global response to the Covid-19 pandemic, as nurses, doctors, key workers and first-responders.

The young women we work with are some of the most inspirational individuals. Take Shanea, from Newham in East London, for instance. Shanea witnessed first-hand the devastating impact of knife crime, when she was a first responder to a teenager who had been stabbed. It would have been easy, and understandable for Shanea to grow desensitized to such violence happening around her, but instead, Shanea vowed to be the change she wanted to see in her community. She has since led on peace-building efforts within her community, including facilitating dialogue between young people in Newham, and political representatives.

Young women like Shanea are the future of our Church, and of our world. And as young people, they will now face unprecedented economic and educational prospects, as a result of the pandemic.

The cause of women is surely one of the most important social issues of our time, from the perspective of Catholic Social Teaching. We know that women are underpaid and continue to be undervalued in our own society; internationally, the face of poverty in the Global South is that of a woman of colour; and women continue to be underrepresented in the institutions around us, such as in politics, and even sometimes in lay leadership in the Catholic Church. And these have implications for young people, especially young women, growing up today.

Indeed, in the words of the Holy Father himself: ‘Some young women feel that there is a lack of leading female role models within the Church and they too wish to give their intellectual and professional gifts to the Church.’ (Christus Vivit, 245)

To date, he has spoken of the ‘precious contribution’ that women make to the Church, and has enabled women to take a more active and recognized role in the life of the Church. And in Fratelli Tutti, his encyclical of 2020, the Holy Father made one of his most powerful statements to date on the subject:

Similarly, the organization of societies worldwide is still far from reflecting clearly that women possess the same dignity and identical rights as men. We say one thing with words, but our decisions and reality tell another story. Indeed, “doubly poor are those women who endure situations of exclusion, mistreatment and violence, since they are frequently less able to defend their rights” (Fratelli Tutti, 23)

…it is unacceptable that some have fewer rights by virtue of being women, it is likewise unacceptable that the mere place of one’s birth or residence should result in his or her possessing fewer opportunities for a developed and dignified life. (Fratelli Tutti, 121)

This built on his commitment to the rights of women in his letter to young people, from 2019, where he said:

‘a Church that is overly fearful and tied to its structures can be invariably critical of efforts to defend the rights of women, and constantly point out the risks and the potential errors of those demands. Instead, a living Church can react by being attentive to the legitimate claims of those women who seek greater justice and equality. A living Church can look back on history and acknowledge a fair share of male authoritarianism, domination, various forms of enslavement, abuse and sexist violence. With this outlook, she can support the call to respect women’s rights, and offer convinced support for greater reciprocity between males and females, while not agreeing with everything some feminist groups propose. Along these lines, the Synod sought to renew the Church’s commitment “against all discrimination and violence on sexual grounds”. That is the response of a Church that stays young and lets herself be challenged and spurred on by the sensitivities of young people.’ (Christus Vivit, 42)

In the words of Dorothy Day: “The greatest challenge of the day is: how to bring about a revolution of the heart, a revolution which has to start with each one of us?”

And the fight for women across the globe to have access to the same justice and equality as men depends as much on the ‘revolution of the heart’ as it does on institutional changes. Every day, we have to strive to be the sort of Church that both retains and develops the potential, talent and energies of young women like Shanea who offer us a glimpse of what the world could be.

So this International Women’s Day, we call on you to stand in solidarity with women, in your own community and afar, young and old, from all the rich different backgrounds that make us such a diverse and beautiful family, just as the Holy Father himself has done.

Daisy Srblin, Director of Million Minutes