Running for Lourdes Youth
Donation protected
For one week every year since 1953 Middlesbrough Catholic Diocese has participated in a pilgrimage to Lourdes, France, a holy site where Our Lady appeared to and healed a local girl, Bernadette. Lourdes is a place of worship and healing for many hundreds of Diocesan pilgrims, including supported pilgrims who are sick, elderly and disabled along with volunteers including doctors, nurses, handmaids, brancardiers, musicians and young people. Volunteers travel to Lourdes every year from a variety of faiths with a collective aim to care for our supported pilgrims.
For the young people who travel with their schools, Lourdes is a hugely formative experience. For some, Lourdes is the furthest they have ever travelled outside of their local area. Volunteering to care for our supported pilgrims alongside doctors, nurses, handmaids, brancardiers and musicians helps to foster and build on their own aspirations for the future. In addition, our youth also actively participate in services and celebrations, reading in front of hundreds of pilgrims, and participating in the music group, an experience which not only supports their personal and spiritual development but also their educational development on their return. By participating in the pilgrimage, our youth build lasting friendships with one another spanning across the Diocese from Hull, to York and Middlesbrough. Most years youth include those from our secondary schools, but in 2021 young people from our primary schools will also make the journey. This experience will carry throughout their education as they transition from primary to secondary school.
We want to make sure all of our young people have the opportunity to participate in our Diocesan pilgrimage, however, across the Diocese our schools are located in some of the most deprived areas of the North East of England, and many young people need extra financial support to attend.
To ensure that our young people are able to participate in our annual pilgrimage and increase their personal, spiritual and educational opportunities, on the 13th September 2020, myself and other's from across the Diocese will running, cycling and walking on an individual basis throughout the day.
If you would like to support me in this mission so that more young people from across our Diocese can have this experience, please donate below.
For the young people who travel with their schools, Lourdes is a hugely formative experience. For some, Lourdes is the furthest they have ever travelled outside of their local area. Volunteering to care for our supported pilgrims alongside doctors, nurses, handmaids, brancardiers and musicians helps to foster and build on their own aspirations for the future. In addition, our youth also actively participate in services and celebrations, reading in front of hundreds of pilgrims, and participating in the music group, an experience which not only supports their personal and spiritual development but also their educational development on their return. By participating in the pilgrimage, our youth build lasting friendships with one another spanning across the Diocese from Hull, to York and Middlesbrough. Most years youth include those from our secondary schools, but in 2021 young people from our primary schools will also make the journey. This experience will carry throughout their education as they transition from primary to secondary school.
We want to make sure all of our young people have the opportunity to participate in our Diocesan pilgrimage, however, across the Diocese our schools are located in some of the most deprived areas of the North East of England, and many young people need extra financial support to attend.
To ensure that our young people are able to participate in our annual pilgrimage and increase their personal, spiritual and educational opportunities, on the 13th September 2020, myself and other's from across the Diocese will running, cycling and walking on an individual basis throughout the day.
If you would like to support me in this mission so that more young people from across our Diocese can have this experience, please donate below.
Organizer
Catherine Kelly
Organizer
