The Vincentian Young Adult community from across Northern England gathered for a day of service and action in the community

There were 15 students from across the North East, from the Universities of Durham, Middlesbrough, Newcastle, Northumbria, and York, as well as young adults form our parishes and camps. Many of these students had not met before the action day, yet by the end of the day there was a strong feeling of fellowship and a desire to work together in future to live out their calling as Vincentians: to seek and serve those in need. 

Many of the young adults were moved by the centre’s ability to not only provide pivotal services to the community, but to have created an atmosphere of love and dignity where those on the very peripheries of society are included and truly cared for. Some of the services that were highlighted on the day were the vast foodbanks supporting the city, the projects dealing with elderly loneliness, the open larder, as well as its clothing pantry that allows those in need to not only get the vital clothing they need, but to have the option of choice at an affordable price. Everyone was moved not solely by the centres ability to care for its community in such large numbers, but to do so with such love, compassion, and dignity. 

The Membership Support Officer for Hexham and Newcastle also joined us for the day, Deacon Patrick Rutherford, offering a spiritual accompaniment to the day, as well as connecting with students in how they can better work with their local parish SVP conferences. This is key in keeping our young adults engaged in social action: to provide a community of peers, but also connections to their own local community and its needs. 

This is the second of the Young Adult (SVP1833) communities’ Action Days, where we gather for Mass and Prayer, then to support the projects of the SVP through a day of volunteering, then finally a trip to the pub for some time of fellowship! So, if you are you 18-35 and want to engage in social action at university, in your parish or at home, then please contact youngvincentians@svp.org.uk for more information about our next event.