All Saints Youth SVP Group
In September a new Year 10 SVP group was set up by Miss Coyle and the RE Department at All Saints. The St Vincent de Paul Society was founded in 1833 in Paris by a 19 year old student called Frederic Ozanam and his university friends. It is an international Christian voluntary organization dedicated to tackling poverty and disadvantage by providing direct practical assistance to anyone in need. The SVP have a youth section and since 1999 over 10,000 young people have put their faith in to action by becoming a member of Youth SVP.
For some years now our school has been contributing to the work of SVP on various levels. However this year we wanted to really bring the work and vision of SVP alive in the school again. We worked closely with Mary Abel (our local SVP Advisor) to think of different ways in which the students could demonstrate the dedication it takes to be involved in the work of SVP, whilst still being committed to their studies.
The Youth SVP Group at All Saints has been so successful it now has thirty Year 10 members who meet once a week during their lunchtime. Each member gives up an hour a week of their own time afterschool and spends time giving back to our local community by helping those in need (from afterschool clubs to nursing homes). Each individual has shown real Christian commitment and being involved in the Youth SVP Group encourages the students to bring our schools’ mission statement alive.
The highlight of our Youth SVP’s work so far was the Annual SVP Christmas Party held on 17th December in the school hall. A number of local residents from surrounding parishes were invited and had a real treat. With the help of Mary Abel, the Year 10 students prepared the hall and food for the day. Throughout the month of December all students had been asked to contribute in a small way by bringing in foods which would be made into hampers which were then won as raffle prizes. The SVP Christmas Party was such a great event because it was a whole-school effort. We were inundated with food, so much so that some of the food was sent to a local Methodist Church and an SVP centre in Leeds.
Our local residents were entertained with a delightful afternoon of food, music and carols sung by the choir, raffles and dancing – Santa even arrived for a visit with presents for everyone!
Pictures of the SVP Christmas Party can be seen in the gallery section of this website.
Keep a look out on this website for a new ‘Youth SVP’ section full of updates, pictures and news; designed by one of our very own Year 10 SVP students!!!
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