Vulnerable young people who may be hanging around on street corners at risk of drug dealers, gangs and criminality are being targeted in a pioneering project involving Catholic parishioners.
The Courtyard Project, launched on Wednesday, offers specialist training to equip parishioners to engage in youth outreach work. Marginalised young people are befriended and then invited in to parish halls to access support, with the objective of developing a deeper sense of purpose in their lives.
Fr Christopher Jamison, who was involved in setting up the project, said that while parishes understandably focus on retaining the young people in their congregations, this initiative is about reaching out to young people not connected to the Church with the aim of creating a safe sanctuary: “The inspiration was the sight of Pope Francis washing the feet of young people, of all faiths and none, in a youth detention centre. The phrase that comes to mind from the rule of St Benedict is “special care should be taken of the poor”. Our parishes have resources of people and spaces that can be put into active service.”
The project has been piloted in three parishes – in north London, Newcastle and a parish near Bolton. Parishioners have taken to the streets in teams wearing identical “youth worker” jackets and set up information desks in shopping malls. Feedback from young people involved in the scheme has been positive, said Fr Jamison, who was recently appointed Abbot President of the English Benedictines – generally along the lines of “we’ve never been offered anything like this before.”
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