Dear All,

Thank you to you all for your continued support for Diocesan Youth opportunities in the Diocese. On Saturday 18th April we had a fantastic day with youth from across the Diocese as sixty five gathered for the Easter Youth Gathering – this was very much a Diocesan event, with 10 each coming from both North and South Ayrshire, 22 from East Ayrshire, and 23 from Dumfries & Galloway. We were delighted to welcome so many along and to see the continuing growth in participation at these events as this was the largest that my team and I have run to date. At the Easter Youth Gathering, we announced our programme for the coming months, as well as ‘Galloway’s Seoul’ a 5 day event next year following the model of World Youth Day, which is open to all young people in current P5-S4 (P7-S6 in 2027/8). The feedback from young people and parents has been fantastic and we can’t wait now for our next Youth Evening, and indeed the Summer Youth Gathering in August.

We’re launching Galloway’s Seoul at the moment as we’re planning an extensive programme of fundraising activities to support young people in reducing the cost of their place (hopefully fully covering it), as well as to let families know in advance that it’s coming up when they’re planning for next summer. There’s no deposit payable for it, so if young people are thinking about it, we’d encourage them to register and get involved in the fundraising early.

I’ve also attached A4 versions of the posters for the events mentioned, our latest newsletter, a copy of the What’s On guide 202604 Issue 11 20260505 Letter to Schools shared at the Easter Youth Gathering, and the group photo from Easter which you may wish to distribute electronically. As usual, you can find PDF and image copies of all of these resources in our Schools share here:

Resources for Schools.

Thank you again for all of your support in promoting and encouraging youth events in your area, we’ve been delighted to welcome so many young people as they’ve been getting involved. If you have any questions/ suggestions please feel free to be in touch.

God bless,

Fr Kevin Rennie