Volunteers Conference 2011

The new year as a volunteer at Brettargh kicked off with Conference in Swanwick, Derby at the Hayes Conference centre. It was great to see my team again after the Christmas hols and new year celebrations. Our team along with Castlerigg were the two hosting groups of the conference and Nora particularly enjoyed friendly and loudly welcoming of other retreat centres to the Hayes centre, “Hello, welcome to the Hayes conference centre, my name is Nora and I work at Brettargh!” with a big smile on her face but she was soon silenced by members of both Castlerigg and her fellow team.

This was not my first experience of a conference so I was really looking forward to meeting people from different centres, as I knew good friendships and contacts could be made at events like this. 

Once all volunteers had arrived, found their rooms (which were amazing, hotel like even) we started the conference with getting to know each other. First was getting to know the different centres. Each centre had to describe their place in 5 words then identify another retreat centres on the map of the U.K. It was interesting to see peoples geography skills. In good retreat centre style the ‘getting to know each other’ was not going to be a quick hi or an easy chat. Instead thanks to Sr Soo we were given an animal. By mimicking the noises of these animals we found members of our small group, which were also the same animal!  It was very interesting hearing the noises for animals such as a reindeer or a mouse! After finally finding our animal groups we then had chance to have a good chat with people, which was a really great opportunity to find out about the people and also their different centres.

The conference also included workshops. We had a choice of which one we wanted to take part in. Workshops included Frisbee, Love Actually (talk about love and relationships), small group games, and creative sessions for young people. They were all lead by talented people who knew exactly how to aim certain things for young people of certain ages. They were very informative and inspirational. They were a great motivation for when we all got back to our retreat centres. It was also a great opportunity to listen to different ideas that the other volunteers use in sessions.

The conference also included prayers lead by different centres, one that stood out for me was the reflection about the Pope visit lead my Castlerigg. Being one of the lucky ones that went to the events it moved me as I remembered the events of the day and the emotions that came with it. It was very inspirational listening and looking over the speech of Pope Benedict which really had a lot of relevance to the work that we all do as volunteers. Another prayer was a meditation run by Walsingham house, it was a great time to reflect on our own spirituality. Instead of it being a time thinking about our work with young people it was a chance for ourselves to focus on us and God.

We had mass twice during the conference and it was a great time for us all to come together. The music, run by Alton Castle, was fantastic and really added to the event. The masses were very personal and inspiring. The final day also included worship and reconciliation which, for me was a very moving and emotional experience. The songs chosen were amazing, and the singing and musical talent from all was brilliant.

The final evening we spent together was social time, a ceilidh. This was a great chance to have good laugh with all and find out how their day had gone. The ceilidh band was great and talked us all through the dancing, which everyone really enjoyed. Most people laughed all the way through them, I know I did. One surprise event of the evening was when all the directors got up and sang Brown Eyed Girl for all the volunteers. It was very funny seeing some of the men’s boy band dance moves!!

The whole conference was a great experience and something every volunteer should look forward to. It was a great chance to meet people in the same situation as ourselves as it is not always easy to explain exactly what we do with people. Everyone who attended was very friendly and happy to share life and work experiences which definitely moved the conference session and discussions forward.