Category Archives: Youthwork

An unforgettable and please an unrepeatable day

Posted on September 3, 2010 by nigel

As a youth worker I have been asked on more than one occasion to take part, lead even, the funeral of a departed grandparent. Jonathan wanted an outdoor service in Nan’s front garden with Aaron’s family taking a more conventional approach.

Very occasionally [thankfully], I have attended and contributed to a young person’s funeral. However, this week was a first [and last hopefully] for me – I attended two services on the same day for two former students who died within 24 hours of each other – both of them unexpected.

Robert, aged 21, died because his pancreas burst and Darcy, aged 18, died in a car accident. Two lives, too young, too tragic.

As you might imagine, the young people who knew them are hurting and asking life’s big, tough [often unanswerable] questions.

There are many possible lessons to be drawn from the tragedies and numerous comments and answers that can be made.

But I just want to say: Rob – Read More

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Low Touch In A High Need World

Posted on June 21, 2010 by nigel

My wife is a reader – I read too [well actually I now listen to more books than I read - but that is another story] – so she uses our local library. Earlier to day I went and picked up a book she had ordered and I realised that the whole process took place without the need for any human interaction at all. The book was searched for and ordered online from home. The internet told us it was there, ready and waiting to be collected. The new, revised, updated system enables us to collect the book, scan our library card and leave the library without speaking to a single human being.

Later I went to the supermarket and they too have recently installed self check-outs. Now, admittedly, the conversation with the checkout chicks was rarely long or detailed [and never deep] but even the pleasantries of “How are you, today” can now be avoided.

So we are developing additional ways to live our lives without human interaction – a low Read More

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A complex mixture

Posted on May 23, 2010 by nigel

In some ways I am highly similar to every other human being on the planet and yet at the same time I feel unique. Similar in physical characteristics [the standard two arms, two legs, one mouth etc.]; similar emotionally in that I feel happy and content and then anxious and frustrated; similar socially in that [as a male of the species] I have friends but equally can live extended periods without them -and so on.

I am similar too in that I have dreams, aspirations, goals, desires – don’t we all? But I think I am unique in the blend of interests that motivate me to going the extra mile, to serving others to helping people find a better way.

I am heavily committed to young people – giving them opportunities to find themselves, achieve their wildest dreams and to have the best life they could ever have. I understand enough to know that parents are the greatest influence in a young person’s life and therefore I want to support them in their Read More

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