Resources for children & young people

This page is a listing of resources, links and ideas to help with Ministry to Children, Young People and Families at this time. Ian Macdonald, our Youth Advisor, and Yvonne Morris, our Children and Families Advisor, are available for specific advice or questions that you may have at this time.

Can we run groups and meet up with young people?

The Government have now moved to a position where some physical meetups are allowed. Youth, Children and Family Advisers from a number of dioceses have worked together to produce this summary. It is a broad outline of what is permitted, and what needs to be in place as well as some helpful FAQs.

Please note the Government Guidance on face coverings. For indoor meetings, they are a requirement for leaders and young people over the age of eleven.

And the advice from the National Youth Agency is here

Relationship is key

The feedback from families and young people has been how much they appreciated contact. Visits, phone calls, and from one church, handwritten postcards, all helped to connect, support, listen, and  to maintain a two way relationship. If there are families or young people you have lost connection with, it’s not too late to be in touch; to ask how it is going, how the church can support them, and what you can be praying for.

Mental Health and Well-being

Headstrong: Resources for young people

Young Minds: Resources for young people

Youth Ministry

The Contemplative Toolkit

We will be publishing the Contemplative Toolkit for use with adults and young people later this year. It’s draft form at the moment but a number of groups have been running the first two practices over online platforms during this crisis. The Introduction, and the practices of “Stilling” and “Noticing” are available for you to try and use too. You might want to watch how children at Goring primary school used the toolkit as we developed it.

Children’s Ministry

Family and Intergenerational resources

Intergeneration;  What it is and why it matters

Messy Church at home

Bereavement

When someone who a child knows well dies, their world changes in an instant. The temptation is to try to protect children from the effects of grief and facing the stark reality of death. However, the reality is that children need to know about death and to be supported in helping them work out responses and to deal with their own grief. These resources are offered for anyone supporting a child at this time.