Sacred Heart Exeter
GIFT Youth
GIFT Youth is an excellent opportunity for young people aged 12-16 years old to socialise, learn, pray, and deepen their faith as Catholics. We meet twice a month, once on a Saturday morning, and once on a Friday evening for a Social. The aim is to encounter Jesus, grow together in faith, and empower you to witness joyfully to the Gospel by becoming full members of our Catholic community.
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To this end, participating in GIFT Youth is a requirement for preparation for the gift of Confirmation.
GIFT Youth Caritas: 15-18 Year Olds
This new group will be open to 15–18-year-olds across both Sacred Heart and Blessed Sacrament parishes. They will meet on the first Friday evening of every month for friendship, pizza and social action. Our first meeting will be on Friday 5th September from 19:30-21:30 in the St Richard Reynolds Centre, Blessed Sacrament. Together, the group will identify international/local justice issues and, inspired by Catholic Social Teaching, plan actions such as letter writing, awareness raising or fundraising. The young people will collectively run the group themselves, under the guidance of a team of GIFT Youth adults.
GIFT Youth Socials: Years 7-9
See September poster attached
This group will be open to secondary aged children in School Years 7-9. They will meet on the second Friday evening of every month for friendship, fun and food. The first meeting of the academic year will be on Friday 12th September from 19:30-21:30 in the St Richard Reynolds Centre, Blessed Sacrament and also involves pizza! This first meeting will be an opportunity to greet familiar faces and welcome new ones.
Special Note for Years 7-9
Parents and youth will notice that the Years 7-9 social and the Saturday GIFT Youth morning will generally be back-to-back this year with the social on a Friday and the catechesis on the Saturday. We think it’s important that you understand the inherent difference in each session and that they complement each other and go hand-in-hand. Whilst Friday is about socialising with their Catholic peer group and having fun, Saturdays are an opportunity to nurture faith through youth related Catholic themes. We encourage your children attend both as often as possible to grow into well -rounded and informed Catholic disciples; one without the other creates spiritual imbalance.
Registration?
It’s wonderful if your child has a friend that they’d like to invite along; please ensure that the parents have registered their child with GIFT Youth so we can keep them safe: Register here
GIFT Youth Saturday Sessions
At GIFT Youth we begin by celebrating Mass together with our families. After Mass, the GIFT Youth group meet separately to socialise, eat donuts, play games, and explore an aspect of the faith at a deeper level than primary school-aged children.
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This will be an opportunity to get to know each other in person; ask deeper questions, engage with and grow in faith together; and support one another as you learn what it means to be a young Catholic in today’s world.
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We encourage GIFT Youth parents to join our GIFT families for the morning to celebrate Mass, get to know each other over refreshments and to consider how you can support your family’s faith journey. When GIFT Youth are meeting, we will take this opportunity to meet together for a focussed discussion.
GIFT Youth Socials
GIFT Youth Socials complement the monthly GIFT Youth Saturday sessions above. Growing in Faith is not just about learning things, its about making friends who an support you in your faith.
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At GIFT Youth Socials we have pizza & movie nights, Mario Kart, Quizzes, games, forest walks, and much more!
To help you in your journey as a young Catholic, we encourage and expect you to participate in both the Saturday Sessions and the Socials on a regular basis.
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The next GIFT Youth Social will be on
Every 3rd Friday of the Month
When does
GIFT Youth Meet?
GIFT Youth Saturday Sessions for parents and young people are held monthly from
9:45 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.
at St Nicholas Catholic Primary School
Ringswell Avenue, EX1 3EG
The upcoming sessions are:
13th April
11th May
8th June
6th July
No August Date
14th September
5th Oct
2nd Nov
7th Dec
For more information, please register below.
GIFT Youth Registration
Please click below to register your family for GIFT Youth.
We ask families to make an annual one off donation of £10 to contribute towards the running costs of GIFT.
Once you have registered using the link above, we will be in touch with you regarding the upcoming session. We look forward to welcoming you and your family to GIFT.
For information about GIFT view our leaflet below.
