CLAIRE - Year out worker in Midleton
Hey everyone! I'm Claire and this year I signed up for the JUMP programme with the Church of Ireland Youth Department (CIYD). So in September I packed up my bags and moved to Belfast for training with the other interns, and after 2 and a bit weeks we all moved out to our parishes. For me, this was a big move......from Derry to Midleton. So far it's a been a great experience for me. As the weeks go by I become involved in more things. At the start I thought I wouldn't have anything to do, but I like the way that I start new things over time and it wasn't all thrown at me straight away! Within St. John the Baptist church I help out with the Girl's Brigade, and I recently saw the new girls get enrolled. There is also the Sunday Cub and the Xpresurself, the youth group, which are both great. We just had a quiz night that seemed to go down well and our next Xpresurself is going to be a games night an I hope they all have as much fun on the night as we did coming up with the games. My time is split between the parish and Midleton college. I try to get the youth in the school involved with some of the parish activities and also within the Diocese. The recent event ANOIS saw about 10 young people from the area attending and they all loved it! There are also 12 young people going to the CDYC 5-a-side football tournament, so hopefully they will have just as much fun. Within the college the Scripture Union began again and I really hope that the youth who attend can take as much as they can from it and apply it to their lives. I also do odd jobs around the school and try to get to know as many of the people as possible around the place. They all seem to know my name but I sometimes struggle with the 300 or so pupils of the place! The people of this parish has been absolutely wonderful in making me feel so welcome - I get invited out to their homes for meals, which makes a change from school dinners! I would love to say thanks to everyone for all they have done for me, and also to Dean Alan Marley for having me down here.
Clarie enjoying a chat with a young person