Following the success of the 80th Year celebrations, the YCW has been building stronger links with many of our past members.
These members have offered to volunteer across a range of areas in order to help support the work of the movement.
After a series of informal meetings, the past members met together at the YCW HQ in Trafford Park to get to grips with what needs to be done, as well as share their own experiences and expertise with the National Team.
The areas that were identified included: Finance and fundraising - this is particularly important to any charity, but especially because the YCW relies entirely on donations and grants to run the entire national movement, as well as contribute to the ICYCW around the world. The group will be looking at how they can help write bids and encourage regular donations from other past members.
Communication - the National Team explained that we had recently launched a new online newsletter - to be distributed monthly - and asked for feedback about what past members might be interested in hearing about. Suggestions were made about sharing more of our work with workplaces, trade unions and those issues young people face in employment.
Supporting existing and setting up new groups - there was a discussion about how past members could support the development of groups across England and Wales. In particular, the need to find and train new adult companions to help groups set up.
Fr John Marsland, National Chaplain, said: "Overall, the meeting was a fruitful one and we would like to thank all those past members who gave up their time to attend, but also to offer continued support. We will make sure to keep up this network and build upon it going forward."
