Thanks to everyone who has helped to make this year at the Briars amazing and unforgettable. Each member of team has written a farewell message just to say their thank you’s to everyone.

I have loved all of this year, it has been incredible! I don’t know where to begin. Thankyou to all the young people that have come up to visit the centre, I hope you all got something out of your visit and you wish to return again in the future…seriously next years team will be just as good if not better than this years!

I’ve learnt so much off all of you, whether it being to walk on air in my first week or playing the circle game with certain members of staff, I owe a lot to all of you!

I’ve had so many memories from this place that will last me a life time, and everyone has contributed to them. I hope each and everyone of you have some fond memories of the place that you will carry around with you for a life time!

Nothing I write down here will do this place or my year justice, so let me sign off for the final time by saying thankyou to every small group I have ever led, to every teacher I’ve stayed up late and had a conversation with, and least of all, the team I’ve worked/ lived with. I’m sure you can all agree I’ve been very lucky to live with such characters that have made my year just a bare joke. I’ll truelly miss them all.

God bless!

Peaceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

Let me start by saying I have had the most incredible year! I have had so much fun, so many laughs and have stored so many memories. From the first week getting to know all my team to the first retreat with young people I have truly enjoyed myself. So I just want to thank all of you that have been up to use the centre, I have met so many inspiring young people and adults and I am constantly learning off you all so thank you for being a part of that. A big thank you to all our parishioners who have always helped us by volunteering for events and showing up and chatting to us. There has never been a dull moment here and everyday is a fun day. Thanks to all the kitchen staff feeding us and laughing with us. Thank you to all my team for being there and being themselves. It’s been a pleasure working here this year, never a chore. Thank you to all of you for your contributions to my special year! Hope to see you again maybe!

Take Care and God Bless Sinoia

This has been such a fantastic year and what has made it so amazing is all the amazing people , schools and parishes, that have been up. I have so many memories that will last forever, and I have had so many laughs with you all, so a massive thank you to everyone who has been up and made the year so special. A big thank you too to all the parishioners who have been up every week and put up with us lot for a whole year! I’d also like to say a huge thank you to all the staff who have worked here at the Briars, the housekeeping staff, kitchen, staff and office staff. We have had so many laughs as well as keeping me happy with lots of food…especially the lemon cake. Thank you for always cleaning up my rather messy group rooms, and thank you to the office ladies who have always kept things running like clock work!

So thank you for an amazing year, I hope to see some of you up for mass on a Saturday when I come to visit!

Take care

Love Steph

This has been a totally amazing year, from start to finish. Certainly it’s been hard work and so tiring at times, but it is something I am so glad I did. It’s provided me with so many laughs and jokes, so many memories and good times, that I’ll take with me for the rest of my life. Having the opportunity to meet so many amazing people, whether that be pupils, staff or the people that come up for mass every Saturday, has been so rewarding, and there are people that I won’t soon forget. Groups that have come up on retreat to the Briars have made this year what it has been, providing so much fun and my small groups have been the best part of the year. They provided so much fun and laughter, never a dull moment, and some of the morning prayers and role plays I’ve had the chance to be a part of were brilliant! Thank you to everyone who’s been up to the Briars this year, whether it be on retreat or just to visit, you’ve all been a part of what has made this such a brilliant year!! Wish me look for University next year!! Yikes!

Don

To each and every group  which came up to The Briars this year.

Well here we are, the end of my time at the Briars, and what a great year it has been. I have thoroughly enjoyed working with everyone that has came up and visited myself and the team from Sept 2009 to July 2010. You’ve all left your own legacies in the Briars history, I have met so many good people this year and it has been a pleasure working with you all. There has been so many funny moments this year, so many good memories!

So  I’d just like to take this chance to thankyou all for being the best part of my job this year, you’ve been awesome! Thanks for giving me one of the best years of my life, its been siiiiick!

Big Up All Of You!!!

Well my friends the time has come…not to go done the cheesy lyrics route, but unfortunately our year has come to an end, and what a year it has been. This is just a message to say thankyou to all those who have come up this year and made my year what it was, really special and an amazing experience, none of the that would have been possible without your love, care and humour! So thankyou for all those who have visited and made me laugh, and really got involed. I have incredibly fond memories of my year so thanks for all of them!

Aufwiedhersein, Goodbye, Farewell!

See you soon hopefully!

Dave

Well, its been an absolutely amazing year. I’ve learnt so much about me self, my faith and those around me. There are so many people to thank. To the team, I could have asked for any better people to spend my year here with, I’ve loved every second of it. To all the groups that have been up to the Briars this year, you wee all awesome, I’ve loved meeting so many people, and to my small groups for creating so many laughs and so many good memories, ones I’ll keep forever.

A big thank you needs to go to all the wonderful teachers who have been up this year, you are really inspirational and I loved getting to know you sat in Hebron lounge eating toasties.

A thank you has to go to all the staff at the Briars who do so much work and make everything run so smoothly and I’ve loved all the laughs behind the scenes. I’ll be back visiting next year so you can’t rid of me that easily.

Thank you for the best year of my life.

God bless to you all, Matt

This was an awesome week, I really, really enjoyed my self. Every evening activity was so much fun and my 3 man quiz team did very well. One of my highlights of the week has to be the karaoke, it was so much fun and the amount of power ballads being sung was awesome.

I wish I could have done better in the table tennis tournament but you a lot are just too good, I didn’t stand a chance.

I really loved getting to know all of you, I loved the atmosphere that was around the place. It was an atmosphere of a loving community. One highlight has to be staying up and chatting in the lounge with you all just having a laugh and joke.

A fried breakfast and swimming has to be the best way in the world to start the day, im gonna so carry that on. Anyway thank you to all of you for making the teams last retreat one to remember and I hope to see some of you again some day.

God bless, Matt

Wow what a fantastic week this was! I can’t believe it went so fast though. I did so much and had so much fun along the way. Starting with a walk to the park and then the big quiz. I thought the quiz was amazing and had a lot of fun again well done to table 2 we were pretty awesome!! I thoroughly enjoyed laser quest on Monday afternoon and running about screaming; a lot of fun to be had by all. I really liked the beetle drive and apologise for those caught on my table with my slow dice rolling techniques. I thought country dancing was amazing and was glad I came back for it and also the wine tasting and trip to Sudbury Hall. Karaoke was a lot of fun and I saw a lot of talent especially on Friday night! You were all so friendly and I really enjoyed talking to you all and getting to know you and im glad I’ll be there next year! Ive had a lot of laughter and jokes and it really was the perfect end to our cheer so thank you for being a part of that. Also big up my fellow scrabble players I had a lot of fun and won 3 times wooop! haha

Take Care and God bless

Sinoia

Yessssssssss Spode, what can I say?! I have absolutely loved having you all up this week because you are all just so incredible!!! Seriously I felt like I was on retreat because you all looked after me so well!

Thankyou for being so kind and loving to all of us, I honestly felt comfortable around all of you, and could spark a conversation out of nothing!

I enjoyed having the opportunity to go out and swim with some of you, I haven’t been swimming since I was about 10 years old! So thankyou very much for that!

And finally, thankyou very much for getting me into table tennis, I’m honestly addicted to it now, despite me not being that good at it!

You’ve been the perfect end to a perfect year…expect me and a few others to pop up next year just to visit

God bless!

This has been a truly fantastic week and I have loved every moment of it! It was a re4ally great way to finish the year so thank you for all the laughs. I have to say a highlight of the week for me was laser quest, especially since I came first in one of the games! I have so many great memories from this week though! The beetle drive was a lot of fun, and I also very much enjoyed the quiz night. In fact, every single thing that you did was fantastic and really week planned out.

I very much enjoyed chatting to you all on the dinner tables and I also greatly enjoyed playing with all the little ones!

So I look forward to seeing you next year when I will come and visit you at mass! Have a fantastic year!

Take care,

Steph

This has been one of the most enjoyable weeks of my entire year!! Fun filled from start to finish!! You were all so friendly and easy to talk to, just lovely people to spend time with! I really enjoyed the Quiz, it was so much fun and really well presented, and socialising in the Lounge each evening was a great way to end each day, always likely to throw up some great memories. Relaxing was certainly the order of the week, and I loved the chilled out pace of the day, which made it so easy to enjoy! I really enjoyed the amount of Table Tennis we played, it was a great way to chill and have a laugh, and playing in the Final was an absolute pleasure and I wanted to play for ever!! You’ve all been a real pleasure to have up to stay, you brought up such a wonderful atmosphere, so friendly and inviting, ensuring that despite the fact you knew each other so well, we never felt left out and we can’t thank you enough for involving us in everything you did! Thank you for an amazing week that I’ll never forget!! I hope I’ll get the chance to visit next year and I hope you all have a lovely summer!

Don

Yoyoyoyoyo, THE last group that came up to visit the Briars this year were the Spode Family and yo, it has been a siiiick week!
Everything about it has been amazing, the people, the food, the karaoke, the happiness around the place and overall just everything this week has been great.
The Talent show the other night was quality and I loved the exhilirating atmosphere around the place.

Can’t wait to meet all you guys again next year when you come up.
Overall conclusion of the week?……..Top Banana!!

Where do I begin?! From the moment you got here, I could tell it was going to be a mega week, espcially with all the laughs from the moment you started! You made me and the Team feel incredibly welcome, due to the warm atmosphere, loving nature and banterous laughter going around the place, it really was an amazing week.
I can’t thank you enough for really ending my year with a bang, literally in Quasar/Megazone, which was alot, alot of fun! In the pool with the floats was quality and for all the chats and table tennis fun during the day and night, I really feel like I made alot of friends, and that is testament to how warm and loving you are as a family group! I could really tell you were very close, the awesome bear hugs for the sign of peace were certainly an indicator, and that’s a wonderful thing! The variety show was quality, especailly with our two brilliant compares and their helpers, all the acts were really good, and alot of them how me on the floor laughing nearly! Definetly really summed up the week, Mad, fun and funny! Reeeeally enjoyed having you guys here for the whole week, and I was gutted when you left! Same time next year?

Dave x

This was an absolutely amazing week, I really enjoyed myself and I loved getting to know all of you because you were all so friendly. I loved all the energy and enthusiasm you bought to the week and you just threw yourself into everything which was great to see.

A big shout out to my group, the ‘Matt’s Minions’ because you were amazing, especially for working hard and putting so much effort into everything we did.  I wish you all the best for the Year7 and what ever you do in the future, you deserve the best.

Good luck and God bless. Matt

You were definitely a group that was always cheerful, forever laughing and smiling, especially in my small group! You got on with everything so well, trying your best and just having fun – I really enjoyed our circus game evening on the first night, though your jokes were rather lacking! I hope you all enjoyed your week at the Briars because it was a pleasure having you on retreat. I wish you the best of luck with year 7, and I have no doubt you’ll be fine, just remember to look up .

Don

Hey guys! how quickly did our week go today? It was awesome and a lot of fun. From the first game of rounders on the field to waving you off I loved it. My only disappointment was that I couldn’t come on more trips with you all because you were both schools so lovely. I thoroughly enjoyed our circus night on Monday night and all the activities. Tuesday at the heights of Abraham was a lot of fun and laughs and I think I went pretty fast on the slide so I was well impressed. Your tress on Tuesday night looked lovely and you all spoke lots in group making new friends too. Mass was well good on Thursday and you were all willing to take part and get stuck in. Im glad you all had a fun week and made friends because you were all amazing! thank you for a lovely week. Take care Sinoia

Thank you for an amazing week! It really was a lot of fun and i especially enjoyed going to the cinema and bowling on Thursday! Shrek 4 is a film that you definetly have to see! The day was filled with a lot of laughs and i laughed till i cried at one point!

A big shout out to my small group, The bee team! You were such good fun to be around and got involved with everything so thank you!

Another highlight of the week for me was the disco, it was one of the best discos we’ve had in a long time, you were well up for dancing and your singing to don’t stop believing waS just INCREDIBLE!

Mass too was a great celebration and i thought all the dramas and prayers were incredible! So thank you for a great week and good luck with secondary school!

Take care

Steph

This week has been really cool in terms of everything that we’ve got up to.
Even from the first night going around the ‘circus’ I was loving the fun attitude that you guys brought to the place and this only continued throughout the week.
Big shout out to my small group, you dudes were awesome, got on really well with each other and jumped upon every challenge given to you, you guys rocked!!
Hope to see you all up here again soon

Conor
What can I possibly say?! It has been an incredible week having all o0f you up this week, you were aqll amazing!
I have to say that I’ve especially loved my small group this week, you guys were baaare jokes, it was amazing just doing night prayers with you guys, you were all soooo chilled out. I loved it!
I hope you all were able to make great friends with the other school and that you all keep in contact.
Peace

Hey guys! What a top weekend this was. It was very busy but a lot of fun too. You all had lots of energy and enthusiasm for all the activities and it was very fun! I thought that you were awesome on the walk and I enjoyed chatting to you all. How busy was mass pm Saturday? it was heaving but I really enjoyed it a lot guys so thanks. Sunday your trees were looking goooood and lots of effort went into them. Thank you for a brilliant day! Take care God bless Sinoia

What a great weekend! You guys were alot, alot of fun, I really enjoyed your sense of enthuiasm and fun, especially in our round robin session on Saturday morning, my small group, big up to you lot, you were so funny and had a great sense of enthuiasm for everything we did. Friday night was really cool, building the story for night prayer, especially with some of the group’s creations, impressive to say the least!

Dave x

This has been an absolutely brilliant week, just so much fun. You get on with each other so well and that was lovely to see, especially in small groups! My small group, the God Squad, was hilarious, full of laughter and fun, and working with you was a pleasure. I really enjoyed mealtimes as you were all so willing to help, and the conversations were never boring! Working in the field with Mike Pilling for Focus was certainly challenging but you met it head on and made it a lot of fun, and a lot of the time, made it look really easy! You met everything we did with enthusiasm and energy, and that is what helped make this week so brilliant and totally unforgettable! I wish you all the best with next year and your GCSE’s. thanks for an amazing week.

Don

I was so excited to be having my old school up and you didn’t disappoint! Right from the word go you were well up for everything and just got stuck in! A special hello to my small group, something to do with ‘Bananas in pyjamas….’ longest name ever! Thank you for making it such a special week and you are certainly one of the giggliest and random groups that I’ve ever had, so thank you for all the laughs and all the amazing memories you’ve left me with. You were our last full week senior group and really were the best that we could have asked for.

One of the highlights of the week for me was writing the affirmations on Friday morning. You all wrote such individual things and really thought about each person, so thanks for making this so easy. It really paid off because it made for a really special atmosphere when we read them out later.

Mass also was fantastic, and the roleplays were awesome. Well done to my small group for just getting stuck in with it and doing it all yourself without me even needing to say anything at all!

So good luck with the rest of  Becket and thank you for making it so special.

Hopefully see some of you up for mass sometime.

Take care

Steph

Hey guys! what a week ey? I had a really great time we had lots to do and as our last full week year 9s you did not disappoint. From the first activity with the team challenges I had lots of fun! You all took them in your stride and then we finished with a lovely night prayer. Tuesday we made our awesome masks which looked amazing so well done there. Then we had a lovely walk and I retold a beautiful story in the clearing for a few of you hehe! Tuesday night was lovely and you all kept a beautiful atmosphere too. Wednesday was team building day and I really enjoyed myself and thought you took a lot from it so a big well done. Thursdays bee session was fun as was the talent show which was amazing so well done! Thanks for lots of laughs and memories! Take Care and God bless Sinoia

Hello everybody! Sorry this one is a bit late, but what an absoultely amazing week we have had together, I loved every single minute of it, from the moment you guys got here I knew it would be a special week! Even though I was asked if my placement at the Briars was court ordered…good fun!

But seriously, being our last senior gorup week long programme, you really made it special for the team and I, with your enthiusiasm, sense of fun and your amazing senses of humour and personalities. You are a fanastatic year group, and a great example to set for younger years!

We got up to alot of sick activites, alot of which was in our small groups, big shout out to my small group; GRASS! You guys were amazing, from the moment we first met we all got on so well, we pure chilled alot of the time chatting away and listening to some ‘banging tunes!’ But also got involved with things like our drama for Morning Prayer and mass, both of which were sicccck! And also rebuilding our amazingly attractive plant pot, which was maybe unfixable! You were really comfortable with each other especially in our sharing sheet which made me feel really welcome and involved.

Our celebration of Mass on Thursday was awesome! All the groups did amazingly well to prepare our mass, and also the nights celebrations that continued were great fun. Affirmations on Sunday were amazing, as you guys really got into it and that was so good to see!

Overall, an absoutely quality week, so keep smiling and doing what you do!

God Bless,

Dave x

On Friday 11th June, over 180 keen golfers gathered at Chevin Golf Club, Duffield to compete in the 25th Briars Am-Am.

Held each year in support of the Briars Catholic Youth Retreat Centre, this hugely popular tournament continues to be a hard fought contest and an enjoyable day out for the participants.

Begun by Father Michael O’Donoghue in his time as Director of the Briars, teams from all around the East Midlands and beyond come to tackle a beautiful but demanding course, renew acquaintances and support the work of the Briars.

Over 5000 young people stay at the Briars on retreat each year, coming as a school, parish or youth group for a mix of prayer, reflection, fun and friendship. As a charity, the Briars depends on the support of events such as the Chevin tournament and it raises several thousand pounds each year for the centre.

This year, the tournament organising team of Fr Michael, Pat, Leo, Rosemary the secretary and staff at Chevin and the staff at the Briars joined together to provide a superb day of golf. The weather kept fine, the course was in excellent condition, the welcome from Mike Reilly and his staff was as warm as ever and winners and runner-up alike went home happy.

The overall prize was won this year by a team from Lincoln College, 2- 5th places were shared between teams on the same score and the Mike Nolan schools trophy was won by St Bede’s School Scunthorpe.

Father Joe Wheat, the present Director of the Briars, was present throughout the day and awarded the prizes. He described the day as ‘an essential event in the life of the Briars and a testament to the dedication of our supporters and friends. All the staff, volunteers and young people who call the Briars ‘home’ truly are grateful to all the organisers and participants.’

You can download the results table here.

Hello everybody! What an awesome weekend this was, I wish you guys could of stayed longer! From the moment you got here you jumped into everything, and it was so good to see, from making sunflowers for John Morgan to preparing parts for our great celebration of mass. Big shout out to the ‘Attractive Ten’ you guys were really fun, and I really enjoyed your company especially in our activities on Saturday and Morning prayer on Sunday, so well done!

Dave

This was a great weekend, even thought you weren’t here for very long we somehow managed to pack so much into such a small space of time. All your energy and enthusiasm was great to see. I know I really enjoyed the weekend and I hope you did to. I hope you enjoyed the tramway museum, the sweet shop there is awesome.

Mass was excellent and a real celebration so thank you to you all for making it such a great event plus you singing was amazing, you really made your teachers very proud of you.

Good luck and God bless.

Matt

You weren’t here that long but we certainly filled it up! The sunflowers you made on Friday night were amazing, and a special well done to my small group because you worked so had on it and it really paid off!

I really enjoyed spending Saturday morning with you guys and you did some really good work!

The highlight of the weekend for me was mass, you all worked dead hard! Good luck for secondary school.

Take care Steph.

This was a lovely weekend and you guys were amazing and I thoroughly enjoyed it. We cramed a lot in due to little time and your sunflowers were really really good!!! I thought the things we did Saturday morning were very cool and you all got into them. Mass was very good and the parishioners spoke very highly of you too. Then the evening fun and games were fun too. Thanks for a great weekend. Sinoia

Yo yo yo everybody! this weekend has been pure amazing, we literally crammed as muchas we could into this short time.

From making the sunflowers on the first night to partying it out on Saturday, you guys were brilliant.

A big shout out to my small group “The ultraviolet 9”, you lot were lovely.

Take care

Peace

This was a great weekend and I only wish I could of had a small group! I loved doing the quiz and the games with you on the saturday evening, you were all really up for it and I wish the disco could have gone for longer! Thanks for a great weekend. Good luck for year 7!
Don

Wow what a siiick weekend it has been once again.  You guys brought loads of energy to the place, always having a laugh, and always having fun.

Big shout out to my small group ‘The awesome Multi Coloured Dots’, you dudes were on it like a car bonnet in challenges, and our intro to mass was siiiiick!

Unfortunately we didn’t get much team time this weekend due to watching the disappointing England performance on Friday, but aww well, we had a good time the rest of the weekend.

Hope to see all you guys in the future.

CoNoR.

This weekend we’ve not stopped, it’s been go go go!!! It’s been great to see how you all just got on with everything, and how both schools got on so well! The football on the first evening was disappointing, but the rest of the weekend certainly wasn’t! It was so much fun and so easy for the Team, and I only wish I could have been there for all of it!! I hope you all enjoyed the weekend too, and I wish you the best of luck in the future!

Don

Hey guys this weekend was very busy from the moment you arrived to the moment you left. I thought watching the football and Up was very cool and you were very lucky lol. I really enjoyed Saturday too with you guys when we made our trees they all looked really cool and it was nice chatting about our favourite memories and laughing and just generally having fun. The walk after was great fun too and I really enjoyed rapping nursery rhymes to you guys I think I found a talent there hehe. Mass was really good you all worked hard and well and it was amazing followed by a very groovy D.I.S.C.O!! Saturdays games and challenges were fun and you all worked well. It was a great weekend so thank you! Take Care Sinoia

Hellooooooo guys, it has been an absolute pleasure having you up this week, you guys were simply amazing! We did so much I can’t remember all of the week! It was just that fun!

A big hello to my small group, I loved having you all, you were so enthusiastic…and loud. Our morning prayer was just awe inspiring.

I hope you all get the chance to come up again and visit. And good luck with secondary school.

Peace

Hey guys what a lovely week  it was. We had the nicest summer weather so I loved the sun and heat! I really enjoyed the team building activities on Tuesday and the climbing wall you were really brave. I thought that the activites in small groups was a lot of fun and your trees looked awesome. I really liked the tramway trip and all the beautiful sweets. The rounders, the football, the disco and mass was awesome. I hope you enjoyed the week too! Enjoy the rest of year 6! Sinoia

This week was awesome, I really enjoyed getting to know all of you. You were great and so much fun to be around. I really enjoyed all the games of rounders in the field, and games of football. I really enjoyed the walk on Tuesday because I really got to know a lot of you and the parachute games were a lot of fun.

I also really enjoyed the bedtimes stories we heard, they are so funny. I also really loved the fact that you all got stuck into the week and seemed to get the most out of the experience.

Good luck and God bless, Matt

This has been a great week! Non stop the whole time!! Focus was great fun, and I especially loved the in day with our water themed games! You were all though much fun and a great laugh. I loved the games of football and rounders, and I hope I taught you all a good lesson! I really hope you all enjoyed the week as much as I did and I wish you the best of luck for year 7!
Don

Wow what a siiick weekend it has been once again.  You guys brought loads of energy to the place, always having a laugh, and always having fun.

Big shout out to my small group ‘The awesome Multi Coloured Dots’, you dudes were on it like a car bonnet in challenges, and our intro to mass was siiiiick!

Unfortunately we didn’t get much team time this weekend due to watching the disappointing England performance on Friday, but aww well, we had a good time the rest of the weekend.

Hope to see all you guys in the future.

CoNoR.

This weekend we’ve not stopped, it’s been go go go!!! It’s been great to see how you all just got on with everything, and how both schools got on so well! The football on the first evening was disappointing, but the rest of the weekend certainly wasn’t! It was so much fun and so easy for the Team, and I only wish I could have been there for all of it!! I hope you all enjoyed the weekend too, and I wish you the best of luck in the future!

Don

Hey guys this weekend was very busy from the moment you arrived to the moment you left. I thought watching the football and Up was very cool and you were very lucky lol. I really enjoyed Saturday too with you guys when we made our trees they all looked really cool and it was nice chatting about our favourite memories and laughing and just generally having fun. The walk after was great fun too and I really enjoyed rapping nursery rhymes to you guys I think I found a talent there hehe. Mass was really good you all worked hard and well and it was amazing followed by a very groovy D.I.S.C.O!! Saturdays games and challenges were fun and you all worked well. It was a great weekend so thank you! Take Care Sinoia

Hello everybody! Thank you for an amazing weeked first of all, i really enjoyed it! You were all so full of energy which was great to see!
I’d like to say a special hello to my small group. I adored workking with you guys because you made such a big effort in getting to know everybody in the group and worked so well in the team in such a short space of time, so well done! I especially enjoyed doing the roleplay for mass with you all because you had so many good ideas and it was very easy to work with you on it! I also have to say how impressive all your trees looked, they were simply beautiful!
A highlight of the weekend for me was the walk on Saturday. I was so pleased to see that you all seemed to enjoy as much as i did too!
So good luck for secondary school, i’m sure you will all do just great!
Take care,
Steph

This has been such a great week, my only problem with it was that it went too fast! Both schools were sooo friendly and fun to be around and i really enjoyed it
A big shout out to my small group. You guys were awesome and i really enjoyed getting to know you. You worked so well on morning prayer in particular and did fantastically well, so well done to you guys!
A favourite part of my week had to be the horseridng! It was so good to see you all riding and many of you conquered fears! Me and my horse Coke had a great time!
Another highlight of the week for me was the climbimg wall and again seeing so many of you conquer your fears, so well done to both schools on that!
Anyway guys, thanks for an awesome few days and i hope secondary school goes really well for you all!
Take care,
Steph

This was an absolutely amazing week, I really enjoyed myself. A big shout out to my group, the ‘2012 waffle eating champions dipped in maple flavoured custard’ you were amazing, and I loved the energy and enthusiasm you brought. My highlight of the week had to be the butterfly farm, it was awesome and I learnt so much. I enjoyed all the trips, you guys were awesome on them. All the quizzes and challenges we faced in our groups were a lot of fun and well done to you all for just getting involved and making the most of the experience.

God bless, Matt

Hello manzzz!

How are you all? It’s been yet another great week at the Briars with so many things going on.

The weather has been bright and sunny this week and so has life at the centre, both schools have came up with positive attitudes and got stuck in with everything that’s been going on, which has been great to see.

‘Good Looking Peeps’ was the name of my small group this week and these guys were awesome, always funny and always friendly, it was a pleasure working with!

Got to go away to the Heights of Abraham for the first time ever this week and I’m not gonna lie, I was terrified of those heights! but still a great day anyway, mainly helped by the weather J

anyways I wish everyone Good Luck in the future and hope to see you all up here again soon.

Conor

This has been a great week. Filled with fun and some great memories! I’ve loved every minute of it. From Focus in the field and on the climbing wall, to the Heights of Abraham, it’s all been so enjoyable!! Everything we’ve done, you made so great by just getting stuck in and involved. You tried you best in everything, and I really loved the energy and enthusiasm, yes and the volume of my small group. I hope you all loved the Quiz night as much as I did! I especially loved the penalty shoot out!! I’d like to thank you all for a fantastic week and wish you the best of luck with year 7 next year.

Don

helloooooo everyone!
I really hope you had a great time up here, from all the trips you guys have been having i guess you have! It has been a sick week!
Than-you especially to my small group the “chocoholic thundergods”, you guys were simply the best! I absolutely loved doing our morning prayer on the Friday, it was baaaare jokes!
Thank-you al for an incredible week!
Peace!
x