On Friday 11th June, over 180 keen golfers gathered at Chevin Golf Club, Duffield to compete in the 25th Briars Am-Am.
'LIVE IT' are a series of events taking place all across the Nottingham Diocese. They are a chance for young people in different areas to meet each other to share and celebrate their faith. This is the story so far....
Held again this year at the Moorways Centre in Derby, we saw our biggest ever turn out! This year saw around a thousand year 6s from all over the diocese gathered together to reflect on taking the big step up to secondary school.
Well it was an amazing week, and finally here are the photos! Leave your comments on the post and thank you to all those who made this a really special Holy Week.
The photos from Advent 2009 are finally up, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!
October the 9-12th saw the biggest ever reunion of past and present Briars team members. In part of a series of events to mark the 40th Anniversary of The Briars over 150 people dropped in at some point to make this weekend a truly memorable celebration.
As part of the visit of St Therese’s relics to our cathedral in Nottingham, the Youth Service led an All Night Vigil. Starting at 11.00 on Monday 5th October and finishing the next morning with Mass at 6.30, it was split into three parts, each focussing on a different aspect of St Therese’s spirituality.
There are ten volunteers working here at The Briars, three of which are second year volunteers who are part of the outreach programme (go onto the ‘reach4′ page to find out more!) They work alongside the Director, Programme Leaders, Centre Manager, Kitchen staff, House staff and our security and groundsman, to all make The Briars what it is.
You can be kept up-to date about Team news here, or read their individual blogs on their pages.
If you want to get in touch with any of the team you can comment on their blogs, or email them by putting theirname@ndcys.com. We regret that because of the high volume of emails we receive we cannot reply individually so check out the team’s pages every week for their weekly messages.
Below are the most recent team posts, but check out individual pages using the menu above to read thier individual blogs.
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
I wasn’t here for the whole weekend but I loved getting to know you in a short space of time. You were all really welcoming which was amazing. Mass was an amazing celebration and you put so much effort into it which was awesome. Great choice with the film, Toy Story is a great film.
Good luck and God bless for the future and I hope you confirmation goes well.
Matt
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
I absolutely loved my small group this weekend! You were so friendly, so easy to get on with and just generally brilliant people! You threw yourself into everything we did, even on the first night when we made our meal and table! There was some amazing ideas there, my favourite being lasagne to represent God – cheese, meat and pasta as the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Absolutely brilliant! It was great getting to know some of you better on the walk we did, you’re so easy to have a laugh with and you get along with each other so well! My only regret is that you couldn’t have stayed longer, but I wish you all the best for your confirmation on Tuesday. Enjoy!
Don
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
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
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
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 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
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
