The Youth Group has had an interesting time since the beginning of September, welcoming back members and welcoming some new ones. Attendance can be a bit erratic, but then some of the youngsters are involved in a lot of other activities, including Panto rehearsals, Ballet and Band Camps. However, we have covered topics such as Leadership, Role models, Prayer, Friendship, the effects of the economic crisis and Remembrance. We also hosted a QuizAid event for Christian Aid and raised £100. By the time you read this we will have held our Coffee Morning to raise funds for Kym Anderson who left school in the summer and is going to be working with Project Trust in India teaching English to children. Leading up to the end of the year we will be having discussion time and a Christmas Event in December. We also hope to return to Teen Ranch next year.

Matthew, June and Lyn.

PANBRIDE YOUTH GROUP

By the time you read this, 16 of us will have spent a weekend at Teen Ranch enjoying activities such as Mountain Biking, Horse Riding, archery, rifle shooting and canoeing. The Group starts on the first Sunday in September at 7.00pm and we look forward to welcoming some new members. As we did last year, we are planning to take part in the National QuizAid project and this year the Quiz will be held on Sunday 18th September at 7.30pm in the Panbride Hall. The cost is £8 for a team of four or £2 each. Hopefully this year the hall will be full so that we can raise funds for Christian Aid which the Youth group have been supporting by sending a donation from their funds every month for the last 15 and more years. Come along and have a fun evening, and help support a worthwhile cause at the same time. There will be fairly traded refreshments available.

M.S.B.

Panbride Youth Group.

What a busy last few weeks it has been! We have had the Panbride Hall full of youngsters and others who came along at the end of February to help us decorate more than 80 triangles shaped cotton bunting as our contribution to the world record attempt for the longest piece of continuous bunting in the world which will take place on World Fair Trade Day on 8^th May (the target is over 2 and a half miles!). Some of the handiwork can be seen in the photos. The following week the FOG Squad painted some of their own, and the bunting has all now been sent off to be sewn together.  Thanks to everyone who help support us, and for those who used technology in their own homes to decorate some of the triangles.

We have also had a FairTrade quiz and an activity in which the youngsters cut up a banana in the monetary proportions they thought the various people involved in getting the banana from field to dinner table would receive – they were surprised at how much the “middle men” received compared to the person who grew the banana.

Our thanks to all the youngsters who took part in the £10 challenge – £362 was raised by a variety of enterprises – one of the leaders had a soup and sweet lunch in her home, some folk did baking, some produced hand made cards. Together with the Church lunch a total of £637 has been sent off to Bangladesh. This was a magnificent effort, and the young people are to be commended for their response. You see, there are good news stories about youngsters!

The Group finished with a visit to Dundee for Bowling and Zapp Zone followed by tea in Pizza Hut. It was a good, but exhausting, afternoon and evening!

There is a planned trip to Teen Ranch in August and we restart again on 4^th September.

Matthew, June and Lyn.

At the end of January each member of the group was given £10 and asked to go and make some money! The ideas to do this ranged from baking and selling the produce to family and friends; organising a DVD night and charging folk to come and watch it and supplying soft drinks/sweets; making jewellery.  The three leaders are also doing something individually but we are also combining our £10s and organising a “Soup and Sweet Lunch” in the Panbride Hall after the service on Sunday 20^th March. The FOG Squad will come into church at the end of the service, to allow the hall to be set out for the lunch. All money raised is going to help with education materials for youngsters in Bangladesh. The cost of the lunch will be £3.

MSB

Panbride Youth Group.

The Group has had about 12 regular attenders since it started again, having lost the older one who are now studying at Universities around the country. We have had a harvest themed evening, and a discussion evening, and we also hosted the QuizAid evening to support Christian Aid when we raised £110. Although some of the questions were difficult (some well nigh impossible!) it was good to welcome members of the congregation and teams from Barry Church and some members of other churches and there was much laughter at some of the more original answers!

In recent weeks we have had activities and discussions about Fairtrade Jewellery, Making Choices and the consequences of these choices and in the coming weeks we hope to have guest speakers. Youngsters from S1-S6 are welcome to come along.

MSB

Panbride Youth Group

The Group restarts on Sunday 5^th September at 7pm in the Panbride Hall. It is open to all youngsters from First Year High School upwards. The first major event is the Christian Aid Quiz night which will be on Sunday 19^th September at 7.30pm in the Panbride Hall. We have invited local churches to send along a team and all proceeds will be sent to Christian Aid, an organisation the Youth Group have been supporting each month for the last almost 20 years, and which the community here has supported for even longer through Christian Aid Week.

Teams of 4 are looked for (£2 per member) and we hope that the congregation will support this event. Even if you can’t get a team of four, come along and we will be able to find someone to join the team. There will be half time refreshments supplied by the youth group, and wonderful prizes for the winners!

So get together with some of your friends and come along for a fun evening and support the Youth Group and Christian Aid.

MSB

The Group is now on holiday until the first Sunday in September although a few of them were at Carnoustie Church presenting some of what was experienced at the Morning Service they led for us in March. A number of the older ones are leaving for College and University, but seem reluctant to cut their links with us, and we will look forward to welcoming them whenever they are able to join us.

After the session finished, some information came from Christian Aid about QuizAid which is a project to raise money for Christian Aid. For a long number of years, the Youth Group has paid money monthly to Christian Aid, and it is hoped that on Sunday 19th September in the Panbride Hall, we will have a Quiz Night (using the Christian Aid quiz questions) and we will invite neighbouring churches to send along teams. There will be more details in August (the material is available in June), but we hope that a number of you will register a team and raise money for a worth while cause.

Matthew, June and Lyn.

The Morning service on 7^th March turned out to be a very special service. The Youth Group had spent a number of weeks planning this service, and it all came together on the day.  There was a PowerPoint presentation about the 10 Commandments and what they might mean for us today, as well as a presentation about the relationship between God, Jesus and ourselves. There were also some pictures of what the church meant to our young people. It was also the first time that a game of musical chairs had been played in church, and the FOG Squad thoroughly enjoyed it (there was also a message to go with this activity!). The choruses from Teen Ranch were well received and gave people some exercise in the church!

So thanks to all who helped with this service, and with the group over the year, and as the Youth Group is now on holiday (after an afternoon of 10 pin Bowling and the Zapp Zone in Dundee followed by tea in Pizza Hut), we wish all the youngsters well in their exams and look forward to seeing them all again in September.

Matthew, June and Lyn.

Our first meeting of 2010 saw the group participating in Souper Sunday. The PowerPoint presentation was shown and discussed before the youngsters enjoyed some home made soup and bread. The proceeds from the Tuck Shop was donated to the HIV/Aids Project. They have also sent a cheque for £80 to Teen Ranch to support the work being done in Teen Ranch Kenya. Bernard, a Kenyan Youth Worker was at Teen Ranch during the visit last August, and an email expressing his thanks has been received. These are in addition to the £2 per month which is sent to Christian Aid – something that has been done for a number of years.

The main work of this session will be preparing for the Morning service on 7th March which the youngsters will conduct.

Matthew, June and Lyn.

Following the showing of the first section of the new video “Threads”, produced by the Church of Scotland, there was a discussion about some of the issues raised and the youngsters are planning to lead a morning service some time in the New Year.  By the time you read this, there will have been the opportunity to hear from some of the youngsters who were at the World Challenge in Thailand.