More than 170 young people from Network Youth Churches across Cumbria have enjoyed a special day of fun and fellowship in Keswick.

The Ablaze Now Big One event was held at the Keswick Pencil Factory on Saturday 2 September and included an ice rink, inflatables, crazy golf, gaming zone, sports, craft, and a chill zone.

There was also a barbecue and a time of worship and teaching before ending with a silent disco at the ticketed event.

Joint organiser Andy Ward, Barrow Network Youth Church Leader, said: “It’s really important to draw young people together in this way. If you look around Cumbria a lot of the churches have smaller groups so that can lead to feelings of isolation.

“That’s why we chose the Big One as the theme; we wanted these young people to feel part of something that is bigger than what they see on a Sunday or a weekly basis. By gathering them all together it helps to create a sense of community right across Cumbria.”

The Network Youth Church sees more than 600 young people connect regularly for fellowship and fun in Cumbria. There are 30 young leaders with a further 1,453 young people connecting with NYC on the fringe, though not regular attendees.

There are currently Network Youth Churches in eight of the Diocese’s 11 deaneries with plans to commit to establishing an NYC in all parts of the county.

Ruth Hutchings, Furness Network Youth Church leader and who also helped organise the day, added: “This was in the planning pipeline for a good few months, certainly we started to think about what we were going to do before Christmas.

“We’ve tried to be as creative as possible for the young people and think about things they might not have in their area or things they might not do regularly. So we’ve had an ice rink, inflatables and a big helter skelter inside, whilst outside there are lots of games and sports.

“There’s also worship and teaching. For some of the kids that may be an unusual thing for them to experience and for others it will be far more normal. But it’s just great to get them all together in a larger group to enable them to worship together and engage with God.”

As well as the Big One event there are also other Ablaze events held across the county each year, with NYC young people also enjoying trips to other national summer camps.

ENDS

For further information contact Dave Roberts, Diocesan Head of Communications, on 07469 153658 or at communications@carlislediocese.org.uk.