ASN Weekend Residential at Gowanbank

Elaine Tait is the Additional Support Needs Development Coordinator at SU Scotland. Below, she shares about her ministry and helping build connections in young lives, which included bringing a group of ASN young people for a weekend at Gowanbank.

Young people from two Additional Support Need (ASN) schools came together at Gowanbank for a weekend full of fun activities and friendship. We called the weekend a Light Party, because it was Halloween weekend, and we wanted to offer a theme that would unite both the activities and the teaching.

We welcomed 14 young people to this new event with a 1:1 ratio of adults to young people. The young people were from Abercorn Secondary and Buchanan High School. The team all had experience of additional support needs, coming from a wide range of different settings.

On Friday evening, we had a firepit with s’mores; the pathway was all lit up with glow sticks. During a busy weekend, we packed in pamper sessions, a silent disco, crate climbing, archery, bushcraft, music, crafts and more.

When we explored Jesus as the light of the world, I asked the group a bit of a rhetorical question, ‘Would Jesus ever turn his back on us?’ One young person was emphatic, ‘No, of course not – he would keep on trying!’

I was amused by some chat with the young people as they settled for the night. The girls were asking me, ‘Will there be another weekend?’ and I said, yes, we were thinking about what we might do in the summer. One girl said, ‘But that’s months away. Can we do it again in…a couple of weeks?’ It might take me a little longer than that to be ready for the next event, but I was moved by their enthusiasm.

The reality is that an event like this takes extra special preparation. Some of us had volunteered at Abercorn School to get to know the young people there. We had made an introductory video about the team, so the young people already knew who we were and what we all looked like. We gathered information about all the young people using a communication passport so we had lots of knowledge up front about their food likes and dislikes, and the things they like to do to relax. All of this was invaluable in helping them to settle.

I have so many highlights – seeing young people express their love for God, and just being able to relax and have fun together are definitely up there. The support from the team at Gowanbank was also absolutely superb. The ongoing relationships with the schools are important too. Abercorn now has an SU Group, and I’ve been busy over the last months creating RME (Religious and Moral Education) resources for use in ASN schools.

We have definitely started something new – in the future, events for young people with ASN will be called Activ8 events. It is great to have got started!

You can read more about SU Scotland’s Ministry at the Margins work in our recent @SU magazine.

Gowanbank is a great venue for groups of all shapes and sizes. Interested in bringing a group? Enquire online or get in touch and we’d be happy to help you start planning your event.