The very first Catholic ‘Youth Village’ in the country, and possibly the world, is to be built in the Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle. Fundraising has been taking place over the past 3 years to develop the site at Allensford, County Durham.
To date, the Youth Ministry Team has raised £1.6million, mostly from external sources and donors, and is busy trying to secure the remaining £300,000 needed to complete the project.
The Youth Village, which houses a group of international volunteers living in community, provides a variety of youth ministry opportunities across schools and parishes throughout the diocese.
The new developments will include 55 en-suite twin rooms with amazing views over the Derwent Valley and will be able to cater for over 110 young people at any one time - which will make it one of the biggest Catholic youth retreat facilities in the country.
‘This is a great opportunity for the young people in our diocese’, said Fr. Dermott Donnelly, Director of Youth Services. ‘People have been amazingly generous and this will be a blessing both for the young people of our diocese today and for the generations to come.’
Starting to build the village