Go away!
A version of this article first appeared in the June 2005 issue of Youthwork magazine
How do you get the most from your residential youth holiday? Celia Hyland trawls the brains of experienced youth workers from across the UK for their top tips and big ideas on breakaway success.
 No parents. No shops. No sleep. Is that all there is to residential youth holidays? They can be exhilarating, fun, educational, spiritual, relational and topical. But enough of the buzz words - how can you use those four days in a hut on top of a hill to maximum effect?
Before you start
Veteran youth worker and Birmingham Diocesan Youth Adviser Robin Rolls is keen on all the fun stuff, but makes it clear that it's a wise move to set your own goals before you start planning. 'There's all the aims and objectives stuff,' he says. 'Ask yourself, "Why am I doing this residential?" "What do I want from this piece of work?" "How does it fit into the overall plan, my aims for the year, the job, the church's aims?" "Where do I want the young people to be after this residential?"'
Keep lines of communication clear right from the start. What do parents need to know? What is the best way of getting them involved with the planning? Make sure you have the full backing of your church leaders. I know of one leader who failed miserably to get a youth holiday off the ground simply because she was left to organise the whole thing with very little support (and didn't want to bug the vicar). This only led to exhaustion and stress on her part, and immense disappointment for the youth.
It's worth thinking up a few key aims for your holiday and sharing them with your vicar, the parents, and the young people right from the word go. Clearly and accountably evaluating the holiday before, during and afterwards means that the experience will be seen in a far more positive light by everyone involved in and impacted by it.
A golden opportunity
Many youth workers would agree that taking your group out of their comfort zone is a golden opportunity for bonding; peer to peer, peer to leader, and even leader to leader. And it's often true that more can be achieved during 24 hours camping, for example, than in six months of weekly meetings playing pool.
I recently witnessed proof that residential holidays really can bring out previously unknown gifts in young people and bond both the group and leaders in unforeseen ways. Laura (18) and Paul (16) are siblings. At the time both were going through awkward stages - Laura was a Goth punk with pink hair (and I rarely saw an ounce of maturity in her) while Paul wasn't talking much and had created some messy situations at school for himself (and we found it hard to trust him). They are in separate youth groups at church because of their ages, but recently went on our church residential break for 14 to 18s. One of the activities was a rescue-mission team-building challenge. Laura and Paul both happened to end up in the same 'light-a-fire-and-don't-let-it-go-out-challenge' team. They stood back and watched as a number of the group grappled with matches, lighters, ripped paper, and large slabs of wood. 'Shelter, shelter, shelter! There's too much wind!' shouted one. 'It keeps going out...' whined another.
Eventually, two humble voices rose above the others and Laura and Paul emerged through the crowd. 'We have an open fire at home,' ventured Paul. 'You need to start with much smaller bits of wood.'
The rest of the group moved back as Laura and Paul crouched nearer to the pathetic smouldering pile of paper. Over the next 15 minutes we watched in awe as patiently and without show, the brother and sister team coaxed the small pile of twigs into a hot roaring ball of orange flames. And I was impressed. Without fuss they had pulled together and showed us what they could do. And we all learnt far more than how to light a fire that day.
After all, residentials aren't about continually ramming Bible verses down their throats, or shouting at them to shut up every five seconds. It's about giving them space to be themselves, room to mature and learn, and time to discover who they are. Okay, I'm getting a little bit idealistic, so here, collated from a range of practitioners and Youthwork readers, are 10 practical points to think through before taking them away, and 10 ideas for what to do with them when you reach your destination. Book the mini-bus, buy a week's supply of earplugs, and don't forget the tea towels...
Ten Steps to Residential Heaven
If you get the practicalities and the format right, the stage is set for a fun and meaningful time. Here are ten ideas from experience, to help you on your way.
- 'Feed them well. Don't scrimp too much on the meals. If you feed them well they'll moan less and enjoy the activities more. And make sure that no matter how cold it is outside, they can be warm and comfortable inside.' - Steve, residential veteran
- 'Consider venues that supply leaders - obviously you're responsible for the group, but they may have some really good fresh ideas - after all; they try their ideas out on a new group every week!' - Steve
- 'Be realistic - they won't be fast asleep by 10pm. If they're young, give them a reasonable time for lights out. If they're older teens, give them some freedom but ask them to respect the fact that others may be trying to sleep and that they won't be excused from the next day's activities for being tired. With older kids, don't give a strict bed time but do make sure they respect others, and they have a responsibility to turn up to organised activities the next morning - and breakfast!' - Alex, older teens youth worker
- 'Print an idiot-proof itinerary guide to what to take. Literally list one jumper, four tops, trainers, wellies etc. Don't just say "sensible shoes".' - Jane, youth worker
- 'Avoid towns and shops if you can. Stick to rural places where the idea of being "away" can be appreciated 100% of the time. What's the point of getting away from it all if every lunch time is spent in McDonalds?' - Jane
- 'Have a "do your own thing" time for the group when leaders are not hanging around with eagle eyes (provide a games room or a video time). Kids will appreciate the freedom and leaders will appreciate a break form eagle-eye responsibility.' - John, 14+ youth worker
- 'Always keep a Plan B for wet weather. There's nothing worse than watching The Matrix six times' - Alex
- 'Know where your local A&E hospital department is, and how to get there.' - John
- 'Make sure you've got the legal end covered - including the correct consent forms from parents. Without these a residential that goes wrong could spell the end of your youth ministry.' - Mel, 11s-14s specialist (see Amaze's website for help on this)
- 'Breakthroughs and special moments will not always happen during planned times (music sessions, Bible studies etc). It is when you are least expecting it that God may appear. 'Late night conversations, washing up times, camp fire moments, but you need to watch out for the enemy that is tiredness; this can lead to false God moments.' - Robin, DYA
Ten Great Residential Activities
With a little creative input, a holiday can stick in the memory for a very long time, so here are ten ideas to help make that happen. The first six I've tried myself; the others come from various residential veterans.
- Campfire testimonies: It's an oldie but a goody. Campfire testimonies can be a real eye-opener for everyone, especially those in your group who are unsure whether to commit their life to Christ. The Frontier Centre which we visited had a bonfire with logs surrounding it to sit on. This meant everyone could see each other. The more intimate and comfortable you can make it, the better. Use blankets, hot chocolate; anything to make it cosy. You could combine testimonies from older members of your group with leaders' stories, or just stick to leaders. Testimonies can be incredibly powerful, even more so when you are far from home and a bit less worried about image. Used simply, this could be a great way of introducing a new leader to the group, or letting your young people see your human side. For a deeper time, use the testimony as a vault point to touch on a deeper message. End with an open time of prayer, if appropriate.
- Mega treasure hunt: This may work best if you are staying somewhere with a staff team on site who can help you set up the clues. If you are feeling brave, place the clues up trees, in ditches and down holes. This way they get truly grubby, bond straight away, get some fresh air, and earn their supper!
- Talent contest: A good source of embarrassment for youth leaders, both during and after the event. Images of you dressed as Mr T singing 'Kumbuyah' will be passed round the church for months afterwards. Don't worry, at least the kids had a good time, and now you know that Kevin can balance teapots on his head and Martha can rip 18 phone directories in an hour, club nights will never be the same again. On a more serious note, if one or two young people really do not want to be in the spotlight, give them helpful jobs such as 'camcorder manager', 'contest judge', or even 'props manager'.
- Building game: Making something HUGE together is a great way to get your team pulling together and appreciating each other's strengths and weaknesses. Building a massive tepee with twigs, or a raft with plastic bottles is just good clean fun.
- Free worship: With more space and time your group can really use the holiday for a more diverse and personal worship time. Don't just stick with guitar-led worship. Get them painting, writing... whatever they want. Ask them to bring musical instruments and favourite worship tracks.
- Hands-on time: Towards the end of your time away, ask the group in a quiet moment to move towards one person who has impacted them in some way. Choose from: this person...inspired me, helped me in some way, motivated me, got to know me better, let me learn something knew about them. Then ask them to place one hand on the shoulder or back of that person. This worked amazingly in my group; not only did it feel great to let that one person know that I had been affected by them, but the encouragement I got from two or three hands being placed on me was immense. NOTE: As leaders, watch out for kids who have not been selected by their peers, and place your hand on their shoulder.
- Themes: 'I think it's important to have a good theme for the weekend. The last one I did was on Mission Impossible and we started the weekend by kidnapping the leaders and tying them up in the forest. The young people had to find them by following clues with torches. The teaching sessions were also based on missions in the way they were phrased; 'Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to...' (Emma B, via Youthwork Community forum)
- Time out: 'One of the most laid-back residential weekends I've ever done involved taking all the group's watches, clocks etc. off them at the very beginning. I claimed I needed them for a game. Over the weekend we went to bed when we were tired, got up when we woke, ate when hungry and finished the discussion sessions when we felt we had covered the subject. Among other benefits, we had no problems getting the young people to go to bed because they had no idea how late it was (or not - they went at about 11pm each night!). It also took a lot of pressure off having to stretch a session or curtail it depending on how it went.' (Andy, via Youthwork Community forum)
- In the dark: 'Why not bend the rules a bit and do a nocturnal residential? Set breakfast at 11:30am, and lights out at 4am?' (Robin Rolls, Birmingham DYA). On a similar theme, if you can't afford to travel far or even to have a residential away, organise a (sponsored?) 'wakeathon' from 8am-8pm. Even though they can all fall back into their own beds at 10am the next morning, God may provide some 'magical midnight moments' while you are all prodding each other to stay awake. A Bible study, a midnight feast and a dawn hike are all potential wide-awake ideas.
- Awards: 'Announce a 'non-moaner of the week' award at the beginning of the holiday. This works well as it turns moaning into a joke and you can pick them up on it without sounding like a teacher. Provide decent prizes too.' Other award ideas include 'best sibling award', 'most helpful person award', and 'greatest achievement award'. (Jane)
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