On Saturday the 2^nd of March, St Simon Stock staff and students attended Flame 2019, the biggest Christian Youth Event in the UK. This year’s theme was ‘Significance’, which explored the meaning and value in our lives. It encouraged the young people to explore and develop their faith in a thriving atmosphere of over 8, 000 young Christians. Without a doubt, this experience was

one both staff and students will not

forget. Almost an experience challenging to express. Students were asked to think about their own significance and to stop comparing themselves to others, as we so often do. To ‘Stay in your lane’, and keep our focus on Jesus.

Jerome year 12:

Flame 2019 offered a fresh perspective for young people in a world where it is easy to feel constrained to measure self-esteem in Twitter and Instagram “likes”, responses to Facebook status updates, and Snapchat conversations. This event helped to challenge the ‘but me’ thinking of our generation, enabling young people to ‘find themselves’ through looking towards others. With speakers like Guvna B and Archbishop Eamon Martin expressing their journey to faith, it was easy to find relatable stories to help make sense of our own experiences and understanding. “Even without the religious element there was some amazing messages which are applicable to everyone”

Mollie Year 12:

“There was a sense of community”  that welcomed all who attended, there was music that made us all jump out of our seats and there was a drama performance that made us put our hands on our hearts. We laughed, we sang and we danced the day away. Guest speakers from across the world travelled to preach to us and people travelled from across the country to hear them. The community is vast and we came across people that we knew and have known since childhood.

It was a truly unique day trip and even we were surprised at our experience. We highly recommend that anyone who can, should attend the Flame event for many years to come.

Miss J Duffy, Mollie McGill and Jerome Harrison