Seasons for Growth

Seasons for Growth is an excellent way of serving young people in your area who are dealing with issues of loss and change. For example, the death of a parent or friend, or the loss associated with divorce, or even moving house. It’s an established and respected way of working in schools across the UK, with significant impact and good training.

A Seasons course takes 10 weeks of 1 hour sessions with a small group of 6-8 young people.

Seasons is a practical way of serving young people dealing with issues that very few people feel able to help with, and an excellent way to demonstrate God’s care for those who are hurting.

How could you start this yourself?

• Talk to your local school about whether this would be something they’d be interested in using if you had volunteers who had been trained in delivering Seasons.

• Find a source of funding; Seasons for Growth training costs around £250 per person to attend. You need at least one trained ‘companion’ - although two is better.
  In the Glasgow Area, Cash for Kids often fund the Seasons programme.
  The programme is attractive to external funders too, so don’t be afraid to apply for funding from youth work organisations.

• Attend the training. In Scotland, the number one trainer for Seasons is the Notre-Dame Centre in Glasgow. Training takes two 6 hour days.

• Buy your books; a key component for the young people is the manuals for Seasons. You can buy these on the training or order them online. They cost £10, a cost which the church may consider offering to cover.

• Book a venue in school by liaising with the head teacher or a nominated Depute.

• Find some young people. Email all the staff at the school, and ask for names. You can then prioritise based on need. Information about this is also in the resources from the training day.

• Run your sessions, see the change; the effect is incredible. Go for it!