The renowned chef, Michel Roux has just completed a television series featuring a group of young people from what one might call challenging backgrounds. The education sector had failed them, some were single parents or had ASBOs (Anti Social Behaviour Orders) hanging over them, all were disenchanted with the working society at this very early stage of their lives.
Roux set out to teach them the front of house skills that go to make a restaurant or brasserie successful. Waiting, wine waiting, serving food at the table, cocktail bar management, Maitre d'hotel experience, meeting and greeting; all of these elements were taught by Michel Roux and his colleagues over the course of a few weeks.
Apart from making good television, the programme also launched those youngsters into a world that they had previously only dreamed of and those dreams were limited by a total lack of knowledge.
Admittedly, one or two were kicked out; there will always be some who refuse to open their minds, but the rest have all gone on to commence careers at famous hotels and restaurants and good providence to them.
Over the course of the 5 or 6 weeks that the programme lasted they were exposed to the harsh realities of a demanding industry and also given experience of working in some very high class establishments - culminating in a session at the world famous Le Gavroche in Paris.
I have long held the belief that, to turn young people away from disaster and re-direct them on the path of success and goodness, the best therapy is to immerse them in a life changing experience.
Off the coast of wildest Pembrokeshire lies a tide rip of ferocious intensity, known as 'The Bitches'. Now, take a group of what used to be called juvenile delinquents, put them in lifejackets and take them around The Bitches for a day in a rubber inflatable craft. At the end of the day, vandalising a phone box or spraying graffitti on a house wall will seem tame and undemanding to them, they will have been touched by something that exposes an element of life previously unthought of.
Now, stay with me please for another second or so, switch over to a *Catholic Secondary School (one not in the Cardinal Vaughan mould) and take a group of Sixth Formers. I am not for one moment suggesting that these young people are society 'drop outs' but I do believe that most of them will have apostasy writ large on their foreheads, sad but true. Another truism is the fact that they will only have a rudimentary knowledge of the faith and even less interest.
Take this group and place them in a French Monastery for a week where they have to observe the hours and work in the fields and maintain silence. Then take them to Rome and show them where their faith came from and where it is going. Next stop, a 2 week stint in an FSSP Seminary, sitting in on classes, joining in the liturgical programme and, finally, perhaps a week in a Catholic hospice.
When they are finished, my belief is that you will have a core of potentially vibrant young Catholics who will begin to blossom in their faith and from whose ranks a few vocations will sprout.
This should not be beyond the whit of man. Parents these days are used to stumping up large sums of folding money for their pride and joys to go skiing or to New York to see the art galleries. With a bit of ingenuity the experience could be stitched into The Duke of Edinburgh's Award Scheme or any other public spirited initiative that may be operated locally. The results would be interesting to say the least.
Is there a Bishop out there who might pick it up and run with it?
* Catholic Teachers - please do not berate me. This is a generalisation based on personal experience and anecdotal evidence; I am sure your school is a model of excellence. Phew!
Roux set out to teach them the front of house skills that go to make a restaurant or brasserie successful. Waiting, wine waiting, serving food at the table, cocktail bar management, Maitre d'hotel experience, meeting and greeting; all of these elements were taught by Michel Roux and his colleagues over the course of a few weeks.
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| Michel Roux with his 'Service' Group |
Admittedly, one or two were kicked out; there will always be some who refuse to open their minds, but the rest have all gone on to commence careers at famous hotels and restaurants and good providence to them.
Over the course of the 5 or 6 weeks that the programme lasted they were exposed to the harsh realities of a demanding industry and also given experience of working in some very high class establishments - culminating in a session at the world famous Le Gavroche in Paris.
I have long held the belief that, to turn young people away from disaster and re-direct them on the path of success and goodness, the best therapy is to immerse them in a life changing experience.
Off the coast of wildest Pembrokeshire lies a tide rip of ferocious intensity, known as 'The Bitches'. Now, take a group of what used to be called juvenile delinquents, put them in lifejackets and take them around The Bitches for a day in a rubber inflatable craft. At the end of the day, vandalising a phone box or spraying graffitti on a house wall will seem tame and undemanding to them, they will have been touched by something that exposes an element of life previously unthought of.
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| Picture: Thousand Island Expeditions The Bitches, a life changing experience |
I do not even mind if a Council or Charity wants use public money to send a serial teenage thief to work in Africa for a month, it will be a life changing and life enhancing experience, for most.
Now, stay with me please for another second or so, switch over to a *Catholic Secondary School (one not in the Cardinal Vaughan mould) and take a group of Sixth Formers. I am not for one moment suggesting that these young people are society 'drop outs' but I do believe that most of them will have apostasy writ large on their foreheads, sad but true. Another truism is the fact that they will only have a rudimentary knowledge of the faith and even less interest.
Take this group and place them in a French Monastery for a week where they have to observe the hours and work in the fields and maintain silence. Then take them to Rome and show them where their faith came from and where it is going. Next stop, a 2 week stint in an FSSP Seminary, sitting in on classes, joining in the liturgical programme and, finally, perhaps a week in a Catholic hospice.
When they are finished, my belief is that you will have a core of potentially vibrant young Catholics who will begin to blossom in their faith and from whose ranks a few vocations will sprout.
This should not be beyond the whit of man. Parents these days are used to stumping up large sums of folding money for their pride and joys to go skiing or to New York to see the art galleries. With a bit of ingenuity the experience could be stitched into The Duke of Edinburgh's Award Scheme or any other public spirited initiative that may be operated locally. The results would be interesting to say the least.
Is there a Bishop out there who might pick it up and run with it?
* Catholic Teachers - please do not berate me. This is a generalisation based on personal experience and anecdotal evidence; I am sure your school is a model of excellence. Phew!
Life without hard work or risk is so boring for many people that they will seek danger in the least promising places. As you say, after The Bitches vandalism, drugs, and criminality will seem very tame.
ReplyDeleteExcellent post, tweeting now.
Great Post!
ReplyDeleteOur eldest, Ant, went as crew on a Tall Ship expedition with a group of kids with ASBOs etc. Interestingly, one of the most powerful experiences in that potentially life-changing voyage was having a bedtime story read to them - something they'd never experienced! However, I have concerns that without support after the voyage, there is a real likelihood they were submerged back into the culture which had brought them the ASBOs in the first place....