Ballarat schoolies group chooses Christchurch aid

DAILY prayers, reflection and a chance to help others.Two Ballarat boys, among others, have gone off to Christchurch, New Zealand, to experience schoolies with a difference. Diocesan Youth Ministry co-ordinator Stefanie Lloyd, who is also part of the group, said the Catholic Switched on Schoolies was a maiden venture.“This is the first Switched on Schoolies for us,” Ms Lloyd said. “We have a group of volunteer young people called the youth council.“One of their initiatives was to offer an alternative to traditional schoolies of going and writing yourself off.”Ms Lloyd said the group, which included four 18-year-olds and team leaders as well as a diocese chaplain, would be in New Zealand for 10 days. She said while in Christchurch the group would volunteer with “half a dozen” organisations to help earthquake recovery efforts.“They will volunteer with Gap Filler, an organisation that goes into vacant blocks that have had houses removed or razed and prepares the block for rebuilding,” she said.“They will work with a student volunteer army and help in silt removal and with Greening the Rubble, helping plant trees.”The group will return to Ballarat on January 26.“Each of them applied to go on the Switched on Schoolies and they want a spiritual experience.There will be daily prayers, reflections and debriefing.”