Not All Tarred with the same brush

I thought I would tell you about the young people who came on a trip to Lourdes. There were 300 of them who gave up their time to help with the aged or infirm and I must say they were absolutely wonderful.

The youth 16 years and over helped with washing, feeding, running messages, and helping with shopping, pushing wheelchairs or lending a supporting arm wherever they were needed. Youngsters under 16 were marvellous too, but they weren't allowed to do as much work as the older ones.

The young people came along with the Salford Diocese from places like Rochdale, Oldham, Bury, Salford, Manchester and many more areas.

I was lucky enough to go on the trip to Lourdes this year and even luckier to be helped by them. I was collected from the hotel that I was staying in and the young helpers, helped in any way they could, they really couldn't do enough for us. Each and every one of them deserves praise.

On the coach on the way home many of my travelling companions were saying, how nice it is to meet the youngsters and see them in a positive light. Too many times we read about young people misbehaving and getting into trouble with the police, and how it sometimes makes us 'tar them all with the same brush'. It was great for the older generation to see for themselves how nice the younger generation are. Even now when I think of the way the youngsters conducted themselves it makes me quite emotional.
Kathleen O'Dowd