The SPARK social Justice project started 6 years ago – initiated by the Leeds Diocese Justice & Peace Commission. In the first few months the project mainly worked in High schools, including St Mary’s in Menston.
Tom Allan was a sixth former at that school and involved himself with the project early on. When COVID meant lockdowns, Tom was part of a small team carrying the project forward by making videos to share.
When he left school to attend Sheffield University he was invited to join the SPARK Project Steering Group and he was happy to do so. His involvement has helped to shape how the project has progressed and the approach that the project takes to engaging with people below 30 who still regard themselves as Catholic, although they may not be regular mass attenders.
Having finished university, Tom returned to Leeds last Summer to take up his first job. At the Steering Group meeting on December 4th Tom took over as Chair. The picture shows Tom with the outgoing Chair, Marg Siberry. Marg commented “I am delighted that Tom agreed to take on the role of Chair. If we want to work with people under 30 then it just makes sense to have someone in that age group as the chair of the group that steers the project. We have a wonderful group of people – with a wide variety of experiences, skills and networks – so Tom will have plenty of support as we continue to take the project forward.”