{"id":2,"date":"2024-12-19T12:37:00","date_gmt":"2024-12-19T12:37:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/justyouth.co.uk\/home\/?page_id=2"},"modified":"2025-09-02T09:26:57","modified_gmt":"2025-09-02T09:26:57","slug":"about-us","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/justyouth.co.uk\/home\/about-us\/","title":{"rendered":"About us"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t

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Our history<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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The Spiritans\u2019 Mission has always been about helping the poor. Over the years, as the Spiritans began to take on bigger and bigger projects, their definition of ‘poor’ changed.<\/p>\n
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Being poor was no longer just attributed to someone wealth and materialism. Someone could be poor in health, poor in mind, poor in spirit\u2026 And so the groups they worked with started to expand. In fact, a particular issue became apparent: there was little to no infrastructure for the young people in the Salford area of the UK. As a result, the Spiritans wanted to find a way to reach out to the children and young people.<\/span><\/p>\n
And so, in 1998, Just Youth was established as a youth ministry project and a Registered Charity (1072491). It was founded where the need was: in Salford. Just Youth set out to lay the groundwork for the new generation in Salford to feel empowered in body, mind, and spirit. This would be done by supporting people of all faiths and none as they grew and developed through youth ministry.<\/p>\n
As it stands, the Spiritans still run Just Youth in a humble corner of Salford called Lower Kersal. (Lower Kersal stands in the top 3% of the government\u2019s deprivation index.) At Just Youth, we work with approximately 300 schools up and down the country, though predominantly in Greater Manchester. We work with a wide age range, starting with children as young as 3. The Just Youth team is composed of a dedicated team of Spiritan Priests, Seminarians, youth workers, and \u2018gap year\u2019 volunteers.<\/p>\n
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The Spiritan Youth Centre<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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The Spiritan Centre is a purpose-built youth centre in Salford. The Spiritans built and commissioned it in 2011 as a base for its youth ministry projects.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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Laval Centre<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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(named after Jacques Laval, one of the founders of the Spiritans, a French doctor and priest who worked on the island of Mauritius in the first half of the 19th century)<\/p>\n
The Laval Centre was formerly known as St Philip\u2019s Church. It has since been adapted to a spacious retreat hall that can accommodate up to 60 young people. It\u2019s a great space to host large simulation games, group meditation, drama activities, and other creative work. Available for hire.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t $\"laval-centre\"$ \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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Laval Centre<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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(named after Claude des Places, one of the founders of the Spiritans, who became well known from his \u201criches to rags\u201d transformation story)<\/p>\n
It is a fully equipped facility with kitchen, storage, and stage area with a large hall area that can be adapted for conferences, retreats, and presentations. The Des Places Centre acted as a youth club for many years but is currently being used by Just Youth and Just Youth\u2019s sister charity Revive, a charity working with refugees and asylum seekers in Greater Manchester.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t $\"\"$ \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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Contact<\/h6>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Office hours: 8am – 5pm
justyouth@spiritans.co.uk
manager@justyouth.co.uk<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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Address<\/h6>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Just Youth The Spiritan Centre Northallerton Road, Lower Kersal, Salford M7 3TP<\/strong><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Social media<\/h6>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\t\tInstagram<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t