Community
All volunteers and most staff form the SPEC Community. A recent change is that the community has moved to live in one building – the main SPEC Centre building – in accommodation wings that all lead to our chapel. In many ways the outward sign of our community and how we live with each other and manage the ups and downs of community is perhaps our most powerful witness of the love of Jesus to the young people who visit us. Community – its prayer, rhythm, the eclectic gathering of individuals, the common purpose, its diverse relationships – is also a place where we can all grow in so many ways, but particularly in our understanding and love of God. Volunteering at SPEC requires a willingness to live in community and to accept the commitments that come with community living, whether from communal prayer to communal chores.
Spiritual life
The chapel is at the physical core of SPEC and our community prayer is at the core of our community spiritual life. Our daily rhythm starts with morning prayer from the Divine Office at 8.00am. There is an afternoon ‘holy hour’ at 5.00pm which is split between half an hour of shared prayer (Taize chants, Rosary walk, Eucharistic adoration, praise and worship, lectio divina, evening prayer from the Divine Office or individually designed/led on a weekly cycle) and half an hour of personal prayer gathered as community in the chapel.
Mass is often part of our residential programmes and occasionally we have a community Mass celebrated by one of our chaplains. There are more regular Masses which community members attend in All Saints Pastoral Centre or neighbouring parishes.
Each year we run a programme of spiritual formation for our volunteer team. This consists of talks, presentations and workshops by our chaplains, other priests and lay people and also some community retreats. Volunteers are also encouraged to take spiritual direction and will assist volunteers in finding a suitable guide.
Working life
We work with children and young people aged 8-18 from schools and parishes across the diocese. Until recently volunteers would have worked primarily in one of two teams, focused on either the older age group (SPEC Centre) or the younger age group (The Loft). Although children and young people visiting SPEC will have a very different experience (e.g. a ‘Loft experience’ for primary aged pupils, or a ‘Loft Towers’ experience for young person in year 7-9 at school, or a ‘SPEC Centre’ experience for a 15-18 year old), the community works as a single unit. Volunteers could work across the complete age range, although you could find your working life biased towards one age group depending on your natural talents and (perhaps!) your preferences.
Every week could be different: you could find yourself working on:
- Residential programmes for school years 5-13
- Day programmes for school years 3-13
- Confirmation programmes
- First Holy Communion programmes
- ‘Outreach’ programmes at schools and parishes
You could expect to work a 5-day week although you should find yourself with some extra days off to compensate for the extra hours required to work residential programmes. On average you should be working a 40-hour week with some weeks being busier and some quieter. Rest is important, and we work on volunteers (and staff!) having two days off in every seven days.
Hospitality is a key part of our ministry – it’s obviously important for our visitors to feel welcome – so some of your working time will be spent on helping to keep the centre clean, tidy and well maintained. | 
