Event Leadership Conference 2026

Whether you are new to leading at a Residential or Mission or have led many times, this seminar is for you.  More than 2,500 people volunteer with SU Scotland each year, longing to introduce young people to Jesus. We want volunteers to have an encouraging experience of working as part of an SU Scotland team and go on serving and working with young people for many years. This seminar will look at how you can cast effective vision, communicate well with your team, get to know your team and support and work with both experienced and new volunteers.  We will also consider what is appropriate to expect from your team  and what their expectations might be of volunteering at an SU Scotland Residential or Mission. 
 
Janice joined SU Scotland in December 2018 in the role of Volunteers Manager coming from a possibly unusual background for a Volunteers Manger, of Industrial & Medical Gases Engineering, with perhaps an even more unusual love of playing team sports like rugby league & shinty.  She has a wide and varied experience of participating in and leading teams. These days she has swapped sports teams for cooking teams but still loves being in a team environment. 
 
Catherine is a teacher at the City of Edinburgh Music School.  When not teaching, she will be found playing the double bass or netball, not at the same time.  Catherine is married to Tim and they have been co-leading an SU holiday for a number of years.  They have two grown up children. 
 
Gavin lives in Glenrothes with his wife, Joanna, and three children. He serves as assistant pastor at Glenrothes Baptist Church, and has been involved in leading SU holidays and mission events for a wee while. 

Many events organise prayer stations or prayer rooms but how can you ensure your whole event is covered with prayer?  Loads of creative ideas for keeping prayer central by involving others in praying for your event - before, during and after it takes place.  
 
Karen is the Regional Worker for Lanarkshire.  She has loved SU residentials since going on one as a teenager.  She enjoys running residentials and day camps as they include lots of her favourite things – time spent with friends, time outdoors and time exploring the Bible with others.  Karen is married to Graeme and they co-lead an October residential event.  They have two children, Emily and Lewis.

At the core of SU ministry is the desire to help young people discover the story of the Bible for themselves as they have opportunity to explore and reflect together in community at a holiday or on a mission. In this session we will be thinking about how we keep Bibles Open with our team and with young people. There will be opportunity to hear some creative ideas from different events, explore some new resources from SU and think through how we can equip team to share with young people and equip young people to keep their Bibles Open long after their holiday or mission.

Julie hasn’t missed a year of SU residentials since her first camp as a P6 pupil! She loved being a camper and a young leaders, and still enjoys being a Team Leader of a residentials event. Julie is the minister of Milton of Campsie Church in East Dunbartonshire, bringing many young people from her local community to her SU event. Julie is married to Laurence and they have two children, Esther and Josiah. 
 
Alan became Young Leaders’ Development Lead with SU Scotland in March 2025, having previously been the youth worker at a church in the west end of Glasgow for 12 years. Throughout his time as a youth worker, Alan volunteered with SU Scotland, at a variety of events, including: SU school groups, Christmas and Easter workshops (in partnership with the Wheel Trust) and residential camps.  Alan stays with his wife and two kids in Paisley. In his spare time, he enjoys both watching and playing sports, as well as going to the gym regularly. He also loves spending time with his family and friends, going to the cinema and eating good food.

Due to ongoing renovation work in the older part of the Church of the Nazarene building, some of the sessions at the event will take place across the road in the AK Bell Library. We are thankful to them and to the team at the church for making this possible. You are asked to take particular care when crossing the road and to use the traffic lights for your safety. The building does have a lift for accessing seminar rooms on the upper floor. A small team will be on hand to help direct us on the day. 

Tea and coffee and cake will be available on arrival and at coffee breaks and will be served in the foyer and in the main sanctuary.  Lunch will be provided, but you will need to bring your own juice if required.  Lunch will be served at tables in the sanctuary. 

To make it possible for families to attend the Conference, we have arranged childcare. There will be a creche for children aged 0-4 years, and there will also be a Children’s Programme for primary aged children. Both of these will be accommodated in the main church building. Due to the renovations the space may be smaller than in past years. 

There will be a bookstall provided by the Barnabas Christian Bookshop in Dundee. This will be available in the sanctuary.