Gap Year Profiles | Ewan

Ewan Cairns is currently part of SU Scotland’s Gap Year team. Here, he shares about his work based with the Reachout Trust in Cambuslang and Rutherglen.

Every day is different, but a typical day means a lot of time in school. So let's say we start with morning assembly at a local primary school. There are 15 primary schools, two secondaries and a special school in our patch, so visiting them to share Bible-based content with a whole year group is quite typical.

After the assembly, there might be time spent in a classroom. My favourite project for that setting is Boomerang. This material for P5–P7s focuses on learning about resilience using the story of Joseph. It is relevant, fun and super engaging. I love it when pupils begin to ask me more about faith. Their questions are impactful, like, 'Why do you believe in. God?' It is a privilege to be part of a conversation like that, which really underlines the value of the work we are doing. Other project materials we use include Christmas Unwrapped, the Easter Code, Buddy Up and It’s Your Move, with each programme being relevant at different times of the year.

Of course, not everything happens during school time. I recently helped to run an SU Scotland holiday club for primary-aged children during an in-service day. It was a day filled with games, baking, crafts and Bible teaching, with a focus on providing good meals during the day as well.

I feel that I have learned a lot personally, even in the first few months. I have grown in confidence, worked as part of a team, and learned how to make a talk engaging, with plenty of interaction and visual props to bring young people into the conversation. During our secondary pupils weekend away at Lendrick Muir, which focussed on Colossians, I was able to put some of my learning into practice by leading a teaching session exploring God’s gifts and how they are given to us.

In all of this, my ambition is simply to make an impact. I hope that young people are benefiting from the work that we do as the chaplaincy team in Cambuslang and Rutherglen. Living nearby, I already knew the Reachout team, and it has been great to become a part of it and to share my faith with young people in our community.

Ewan is doing a gap:local placement with the Reachout Trust (four days each week) and with Karen Stangoe in Lanarkshire (one day each week).

Ewan Cairns | Gap Year 2024/25

This article was taken from the February 2025 edition of @SU Magazine.

Editor: Hilary Phillips | cygnus-extra.co.uk

Design: Kimberly Wray | innovivid.co.uk

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