Reaching Youth - why we've decided to cancel

We're really sorry that we've had to make the difficult decision to cancel our Reaching Youth online event. We had thought that there would still be a high demand for this kind of gathering, but in truth, with a month to go, we had only sold around 15% of the tickets needed for the event to break even. It seems that we misjudged what youth leaders want and need in this moment, and having realised that, we've chosen to refund bookings now.

In talking to a number of youth and church leaders over the last few days, we've heard some really good and understandable reasons for the lack of take-up on the event. Many of you are now back into a pattern of work which does not permit you to take two days out to attend an online event; lots of you actually run youth work on Wednesdays and Thursdays, when the event was due to run. Quite a few people just told us that for now, online events had lost their appeal. In the end, the feedback was compelling, and so together with our ticket sales, provided the justification for this decision.

If you're a ticket holder you'll already have received an email from us, and a full automatic refund will be processed shortly. We're so grateful to those who had already booked, and apologise to those of you who were just gearing up to do so.

One thing we do know from feedback is that you're much more excited and ready for face-to-face events after two years of massive disruption. We're thrilled that so many groups have been creating bookings for our summer youth event Satellites in the last few weeks, and we're also looking forward to another brilliant National Youth Ministry Weekend in a new Birmingham venue this November. We hope to see you at both!

As an organisation committed to driving innovation in youth ministry, we appreciate that failure is a necessary part of trying new things – and this was one of those occasions where the plan didn't quite work out. We have to accept or even embrace these moments, and learn from them. Again, we're sorry that the event can't go ahead, and for any disappointment that this decision has caused. We're always here to help youth leaders and churches reach the young people in their communities – if there's anything we can do to help you, please get in touch.