Forty-eight John Paul College students are among 99 young Goldfielders who travelled to Perth this week for the Australian Catholic Youth Festival.

After two years of fundraising, cost and distance were no longer an obstacle for the travellers, who all live at least 600km from Perth. 

Geographically the Goldfields Parish is the largest in the Perth Archdiocese, covering 471,118 sq km and extending to the South Australian border. 

JPC Teacher Genevieve Ogden said the vision for the trip to ACYF came from Kalgoorlie-based priest Fr Renald Anthony who two years ago set a target of raising $50,000. 

“We ended up raising $56,000 and we have the Goldfields Catholic community to thank for that,” she said. 

One quiz night alone raised $10,000. 

Ms Ogden said the opportunity for the young Goldfielders to attend ACYF was “massive”. 

“We couldn’t go to something like this if it was interstate,” she said. 

“Having the festival in Perth makes it so much more accessible.” 

Ms Ogden, who attended the ACYF two years ago in Sydney, said it was an amazing chance to connect with the Perth-based community and other Catholics from around the country. 

“It’s an amazing experience … I know what it did for me, so I am excited to see what it does for these kids,” she said. 

“They were so intrigued by the festival in the lead up but now they are really experiencing it and having so much fun,” she said.

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