“The young people taking part in the Caritas programme have shown, with their faith and hard work, that the future is safe in their hands - because they are the future.”

That was the uplifting message from Archbishop Nolan in his speech of welcome at the start of this year’s awards ceremony.

And the Archbishop had a confession to make.

He said: “As you get older you tend to look back to the past with rose-tinted spectacles and you start thinking and saying things like, ‘back in my day that would not have happened’ or ‘we would never have done that when we were young...’

“But if you want to be cured of that genetic disease all you have to do is come here to the Caritas awards and be in the presence of young people who have done so much in the past year.”

Addressing the young people directly Archbishop Nolan, who is Head of Education for the Bishops’ Conference, went on:”You give us the hope for the future, you give us the joy of the present.

“What really gives us hope is that is that you have voluntarily undertaken to do all the work involved in Caritas to bring some goodness into the world today.

“What you have given over these past few months is something precious because you've given your time and there is nothing more precious than giving your time to be involved in so many different ways in helping others and improving our society.

“That is a wonderful achievement and a great sign of the goodness in your hearts.

“These awards are called the Caritas awards and as you know Caritas means ‘love’ in Latin – it doesn't mean romantic love but rather love in action and that's a hard love.

“It’s easy enough to love the world but it's hard to put Caritas in action, to go out there and give your time and your efforts and make a difference for people. That’s what we are celebrating today - the goodness in your hearts and the faith that has inspired you.”

“Maybe your faith is strong, maybe your faith is weak, but strong or weak that faith has prompted you to volunteer for the Caritas programme and has encouraged you to persevere and carry out all the good you have done.

“So we all should stop looking into their past and saying ‘in my day it was different and so much better’ and instead look to the future encouraged by the wonderful efforts  of all our Caritas winners - who knows what they will achieve for their own communities but for the world”