The Church of Scotland Guild
at Peterhead New Parish Church
The Guild's ambitious three-year service strategy will support six projects through 2024
The Church of Scotland Guild is a movement within the Church of Scotland which invites and encourages both women and men to commit their lives to Jesus Christ and enables them to express their faith in worship, prayer and action.
BEAT Eating Disorders
(Project – Blether with Beat)
BEAT is the UK’s eating disorder charity, supporting people with an eating disorder and anyone else affected to get the treatment they need and deserve. Headquartered in Norwich, each year BEAT supports tens of thousands of people and their loved ones on their journeys towards recovery from eating disorders. They also raise awareness of these serious mental illnesses, because a compassionate and knowledgeable public will ensure more people get the help they need. Other services they offer include online support groups and telephone-based peer support for those caring for someone with an eating disorder.
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Home for Good
(Project – Finding homes for vulnerable children)
Home for Good in Scotland has presently around 11,000 children being looked after and they seek to find a home for every child who needs one through fostering, adoption and supported lodgings. They believe that caring for the vulnerable is at the heart of the Christian faith and inspire and equip individuals and families to consider welcoming a vulnerable child into their home. They resource churches to be welcoming and supportive communities for vulnerable children and their families. They intentionally work with local authorities and agencies to find homes for children who wait the longest. Due to the impact of Covid they expect more children to come into care and by responding to this crisis hope to find a home for every child who needs one.
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Pioneers
(Project – Chocolate Heaven)
In 2015, a young couple who went to begin language study in South East Asia, met and got to know a family who had a similar vision and desire to serve isolated areas. They decided to form a partnership and moved to one of the islands in 2017 where a third family joined them. They established a business to develop a small chocolate factory to help improve people’s livelihoods through employment and skills training and to build relationships with people through business activities.
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Starchild (Project – Finding the light in every child)
Starchild is a registered charity set up in 2013 to improve the lives of many of the most vulnerable in Uganda. Starchild believes that every child deserves to be loved, cared for, clothed, fed, and educated. They have built a school for creative arts and promote this as an extra activity in primary schools. One of their aims is to break down the social barriers dispelling myths and stigmas surrounding autism spectrum disorder and disabilities. They are presently working with over 50 affected families, who have been previously shunned and in hiding, and hope to attain enough funding to build a sanctuary to provide support, training, and guidance to this most marginalized group of people.
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Learn more about Starchild's Finding the Light in Every Child project here.
UNIDA
(Project – Hear Our Voice)
UNIDA was founded in 1997 and wants to transform theological education in Brazil by opening it up to more women and low-income students - people who are currently excluded because they can’t pay the tuition and because there aren’t enough scholarships. UNIDA believes in an education that can transform lives in a violent and violently unjust Brazilian society.
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The Vine Trust
(Project – Kazunzu: Village of Hope, Tanzania)
The Vine Trust was originally set up in 1985 by the Very Rev Albert Bogle and congregation of St. Andrews Church of Scotland, Bo’ness, in response to the famine in Ethiopia. In 2018, approval was given to set up the new Kazunzu Village of Hope, and building commenced in May 2019. Local builders and staff, supported by UK volunteer teams started the construction of the first cluster of homes which are being built in clusters of four, each sharing a small garden to grow crops and keep some livestock. The homes will typically each accommodate up to six children, the vast majority of whom will be orphans. Providing the children and families with access to quality school teaching, farming skills, and vocational training will open up many opportunities for employment and sustainable livelihoods in the community going forward.
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