Bethany Christian Trust Care Shelter in Edinburgh
On 19 March 2011 a group of seven from Falkirk Free Church helped
out with the catering for the Bethany Christian Trust Care Shelter in
Edinburgh. Through a number of people in the congregation we have
strong links with Bethany.
The Care Shelter provides rough sleepers with a place to go for the
night where they can find shelter, a hot meal and a warm place to
sleep. It started in Edinburgh in 1996 with a 2-week pilot
over Christmas and has grown over the years to now span 5 months over
the winter, from November until April. The service is run by a skeleton
staff and relies on around 500 volunteers from churches across the
Central Belt who provide personnel at Edinburgh church venues for
service users to sleep in on a nightly rota basis as well as preparing
and serving hot food to homeless people on the premises. The service
has been a lifeline for many people over the years. The Care
Shelter service costs around £110,000 to run for 5 months and is funded
entirely by voluntary donations.
Our team catered for around 40 rough sleepers and fed a 2-course
meal of mince and tatties and sticky toffee pudding washed down with
plenty cups of tea & coffee. We learned lots of things from the
service users and enjoyed having a laugh with some despite their
circumstances. As always the receipents were very grateful to us for
our support and it is a great opportunity for our church to demonstrate
simple christian kindness to those in need.
Isaiah 61v1: "The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because
the LORD has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor..."