STREET PASTORS HONOURED FOODBANK PRAISE

The Aberdeen branch of the Christian charity Street Pastors has been awarded the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service.

The award is the highest award given to local volunteer groups across the UK to recognise outstanding community work. It was created in 2002 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Queen’s coronation and is the equivalent of an MBE for volunteer groups.

The award has been made for the Aberdeen Street Pastors’ work in the city centre’s night economy, for retail pastors who work in shopping centres and school pastors who are involved in a local school.

Welcoming the award, Noel Lord of Aberdeen Street Pastors said: “In all these areas we seek to listen, care and help in many different ways.”

She added: “We are grateful to the Church of Scotland, especially the Church of Scotland Guild which, over the years, has helped with funding.”

A Renfrewshire congregation has been thanked for collecting four and a half tonnes of goods for a foodbank during lockdown. Over 15 weeks, Houston and Killellan Kirk provided enough ingredients for the equivalent of more than 11,100 meals. The church usually makes a donation to the foodbank twice a year, but during lockdown has collected around 80 bags a week. Minister, the Rev Gary Noonan, said it was a “scandal” that people are still forced to rely on foodbanks, but was full of praise for the way the whole community has been involved.

This article appears in the September 2020 Issue of Life and Work

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