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CrossReach Week Celebrates Social Care Work

Wednesday November 11

The Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland is spending the week visiting CrossReach projects throughout Scotland as part of the annual celebration of the Church’s Social Care work.

The Rt Rev Angus Morrison kicked off CrossReach Week in Stornoway where he visited the Lewis Street Project, which provides supported accommodation, and Dochas (meaning ‘hope’) which helps people with drug and alcohol problems. He also dropped in at The Shed, Martin’s Memorial Church’s base for youth and community services.

Yesterday (Tuesday) focused on dementia services, with a visit to Cameron House in Inverness and heard about its award-winning partnership with the local Gaelic primary school; and CrossReach’s second Dementia Ambassadors’ Conference.

Today the focus is on counselling services and the Learning Disabilities National Forum; including a visit to Wallace House in Edinburgh, the main centre for CrossReach’s postnatal depression services.

Last month, the Moderator wrote in The Scotsman that social care ‘enriches the whole community’ and called for people who work in the field to be ‘recognised and valued’: “Without them our society, our community and our own lives would be so much poorer.”

CrossReach, run by the Church of Scotland’s Social Care Council, is one of the largest providers of social care in the country, with over 70 projects working with children and families, adult care and older people.

The week, as well as celebrating the organisation’s work, is also marking the 10^th anniversary of the creation of the CrossReach brand.

Writing in The Herald on Monday, CrossReach Chief Executive Peter Bailey said: “Our name conveys both our determination to reach people across Scotland who need support, and our understanding that our faith is the motivation for our work.

“Anniversaries are a time for reflection. In reflecting on the achievements celebrated and the challenges faced over the last decade, what strikes me above all else is the untrammeled passion my colleagues have for bringing about a better society. When I meet with colleagues working in CrossReach services who have devoted their careers to supporting people, their commitment for enabling people to live life to the full never fails to inspire.”

CrossReach week concludes this Sunday with Social Care Sunday, in which the Church is encouraged to remember and reflect upon CrossReach’s work. The Moderator has recorded five video clips for use in worship services, which you can download, along with notes for Social Care Sunday, from http://www.crossreach.org.uk/crossreach-week-0