It's Time the Whole Church Knew About Crossreach!
We were glad of the later start on Thursday morning. It was good to be moving in home territory. this was a day when Crossreach would reach out to the organisations that partner them and also to new potential supporters. A lunch was held at Hopetoun House. Traditionally this is the home of the Marquis of Linlithgow. Today the Marquis has his private quarters in the House but the rest of House and Estate is run by the National Trust.
The purpose of this lunch was to highlight the work of Crossreach, network with new and existing partners making sure the staff focussed on our five strategic goals.
1. To deliver needs led services, to improve emotional and physical health and well being of the people of Scotland and week being of the people of Scotland.
2.To be known for innovation and be the social care organisation of choice
3.To promote the diversity of the organisation and the range of client services as a great strength
4. To achieve excellence in all these areas
5. To become sustainable
Our evening dinner at the Moderator's Flat continued to engage with organisations and individuals who have been a great suppport or who in the future plan to draw alongside us as partners, helping us to fulfil these strategic goals.
We had a wonderful day meeting and greeting and hosting a broad range of people who engaged with us and in so doing have been a great encouragement to all the staff and management at Crossreach.
Friday morning we were up bright and early to travel to Inverness where we were welcomed by Pat Thackeray the unit manager and of Whinnieknowe Residential Home for older people we were just in time to have lunch served. I had a great chat with a lady who was introduced to me as Miss Macintosh. she told me she wasn't very talkative, but once we established that she loved animals and had worked on a croft all her days, this wonderful 92 year old lady came to life. She had a lot to say, she had spent her live caring for her family after her mother died when she was 15 years old. She told me that she had appeared at Whinnieknowe unable to walk and in a bad star. Seven years later she was better now that she had been for years. She could walk and above all she loved being a resident in the Crossreach home. Time was moving on. We were entertained again with some great singing.
It was then back on the road again for a brief stop at Beechwood. this is a residential home providing rehabilitation, community outreach, and social care support to men and women who have alcohol and drug related issues. I was introduced to two people who wanted to share with me the impact the home had had on their lives. These two people shared how Beechwood had helped them as family members who had relatives with severe alcohol or drug addiction. Then later on in the day i met four men each with a story of recovery to tell.
The time had come to say farewell to our Crossreach family. After spending a week in the company of unsung saints who might even be angels, seeking to share the gospel through deeds of loving kindness we were to say the least humbled in their presence and proud to tell the Church that Crossreach is truly fulfilling its calling to be the social care arm of the church.
