Bethany Christian Trust

Bethany Christian Trust is a registered Scottish charity based in Edinburgh. It was set up to relieve the suffering and meet the long-term needs of homeless and vulnerable people.

The Trust's vision is that through Christian love in action, homelessness will be reduced and vulnerable people empowered to live independently within society.

The Trust's partners include Edinburgh City Council, West Lothian Council, East Lothian Council, Fife Council, over 100 churches, Edinburgh City Mission, Christian Concern for the Homeless, Chai, Rock Trust and Ark Trust. Its areas of work are Edinburgh, the Lothians, Fife, Dumfries & Galloway.

The charity was established in 1983 by Rev Alan Berry, then a minister in Leith, Edinburgh, in response to the needs of the many homeless and vulnerable people he confronted daily.

In 2006 Bethany supported over 3,000 homeless and vulnerable people through its services. Bethany has 192 full-time and part-time staff and over 1000 volunteers. Its turnover was £5.3 million in 2006.

Bethany's Services

Street Work

Care Van

Operated in cooperation with Edinburgh City Mission, the Care Van offers rolls, soup, clothing, and advice to Edinburgh's rough sleepers every night in the city center. A team from one of over 30 churches staff the van.

Care Shelter

Every night from late October to the end of March, the Care Shelter provides emergency accommodation in churches around Edinburgh for men and women over the age of 16 who have no other accommodation. A staff team serves hot meals and gives advice and information about services to help move people off the streets and improve their lives. Anyone without a place to sleep may use the Shelter, which is free of charge. Edinburgh City Mission and churches make this service possible.

Emergency accommodation - Bethany House

Bethany House is a resettlement unit for homeless men and women aged 16-59. In order to use the services at Bethany House, the resident must cope with personal care, be willing to claim benefits, register with a local GP, and apply for more permanent housing.

Specialist Units

Bethany Christian Centre

Bethany Christian Centre is a supportive working community for men aged 17-70 that aims to help those in need to resettle back into a stable environment free from alcohol and drugs. Aid in addiction issues, budgeting, legal matters, health issues, family relationships, housing applications, benefit claims, and contact with counselling services and other agencies are among a myriad of services the Centre provides. The men learn to work and serve each other as they participate in community meetings, cooking, cleaning, group activities and house holidays. With the help of the Training Section men have education and voluntary work placements within Bethany or further afield. Bethany Addiction Team offer group work and one to one counselling to our residents, who benefit greatly from these services.

Matthew and Martha House

The service provides accommodation for homeless men (Matthew House) and women (Martha House). An initial 12-week stay (that can be extended to a maximum of 36 weeks) gives residents 24-hour support with the goal of moving residents to their own tenancy. All residents are encouraged to participate in the support program, which includes help on tenancy issues, group work, outings, sport, special interests, topical discussions, and house meetings. A full time staff is always present, and each resident has a support worker to help him or her.

Supported Housing

Bethany Supported Housing provides fully furnished, single and shared accommodation for homeless and vulnerable people in Edinburgh, Dumfries and Fife. Support and advice is available to help people adjust to independent living. Help with budgeting, addiction relapse prevention, independent living skills, emotional issues, benefits, household management, and education and training is provided to clients in their own homes by the Supported Housing Team working in partnership with other relevant statutory and voluntary agencies in the community.

Addiction Support

The addiction team works with those men and women concerned with their addiction and wishing to address the problem. Regardless of whether or not he or she has stopped the addictive behaviour, the team combines a variety of counselling approaches to help the client, including cognitive-behavioural treatment, coping skills training, relapse prevention and person centred counselling.

Homemaking and Furniture Help

Bethany Homemaker helps families and individuals with low incomes have access to furniture, appliances, and other household items. Clients have the opportunity to choose the items they need. An extensive range of both new and second hand goods are made sure to be in the highest standard possible, and all electrical appliances are guaranteed to work. Working on a referral basis, homemaker can help anyone on a low income or those on state benefits. All clients are interviewed by project staff to assess their needs and a package of chosen items.

Community Education and Life-long Learning

The Bethany Training team run a variety of groups and courses to equip people with the knowledge to make informed and positive choices in life. Participants are invited to work at their own pace in a non-judgemental atmospherew with ground rules created by the clients themselves. Links with local colleges and employers help clients plan their next move.

The groups on offer are: Basic computer skills; Adult literacies; help with reading, writing & numerical skills; Stage two literacies: giving tutorial help to people accessing distance-learning material from local colleges; Art group and a Drop in, addressing employability skills. Development work includes; Anger management workshops and Women's groups.

Bethany's Projects

Caring Christmas Trees

Now in its third year, Caring Christmas Trees [http://www.caringchristmastrees.com] is a social enterprise operated by Bethany Enterprises Ltd. Winner of the Institute of Fundraising Scotland’s Community Fundraising Award 2006, Caring Christmas Trees was set up by Scottish charity Bethany Christian Trust to raise funds for their front-line services to help homeless people.

The Caring Christmas Trees scheme is based on pre-ordering, with customers selecting their preferred tree size, collection point and date for collection online.

The marketing campaign focuses on the concept that the cost of a Christmas tree is around the same cost of giving someone shelter, food and support. Customers are encouraged to think ethically about their Christmas tree buying and support Caring Christmas Trees because all the profits from tree sales go towards helping homeless people.Caring Christmas Trees are all freshly cut, Scottish-grown, grade 1 standard, needle-last trees and are sourced from managed, sustainable forests operated by members of the British Christmas Tree Growers Association who ensure high environmental standards. To keep costs down Caring Christmas Trees uses around 450 volunteers to promote and distribute trees. This means the maximum profit from every tree is ploughed straight back into providing vital services for homeless people.The proceeds from Caring Christmas Tree sales will help fund two of Bethany’s life-saving homelessness services in Scotland: the Care Shelter, hosted in Edinburgh City Centre churches and a new drop-in service in Fife. The Care Shelter provides around 750 rough sleepers with overnight accommodation, hot meals and advice every night for 5 months over the winter. Last year one of the two Fife drop-ins provided 600 people with food, clothing and advice. Bethany wants to open another drop-in service in Fife to meet the huge demand.

The Trust estimates the total cost of funding the Care Shelter and a new Fife Drop-in is around £125,000, so targets for tree sales are high; at least 4000 in Edinburgh and 500 in Fife.Caring Christmas Trees customers in 2007 include Prime Minister Gordon Brown, the City of Edinburgh Council, and many Scottish churches, schools and businesses.

The project raised over £40,000 in 2007.

Big Sleep-Out

The Big Sleep-Out is an annual sponsored fundraising event to encourage the community to be active in combating homelessness across Scotland. The Sleep-Out raises awareness about Bethany's work with homeless and vulnerable people by giving participants an idea of what it is like to sleep rough for one night. First held in 2002, the event takes place in Spring in the Edinburgh City Centre.

The Big Sleepout 2008 takes place on Friday 7th of March. http://www.bethanychristiantrust.com/events/index.php

External links

* [http://www.bethanychristiantrust.com Official website]
*Scottish charity|SC003783
* [http://edinburghnews.scotsman.com/edinburgh.cfm?id=2138092005 report in the Scotsman]
*http://www.caringchristmastrees.com