Organisation of Aberdeen Kirks
From the Summer 2010 "Messenger"
O.A.K. had a very successful Special Lunch in April in aid of the Aberdeen Branch of The Diabetic Association. We had a very happy time and it was the first time our tickets have been completely sold out. Our after lunch speaker was Dr K McHardy who made a very witty talk and gave us lots of information on how to keep the side effects of diabetes at bay. Our grateful thanks go to all the staff that coped with the full house and made serving 100 people look very easy.
We hope to keep the cafe open during the summer holiday months so any extra help of a few hours per week or month would be appreciated, just speak to Daphne or Betty or come and see us one morning.
As we start to decide how we are to pack our holiday suitcases O.A.K. comes along to remind us that they will be packing shoeboxes again this year. Anyone who would like to donate a Christmas gift, which will be sent to Eastern Europe by The New Hope Trust, should deliver it to The O.A.K. Cafe before 31st October 2010. This will give us a little time for packing and transportation.
Our O.A.K. Evening Services continue on the second Sunday of each month at Crown Terrace Methodist Church at 6.30pm. A warm welcome is assured for all who come along.
We hope you all have a happy summer and an enjoyable holiday.
Betty & Malcolm Steel
From the Spring 2010 "Messenger"
O.A.K. had a very successful Special Lunch in February in aid of Crossroads Care, Scotland and look forward to our next one on 8th April in aid of Aberdeen Diabetic Association, and on 20th May in aid of The Jennifer Trust. Our thanks go to all our staff and customers for all the support we receive for these special events and day by day at the cafe.
Our thanks go also to The Acclamations for leading us in The Songs of Praise at the O.A.K. Evening Service in Crown Terrace Methodist Church which proved to be a very uplifting experience.
We were all saddened by the death of Miss Cecilia Gordon. Cecilia was a very loyal worker in the kitchen for the lunches in Langstane Church and then at the O.A.K. Cafe. We will miss her quiet unassuming presence.
Our Evening Services continue at Crown Terrace Methodist Church on the second Sunday of each month at 6.30pm. Everyone is assured of a warm welcome.
We wish you all a very Blessed Easter.
Betty & Malcolm Steel
OAK's charitable distributions for 2009 didn't make the Spring magazine as planned but they can be seen here and will appear in the Summer "Messenger".
| We have made the following donations in 2009 | |
| DEC Congo Crisis Appeal | £400 |
| DEC Gaza Fund | £400 |
| DEC Sumatra Appeal | £200 |
| The Archie Foundation | £1,000 |
| The Archie Foundation | £600 |
| Rugut Family Fund (c/o Queen Street Church) | £250 |
| Sue Ryder Care Scotland | £600 |
| Mpachika Church Malawi | £65 |
| Presbytery of Aberdeen Malawi Water Fund | £1,000 |
| VSA Aberdeen | £500 |
| Grampian Research in Orthopedics | £1,000 |
| Earl Haig Fund | £350 |
| Teal Charity Ball | £100 |
| Scottish Bible Society | £1,000 |
| Cogwheel Trust | £725 |
| New Hope Trust (for Shoebox Transportation) | £300 |
| Ghana Fund (c/o Crown Terrace Methodist Church) | £400 |
| Big Issue Meal (for Hospitality) | £120 |
| TOTAL | £9,010 |
| A big thank you to all who have helped us in this work | |
| Malcolm Steel, Treasurer |
From the Autumn 2009 "Messenger"
We hope you have all enjoyed you summer and that you had good weather if you were on “staycation”. Our staff worked hard to keep the Cafe open during the summer months for which we are very grateful.
Any new volunteers would be most welcome. (Just a few hours per week or per month) Speak to Daphne or Betty for more information.
Now that we have started in the new session our thoughts turn to Christmas. Yes, already! Once more we will be having a Shoebox Appeal and would welcome any donations for the boxes. These can be delivered to the Church on Sundays or at the O.A.K. Cafe on Monday to Friday. Our closing date for donations is the end of October which allows time for packing and transporting. Once more they will be going to Eastern Europe by way of The New Hope Trust, Peterhead.
A number of O.A.K. staff have attended The Royal Environmental Health Institute of Scotland course of food hygiene and gained their certificate. Well Done.
Our next Special meal will be on Thursday 12th November 2009 in aid of The Scottish Bible Society whose work in translation help Christians to have a bible in their local language.
Our Christmas Lunches will be on 16th & 17th December, 2009.
We continue to welcome new customers to the Cafe and would also welcome new members to the congregation at the O.A.K. Evening Services which are held at Crown Terrace Methodist Church on the Second Sunday of each month at 6.30pm.
Malcolm A Steel
September 2009 Special Lunch
On Thursday 3 September we held one of our special lunches as a fund raiser for GRO (Grampian Research in Orthopaedics) which was, as usual very well attended. We were joined by Orthopaedic Surgeon and Researcher, Mr Paddy Ashcroft and Research Nurse Winifred Culey. Mr Ashcroft delivered an amusing and informative talk on the development of joint replacement techniques. ARI is one of the country's largest teaching hospitals and Grampian is at the forfront of research into orthopaedics. OAK and its customers helped advance that research by way of a £1,000 donation which was presented to Mr Ashcroft by Jennifer Watson who earlier this year benefited personally from knee replacement surgery overseen by GRO.
Photographs from the lunch can be seen here.
From the Summer 2009 "Messenger"
Although O.A.K. does not normally raise money through Coffee Mornings a large crowd supported us when we held an “Afternoon Tea in the Morning” in aid of The Archie Foundation. Our waiters and waitresses helped us to turn the clock back by wearing black and white 'uniforms' with white tops and black trousers or skirts with our waiters resplendent in their bow ties.
Our Special Lunch at the beginning of May was in aid of water pumps in Malawi and we had Rev John Watson as guest speaker. It seems only yesterday that John started the small group which became O.A.K. and has grown to be a very successful Cafe along with our other activities. As John looks forward to retiral from St Mark's we wish him and Jennifer a long Happy and Healthy Retirement.
At the end of May we joined our friends at Crown Terrace Methodist Church as they celebrated 250 years of Methodism in the North East of Scotland.
Our next Special Lunch is on 25th June and is in aid of VSA. We look forward to seeing you and wish you all a happy holiday season.
Malcolm A Steel
From the Easter 2009 "Messenger"
We were very happy to welcome all our customers back after the Christmas holiday, and are pleased to see a number of new faces. We are happy to have a few new staff joining us but as we are becoming busier we would welcome more. If you could spare a morning per week or fortnight have a word with Betty or Daphne or come along and see what we do.
In February we had a fund raising lunch for the Archie Foundation which was well attended. Mr Peter Hutchison from the Foundation came along and told us a little of their work trying to make Hospitals and GMED centres more child friendly. Our next Special Lunch is on Thursday 7th May when the proceeds will go to the Presbytery of Aberdeen appeal to install water wells and piped water to villages in Malawi. We look forward to seeing many of our friends then.
The O.A.K. Evening Services continue to be held on the second Sunday of each month at Crown Terrace Methodist Church at 6.30pm. A large congregation turned out on St David's Day to sing praises with a Welsh theme, and with the aid of The Acclamations, made a most uplifting evening.
We look forward to seeing you at some of the Easter Celebrations and wish you The Blessings of Easter.
Malcolm A Steel
From the Christmas 2008 "Messenger"
O.A.K. has been very busy in the last quarter of the year. We have had a Special Fundraising Lunch for The Scottish Bible Society and preparations for the Christmas Lunches on 10th and 11th December as well as our daily lunches. The Cafe will be closed from 15th December 2008, reopening on 5th January 2009. We wish to thank all our staff for the dedicated work which has kept the Cafe open and growing over the past year.
Our customers and Church members have been very generous again this year in giving to the Shoebox Appeal. We hope to fill about 250 boxes which will be transported to Eastern Europe by The New Hope Trust. Thank you all for your donations.
The O.A.K. evening services continue on the second Sunday of each month in Crown Terrace Methodist Church at 6.30pm. The service for March is being held on the first Sunday which happens to be 1st March, St David's Day. The Acclamations will be joining us for an evening Songs of Praise with a Welsh Theme. All are welcome to join us in singing Praise to God.
We wish you all a Very Happy Christmas and a Blessed New Year and look forward to seeing you in 2009.
Malcolm A Steel
OAK CAFÉ
We have made the following donations in 2008
|
Crown Terrace Methodist Church Mission in Ghana |
£1,000 |
| Total Donations | £8,370 |
Malcolm A Steel
OAK Treasurer
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