The Guild

Our Guild normally meets in the Session House every second Thursday from October to March from 2-4 pm. The Guild is open to all, men as well as women, and we meet for fellowship, friendship and fun. Our syllabus is always a mixture of music, talks (often about projects we support, both in this country and overseas), demonstrations and presentations. We always have tea and biscuits as well!  This year, because of Covid, we have tried to have more local speakers to minimise travelling time for the speaker.

The Guild nationally was started in 1887 by Rev Dr Archibald Charteris. Today, almost 135 years later, with around 15,000 members, the Guild is one of Scotland’s largest voluntary organisation. Although women make up the bulk of our membership, increasingly, men are becoming members and taking active roles at local and national levels.  When the new national convenor was installed at the gathering this year by her minister it was encouraging to learn that he is also a Guild member.

The Guild motto is “Whose we are and Whom we serve” and members across the years have lived up to this.  The first mention of the Guild in the Session minutes of St Mungo’s was in 1896 when they were thanked for giving cloths for communion to the Church and over the years since then the Guild has contributed a lot both in items donated to the Church and time given to support Church projects.  They also look outwards and have supported Guild projects across the world in recent years and sent ”comfort packages” to troops during the world wars.  This year we have extended the hand of friendship to Ludgate Guild which has restarted with a view to sometimes holding joint meetings perhaps with project speakers.

The old stereotype of Guild meetings is long gone and the guild is prepared to tackle hard issues as well as more fun things. It provides fellowship to those who attend and over the last year efforts have been made to keep in touch with members while we could not meet in person.  Each year the National Convenor sets a Convenor’s Challenge.  Our challenge to you is to try a Guild meeting for yourself!

 

February 2022

Craft Group

The Craft Group normally meets on Monday afternoons between 2 and 4 pm in the Session House at the Church to do craft work and enjoy one another’s company.   We would be happy if you would join us in producing items which can be donated to charity.  This year we are proposing a choice – some we have done before and something different.  There are projects for all abilities – just choose.  We are suggesting that you could knit or crochet twiddlemuffs or twiddle blankets, but you may well have your own ideas for projects.  We have recently been knitting hats for premature babies and these were gratefully received by Forth Valley premature baby unit.

We did Twiddlemuffs a couple of years ago and they were gratefully received by local care homes and community hospitals for people with dementia  The twiddle squares are a new project for us.  They serve the same function as the twiddlemuffs – something to fidget with – but in the form of a knee blanket made up of different squares.  This might be a good starting point if it is a while since you have done any knitting or if this is the first time you have tried.  You may either choose to do a whole blanket or just individual squares which the Craft Group will sew up at a later date.  If you decide to try this project be aware that any decorations must be very securely attached as some patients may think buttons or beads are sweets and try to eat them.  It may be safer to use other types of decorations. and the website link for twiddlemuffs gives ideas.

We hope that you will take part in this project and enjoy producing these items which will bring benefit to others.  We have limited supplies of yarn, so it is best if you bring your own materials.  You are, of course, welcome to work on your own projects.  We are always open to new ideas and if anyone is aware of items which a charity would like, then please let us know.  If you have any questions about the Craft Group, please contact us by using the email address at the bottom of this page.

Sunday School

The Sunday School meets every Sunday during the school term at 11.15am. We have a lively group of children aged from 3 to 11 who participate in bible studies and craft work on various topics from the Bible. If your child attends nursery or primary school and would like to join us please come along on a Sunday morning.

Connect Alloa

Connect Alloa (now known as ‘Connect’) have gone through some changes over the last year but we are as always pushing to make Connect the best service it can be. We were even featured in Youth Scotland’s recent Impact report because of the difference we had made to our community and young people.

Groups were running on a phased return, with one day online and the other 2 being face-to-face however we have recently taken the decision to reduce the online day and focus on moving to running face-to-face on a Tuesday in the near future.

Young people enjoyed our online sessions however there is a need to utilise our time together in our space at St. Mungo’s and keep our online server for certain events, occasions or if we are in a situation where we must go back to online due to the ongoing pandemic.

The Project Leader has been funded until July 2023 and alongside this there has been funding allocated for a Digital Engagement Worker Until October 2022 and a youth worker post until April 2023.

Our Trustee team has changed and now we have team of dedicated individuals who take time out of their already busy schedules to support the growth of Connect, ensuring staff are supported and guided to be the best they can. With some Trustee’s having unfortunately left us – we have found new people in the local area stepping up to help and we have welcomed three new Trustees aboard in the last 6 months.

We are currently looking at volunteer positions we would love to fill, they will support Connect of course but more importantly, they will hopefully benefit local community members who want to build their skills, reduce levels of social isolation, and gain valuable experiences.
The positions we are seeking include Trustee’s for the board and specifically a Treasurer as ours has had to step down very recently unfortunately. We are particularly keen on anyone with finance experience, experience of the Third Sector or youth and community work.
This is by no means an exhaustive list however; all experience will be considered.

We are also looking to recruit for volunteers of the youth groups themselves, funding volunteers who will help us raise funds in these hard times and we would also like to introduce ‘micro-volunteering’. Micro-volunteering can be many things, but it is essentially volunteering on a small scale, remotely or in person and finding something that can be a taster to volunteering with Connect or supporting us in a way we may not have time for.  The hope is that with this, we can support more people who are not ready for a larger commitment or even people who are more comfortable to volunteer from their own home.

If you want to get to know more about Connect you can find us here: www.connectalloa.org.uk or you can find us on all social media platforms by searching ‘connectalloa’.

We support any young person aged between Primary 7 and 19 years old as long as we have a parental or guardian permission form which can be completed here: https://connectalloa.org.uk/join-connect-alloa/

If you have any questions, comments, or queries you can also contact Dave Crozier, Project Leader on 07598247277 or dave@connectalloa.org.uk.

Stay safe & take care,

Dave & The Connect Team
Connect Alloa | SC049028

#WeAppreciateYou’’