Tamsyn Radmall and Rosie Campbell share updates, encouragements and prayer points related to Home for Good’s work across Scotland.

We have had a great couple of months as Tamsyn has continued to settle-in to her role as Scotland Lead and as we have engaged with churches and individuals throughout Scotland.

Church engagement and connections

We really enjoyed our time with church leaders from the Baptist Union at the end of September, where we explored how churches can provide a place of welcome and belonging for care-experienced children and young people, as well as the families who care for them. In a second seminar, Advisory Group member Amie Aitken – herself a Baptist Church leader – offered some insights and teaching around trauma-informed preaching.

We have had opportunities to attend church conferences and events, which are great opportunities to make connections while increasing the presence and awareness of Home for Good. At the start of October, Rosie represented Home for Good at the Scottish Vineyard Leadership Conference in Aberdeen and just last weekend, she attended the Glorious Women’s conference, also in Aberdeen.

We have loved meeting with church leaders and with enthusiastic individuals who want their churches to engage more actively with the work and vision of Home for Good. As part of this, we have seen a number of new volunteers sign-up to join our network in Scotland.

Guilds and speaking engagements

Since mid-September, we have spoken at 25 Church of Scotland Guilds across the country, connecting in with new churches and reestablishing links with existing communities. We have now extended our relationship with the Guilds and Home for Good will therefore be one of the key Guild projects until the end of 2024. This means that we are able to engage with more churches and raise further financial support to extend our work in Scotland.

Scotland Advisory Group

As many of you will be aware, Home for Good’s work in Scotland has benefited from the input and guidance of a group of passionate, gifted individuals who are committed to helping Home for Good to grow and make a difference within Scotland. Since starting in post, Tamsyn has met each of the group members individually and we recently gathered online for one of our quarterly meetings. In addition to these meetings together, each group member has been considering how they might draw on their own expertise and skills to work with Tamsyn on particular aspects of our work in Scotland. We are incredibly thankful for Kay, Amie, Fionna and Graeme.

We also want to pay tribute to Andy Bathgate, who was an active member of the Scotland Advisory Group right up to his recent, sudden and very sad passing. Andy was a constant source of wisdom and encouragement to the Home for Good team in Scotland and he will be greatly missed.

Foundations

We are helping to run a six-week foundations course – when? This six-week, online course is a great space to develop a deeper understanding of fostering, adoption and supportive lodging. Whether you are exploring opening up your home or you just want to grow in your ability to play a supportive role, we’d encourage you to find out more and sign up for one of the courses.

Looking ahead

Tamsyn is currently working with a few others on shaping a strategy for our work in Scotland over the next few years as well as exploring some funding opportunities. Please do pray for this planning work over the coming weeks.

We have just a few more Guild Speaking engagements before the Christmas break and then the programme resumes in January. We would dearly love a couple more volunteers to help deliver these presentations, so do please get in touch if you would be willing to play your part in this way.

We are in the process of setting up new peer support groups, planning conferences for the spring term and looking ahead to summer festivals. And, as always, we are keen to connect with individuals and churches who want to explore their part in finding and sustaining homes for children and young people who need them.

A promise of hope

Are we allowed to start talking about Christmas yet?

Maybe you’re one of those people who can’t bear to think about carols and Christmas trees before the beginning of December – at least. Or maybe you’ve had ideas for your church’s Christmas activities buzzing around your head since July.

Here at Home for Good, we’d place ourselves somewhere in the middle; for the past few months, we’ve been dreaming up and creating a brand new, all-age Christmas resource for this year.

We’re delighted to tell you that our Christmas resources are ready – and we’d love to offer them to you as a gift.

Receive our Christmas resources

A promise of hope includes a brand new video, some inspiration for a talk or sermon, congregational prayers and activities for children and youth groups. We would love to invite you to use some or all of the package this Christmas in your carol service, Christmas morning service or at another occasion in the lead-up to Christmas. You can sign up now to view and download them using our short and simple form.

We hope that the video, prayers, ideas and activities included will be a blessing, offering a new way for your church family to engage with the Christmas story and be inspired to respond – to bring a thrill, a glimmer, a promise of hope to someone who needs it.

The resource pack is totally free; a gift from us to your church community. But we can only continue inspiring and equipping churches with the support of amazing people like you. Could you consider ‘paying it forward’ and taking a special collection this Christmas so that more churches can receive our resources for free and help to find more safe, stable and loving homes for children who need them? If you’d like to chat more about this, you can chat to our fundraising team directly about a Christmas offering at [email protected].

What can I be praying for?

We would love you to stand with us in prayer as we continue to work to find a home for every child who needs one in Scotland.

• Pray for the conferences, events and speaking engagements, including the Guilds – that through these opportunities, many individuals and churches would be inspired to join with Home for Good and play their part in finding homes.
• Pray for the work being done with strategic planning and with funding applications. Pray that God would guide and bless Tamsyn and those with whom she is working on these things.
• Pray for the volunteer network in Scotland – that it would grow in size and in impact
• Pray for the Scotland Advisory Group, that they would know God’s blessing as they help shape and support the work of Home for Good.
• Pray for Rosie and Tamsyn, that their work would be fruitful and that God would use them to inspire and bless others.

Check out our prayer resource, Let’s pray, for additional thoughts, inspiration and points to guide your prayers.

Are there any events happening soon that I can attend?

Head over to our Scotland page to find out what is happening in the area and find all the local support groups.

Take me there

How do I get in touch with a member of the Home for Good team in Scotland?

Rosie Campbell heads up Home for Good's work in Scotland and she would love to hear from you! You can contact them through the buttons below.

Email Rosie