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...and help us to build a new mental
wellbeing facility right here in Aberdeen
VSA GEARING UP FOR 150
th
ANNIVERSARY YEAR
ormerly known as Aberdeen
Association of Social Services,
VSA is a social care charity that
provides crucial support to a range of
different areas like children and families,
adults and community, education and
learning, carers support, and behavioural
support.
Explaining the organisation’s diversity,
Director of External Relations, Jennifer
Mitchell told SCRUM: “At VSA, we support
a person’s physical, mental, and social
wellbeing by delivering a range of residential
and outreach support services.
“We’re the full spectrum of social care,
right from when a baby takes its first breath
through until an older person takes their
dying breath.
“We’re so broad ranging in the services that
we deliver that we aim to tackle anything
from complex learning needs to mental
health diagnoses, loneliness and isolation to
people living in poverty and with addiction.”
This support is vital to the local community,
with VSA supporting over 10,000
Aberdonians over the course of last year,
while their fundraising efforts provide a
significant boost to supporting a range of
social care charities.
“We’re a pivotal part of the community,
and to think that we started in 1870 with
£10, to be where we are now is absolutely
phenomenal,” Jennifer said.
“For every one pound that we raise or that
is donated to VSA, 95p goes to charitable
activities and incentives in and around
Aberdeen, so the ratio between the
donation and the actual funds raised is
incredible.
“We’ve been here for over 140 years and
we’re working to make sure that the charity
will still be here in 100 years time, doing
the same important work for the local
community.”
Next year, though, will perhaps be one of
the charity’s most significant years to date,
as VSA marks its 150th year in operation.
And they will do so in emphatic style
by throwing their Changing Lives Ball
at Balmoral Castle, the Queen’s private
residence in Royal Deeside, which is set to
be attended by over 600 people.
“When we were first founded, Queen Victoria
was the patron of our charity, and ever since,
the reigning monarch has continued this
patronage,” Jennifer explained.
“Now Her Majesty has given us exclusive
permission to host our Changing Lives Ball
at Balmoral Castle, and that’s something very
special and very unique because they rarely
allow events like this to be held there.
“We’re very much gearing up to that now,
and we’re hoping that the event can help
us raise money for a new mental wellbeing
facility right in the heart of Aberdeen - £3.2
million to be exact!”
But while this may seem like an ambitious
target, VSA have already made a significant
dent in this figure, having raised an
impressive £2.3 million towards the cause.Jennifer, however, was keen to stress that
“there was still some way to go,” and, indeed,
the charity are currently appealing for public
donations.
The new build, name Abergeldie House, will
be tailored towards those who have recently
been diagnosed with mental illnesses, and
it will aim to care for them as they come to
terms with living with a mental illness, before
working to help them live on their own once
again.For more information:
01224 212 021, [email protected]
or http://www.vsa.org.ukF
Established in 1870 by two previous Lord Provosts of Aberdeen as a charity for the
poor, VSA has grown and grown, and now approaches a landmark year
Jennifer Mitchell,
VSA Director of External Relations146 • WWW.SCRUMMAGAZINE.COM • ISSUE 116 2019
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