The Charities

Aberdeen Foyer is a successful local charitable organisation working to prevent and alleviate youth homelessness and unemployment in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire.  We provide supported accommodation to young people who are homeless or at risk where they live, access to a range of learning, training, employment opportunities and community health services for young people and their communities.

Aberdeen Foyer provides supported tenancies for young people aged 16 - 25 across 6 sites; Aberdeen (2), Peterhead, Fraserburgh, Banchory and Stonehaven working with over 80 tenants at any one time.

Aberdeen Foyer's holistic approach recognises that homelessness and disadvantage is not just a matter of providing a home but necessitates addressing many of the underlying causes and critically providing the individual with the means of gaining and sustaining employment. This integrated approach allows tenants and programme participants to take the next steps towards independent living, learning and work.

In addition we have a trading company, Foyer Enterprise that consists of the Foyer Restaurant Gallery, the Foyer Restaurant Café Bar at His Majesty's Theatre, Foyer Graphics, Roadwise Driver Training and Foyer Works, a property maintenance initiative. These businesses generate income to support the work of Aberdeen Foyer, provide an interface with the wider community and offer training employment opportunities for young people.

www.aberdeenfoyer.com

Befriend A Child is Aberdeen’s own and Scotland’s oldest, befriending service for deprived and vulnerable children. The charity was founded by Aberdonians, is run by Aberdonians and operates for Aberdonians. Befriend A Child began life in 1975 in direct response to the needs of children and young people in Aberdeen who were identified as suffering or at risk.

The aims of the scheme were – and have remained – to relieve distress, promote welfare and advance the education of children in Aberdeen through a befriending service.

By providing an adult role model, the child experiences reliability, caring and trust which in turn combine to improve their confidence, social skills and help give them the solid grounding required to grow into mature, responsible adults.

In 1991, Befriend A Child became a registered charity and in 2002, became independent of the Aberdeen Children’s Panel.

More recently, the charity became an Approved Service Provider for Aberdeen City Council Social Work in 2006, and in February 2007, gained the status of Approved Provider Standards for Mentoring and Befriending with Befriending Network Scotland (BNS) and the Mentoring and Befriending Foundation.

www.befriendachild.org.uk

Rotary is a worldwide organisation of business and professional leaders that provides humanitarian service, encourages high ethical standards in all vocations, and helps build goodwill and peace in the world. Approximately 1.2 million Rotarians belong to more than 30,000 clubs in more than 160 countries.

Founded in Chicago in 1905 as the world’s first volunteer service organisation Rotary quickly expanded round the globe and is now the world's largest service organisation for business and professional people of any age, sex and ethnic background.

The Rotary Foundation is the charitable trust fund of Rotary International. Its mission  is to enable Rotarians to advance world understanding, goodwill and peace through the improvement of health, the support of education and the alleviation of poverty. The Rotary Foundation is supported solely by voluntary contributions from Rotarians and friends of the Foundation who share its vision of a better world.

On 21st January 2009 Rotary International, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and the British and German governments committed more than $630 million in new funds to fight polio, a crippling and sometimes fatal disease that still paralyzes children in parts of Africa and Asia and threatens children everywhere. The Gates Foundation is awarding a $255 million challenge grant to Rotary, which Rotary will match with $100 million raised by its members over the next three years. As a spearheading partner in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI), Rotary’s chief role is fundraising, advocacy and mobilizing volunteers.

www.rotary-ribi.org and www.rotary.org