Our Supporters and Friends
Our lodestone Scripture for many decades has been Matthew 25:40, where Jesus told His disciples, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’ What a huge privilege!
Friends and supporters play a vital part in our ministry. They give up their time and energy to organise fund-raising events and make the Society better known among churches in their region. Every summer the country is dotted with their sponsored walks, bicycle rides, fetes and sales of work, and every winter there are musical evenings, winter fayres, and a whole range of activities. The winter sales fayre in Yorkshire has become an important part of the local calendar, with people queuing up outside long before the doors open.
Being old affects everybody – the sandwich generation and the young, as well as the old. According to the 2001 Census, in 1951 there were 0.2 million people aged 85 and over ; by 2001 this had grown to just over 1.1 million (2% of the total population), and for the first time there are more people aged over 60 than under 16. One in four older people will need help with living, and one in four over the age of eighty will develop dementia. Estimates are that 750,000 people in the UK currently suffer from dementia – 18,000 of them under the age of 65. Dementia affects 1 in 20 over the age of 65 and 1 in 5 over the age of 80. The Bible talks about ‘sowing and reaping’, and in supporting our work, it could be said that you may be investing in your own future. Because one day, God willing, you will be old yourself and it may be that you will need residential care, or sheltered accommodation. As a committed Christian, you too, may want the loving care and Christian ethos that our schemes provide.
Psalm 90:10 & 12 - ‘The days of our lives are 70 years; and if by reason of strength they are 80 years, yet their boast is only labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away. So teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom’
Perhaps, as you number your days, you could include our ministry. We welcome supporters from every denomination, all over the country You can see a list of our support groups, called Auxiliaries in the menu on the right. If you do not live near one of our existing groups, why not consider starting your own, or becoming an individual supporter or member?
‘The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree; he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Those who are planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bear fruit in old age; they shall be fresh and flourishing,’ Psalm 92:12–14