Our ‘Toastie Thursdays’ project, jointly delivered by Craigsbank and the Old Parish, has made the headlines and now the success of the project has been introduced to MSPs in the debating hall of the Scottish Parliament.
On 25 September, the Rev Moira McDonald, told MSPs from all parties of the success of the initiative which has seen more than 16,000 toasties served to local secondary school pupils over the last two years. The community has pulled together to offer around 300 pupils the regular chance to attend Toastie Thursday at Craigsbank Parish Church.
Moira said that Toastie Thursday is the highlight of the week for many people:
“For the pupils who enjoy the food, the fresh air and the break from school,” she added.
“For the staff at Craigmount who feel the busyness of the school easing a little as pupils disappear to the church hall.
“For the parents who normally provide packed lunches but find they don’t need to on Thursdays, although they do have to find £2 from the back of the sofa.
“For the toastie makers and servers, volunteers who have bonded over the challenges of serving 300 teenagers and discovered friendships and possibilities in the process.
“Friendships and possibilities that are reflected in the relationships formed between the pupils and the volunteers, in the relationship between the churches and the school, and with our local shops and supermarkets where we buy the supplies.”
Craigsbank Parish Church and the Old Parish Church are partnering on a project with our local Craigmount High School and Christian youth workers from Young Life International to offer a very affordable lunch option in a welcoming environment to the pupils. We are now offering this on Thursday afternoons over the school’s lunch break.
A similar project has developed over a few years as the ‘Liberton Northfield Toastie Tuesday’ lunch club, which serves toasties, a cookie and a drinks can to schoolchildren for £1 every Tuesday of term time. They have served more than 100,000 toasties since they started a few years ago. An outcome from the project is a well-established youth ministry amongst the local churches.
We will be running a similar project on Thursdays from this week, 27 October. The price of the lunch is £1.50, with free fruit if we can. The main aim is to offer Christian hospitality to the children in the parish high school. The catchphrase for the Toastie Tuesdays at present is ‘The best welcome of the week’.
We need your prayers and a few volunteers to help in the kitchen and ‘front of house’ – welcoming, chatting and serving the food. We plan to use the Craigsbank kitchen and large hall, recognising that it will be tweaked and improved as the weeks progress. There was a very successful training and first public session held on Thursday 13 October, when we served some 30 pupils.
Craigmount has two 40 minute-long lunchtimes, juniors at 12:20 and seniors at 13:10. If we offer it for both lunchtimes it will practically mean starting preparation around 11.00am and closing up at around 2.00pm. The pilot scheme will run through the autumn school term and then we will review it for 2023.
If you are interested or would like to volunteer (even if just once or twice a month) then please contact Alan Childs or the church office.
