Aberlour marks its 150th Anniversary
'We have done so much but so much needs to be done'
Aberlour, celebrated its 150th milestone anniversary at a special event at the National Museum of Scotland, in Edinburgh, last night [THURSDAY 11 SEPTEMBER], said its lifeline support for young people is needed now as much as ever.
Guests, including first minister John Swinney, hailed the organisation which has grown from a tiny orphanage in Morayshire to deliver care and support to children and families across Scotland.
Chief executive SallyAnn Kelly OBE said the anniversary was an opportunity to look back on how far the charity has come and ahead to what remains to be done. She said:
It is a milestone but a staging post too because, even after a century and a half, our journey is far from over.
How we offer care, support and love to children in need has been transformed over the years but why we do it, and why we need to, has not changed at all.
The charity’s roots stretch back to 1875 when Canon Charles Jupp opened an orphanage for just four boys in Burnside Cottage, Aberlour. That small house expanded to become a far bigger orphanage nearby before it closed in 1967.
Since then the charity, named after the village where it began, has become one of Scotland’s most enduring and impactful organisations in the Third Sector and across Scotland’s public life, offering life-changing residential care and frontline support services for children across the country.
Kelly, who will stand down this year after 11 years as chief executive, said:
Much of our history should be celebrated and all of it should be remembered.
Our ultimate ambition is that Scotland’s children will no longer need us but we are, sadly, a long way from there.
Far too many of our young people still have childhoods and futures curtailed by poverty and our country still squanders far too much talent and potential.
Children growing up in Scotland today face the same challenges as they did 150 years ago and we must do more to lift their families out of poverty and keep them there.
That is our challenge and it could not be more urgent or important.
The charity, with around 700 staff and 400 volunteers, delivers support across Scotland and has become one of the strongest, most campaigning voices for children and their families.
Aberlour chair David Robb hailed the charity’s team and said the organisation’s skills, commitment, and innovation had delivered many landmark achievements and services. He said:
Fittingly, from our staff and board members to our volunteers and donors, Aberlour has the strength of a family.
We are family, have been for 150 years, and will be for many more to come. There will be challenges but we will overcome. Our work is too important not to.
First minister John Swinney opened the event when he said the eradication of child poverty is the priority of the Scottish Government and hailed Aberlour as key partners. He said:
Fundamentally, every child has “the right to grow up and flourish in society, notwithstanding the origins of their birth". It is not only Aberlour’s mission – it is a national mission for us all.
I have made the eradication of child poverty the foremost priority of my administration This is the duty we owe to the next generation. It is also the greatest possible economic and social investment we as a nation can make in our shared future.
Aberlour has always been a key contributor to our work, and I am immeasurably grateful to them for longstanding partnership and collaboration.
Scotland Office Minister Kirsty McNeill, who also spoke at the event, is a member of the UK Child Poverty Taskforce and shares the ambition of Aberlour to ease and improve the lives of children.
She said the UK Government is also committed to improving the lives and life chances of children growing up in poverty through the work of the Child Poverty Taskforce. She said:
I look forward to continuing to work with Aberlour and others in Scotland's magnificent Third Sector as we improve the lives of families, giving every child a fairer start and enabling them to realise their potential.