SPRED GALLOWAY
A Ministry of Friendship
Gill Sherry
In this special ‘friendship’ issue of Ayrshire Magazine, it seems appropriate to feature an organisation that lists friendship as one of its three core values – the others being inclusion and belonging.
SPRED originated in Chicago, made its way to our Scottish shores, and in 1998, finally arrived in the Diocese of Galloway – hence SPRED Galloway was born. It is specifically designed for those with learning difficulties and now has three Groups in Ayrshire: Ayr, Kilmarnock and Stevenston.
Hugh McGuire, ex-principal teacher of Religious Education at Ayr’s Queen Margaret Academy, is the coordinator for SPRED Galloway. He explains that SPRED stands for Special Religious Education and points out that all faiths (and none) are welcome.
So, what can people expect at one of the Group sessions?
“People are welcomed and then we have a little activity… to give them time to quietly engage in something. Then we gather in a circle and I welcome people by name. We then sing… using gestures. Since our Friends have special needs, including some with autism, we have an object that they can feel or touch. Then we have a very short reading from the Gospel followed by a simple message like Jesus loves you, and then we sing again. We finish with sharing news and food.”
Hugh confirms once again that anybody of any faith (or none at all) is welcome, pointing out that a number of SPRED’s members are not Catholic, even though it is true that Catholicism is the foundation on which the organisation is based.
Needless to say, as a registered charity, fundraising is very important.
“One of our main contributors is the actual Galloway Diocese itself, they give us a grant. We also do certain fundraising events like having a stall at South Ayrshire’s Summer Family Fest. We did a sponsored walk and we’ve had carol singing in the shopping centre in Ayr. We’re always on the lookout to find out what sources of funding are available.”
But the organisation’s priority is always its Friend members.
“It’s very much about friendship, and we recognise that people with learning difficulties have spiritual needs as well as physical needs, so it’s a holistic thing. We look at the whole person. Those who volunteer as Faith Friends also get so much out of it.”
Hugh encourages anybody who may be interested to get in touch via the website: www.spredgalloway.org.
Application forms are available online to become a Friend, or a Faith Friend. There is no fee to join but the relevant Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG) checks will, of course, be carried out for those who wish to become Faith Friends.
To conclude, Hugh informs me of a quote from one very happy Friend member: “If I’ve had a bad day, SPRED helps me forget about anything bad that’s happened. The one thing I’ve learned by being a Friend at SPRED is that we are all Jesus’ special friends.”
