A special year for Anna Chaplaincy - thank you for helping us towards our target!

Debbie Ducille set herself the challenge of raising five thousand pounds through her sponsored walk in aid of Anna Chaplaincy's special anniversary. As you can see, as of today October 2, she's almost three quarters of the way there!

This is a special year for anniversaries at BRF Ministries as a whole. 2024 marks the 20th anniversary of Messy Church as well as the 10th anniversary of Anna Chaplaincy joining BRF Ministries. We celebrate with deep thankfulness all that God has done, and is doing, through these ministries, and all who are involved with them. Please join with us as we pray for renewed vision and inspiration as we look to the future.

Debbie Ducille and Kate Arden-White

Meanwhile, Debbie and her walking companion Kate have nursed their blisters and sore shoulders by now, having completed their 65-mile trek from Alton, Hampshire (where Anna Chaplaincy began) to the BRF offices in Abingdon, Oxfordshire. To mark their arrival on Friday September 20 a service was held in the town's Peachcroft Christian Centre.

'I gave a sense of the timeline of Anna Chaplaincy since its inception in 2010, when I became the first such chaplain, 'writes Anna Chaplaincy Pioneer Debbie Thrower. Debbie (Ducille) my successor as Ministry Lead was warmly thanked by BRF's Head of Marketing, Communications and Strategic Relationships, Karen Laister, as staff, chaplains and other supporters joined in an informal, heartfelt, act of worship to celebrate the walkers' achievements and ten years of Anna ministry among older people across the UK.

Revd Glynis Beckett reflected on her care home ministry in the local area and we sang for joy at all that has been achieved in aid of older people so far.

Marian Muskett, Anna Chaplaincy team coordinator, led moving prayers for those who have built up Anna Chaplaincy over the past decade and for all who receive such welcome spiritual and emotional support in their later years.

Do read other blogs describing how all sorts of people joined in the walk alongside Debbie and Kate as they wound their way - over six days when, thankfully, there was no rain - through villages and the countryside, along canal paths and by rivers, and even leading a Messy Vintage session in a care home along the route!

'Many thanks indeed for the generosity of all of you who have helped celebrate our anniversary by boosting the total on the sponsored walk's Just Giving page If you have not already done so, it is not too late to add your own contribution and help take us to the £5000 dream total!' Debbie Thrower

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