Broughton St Mary's Parish Church

23/09/2026

Broughton St Marys is taking part in Doors Open Day this Saturday. Please drop in and see us.

07/09/2026

07/09/2026

For immediate release
Edinburgh, Monday, 7 September 2026

Broughton St Mary's Parish Church is pleased to announce that a new after school club expects to open in the building in January. Bellevue After School Club is being established as a not-for-profit organisation. It has applied to register as a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation, and its application for registration with the Care Inspectorate is in progress. The club will not open its doors at the church until those registrations are complete.

The news comes after a previous after school club provider, Smart Cookies, voluntarily chose to end its tenancy agreement with Broughton St Mary’s Parish Church in early August. Parish church leaders rented hall space to the private limited company at a heavily subsidised rate for 11 years because they recognised there was a community need for an after-schools activity club in the parish. The contract also included free storage space, minimal kitchen charges, no tardy time keeping penalties and no separate charge for wear and tear to the two halls it used. The parish church leadership time were very open to negotiating a new agreement with Smart Cookies, that properly reflected market rental rates, but the company was not in favour.

Bellevue After School Club plans to offer after school care in term time and a holiday club during the school holidays for children from local families. Founder Mary Gater said: "We are grateful to the minister and Kirk Session for the welcome they have given us and for their support in getting the club off the ground. “Their generosity in making the space available on terms that reflect our charitable purpose has made a real difference. “Affordable, reliable after school care makes an enormous difference to working families, and we are looking forward to becoming part of the life of the building and the wider community."

“We are excited about the creation of the Bellevue After School Club, which will meet a significant childcare need for our neighbourhood. Its commitment to working families, parental involvement, and desire to become an active member within our community hub is refreshing,” responded Rev. Laurene Lafontaine, minister at Broughton St Mary’s Church. “We look forward to working together to provide engaging opportunities for the families and children in our neighbourhood.”

Families interested in registering their interest can contact the club at www.bellevue-asc.co.uk. Further details, including session times and fees, will be published once registration is confirmed.

Media contacts:
Ian Buckingham, session clerk, Broughton St. Mary’s Church, [email protected]
Rev. Laurene Lafontaine, minister, [email protected]

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A new after school club for Broughton families, opening January 2027.

29/08/2026

Rt Rev Gordon Kennedy, the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, has shared a prayer in response to the deadly flash floods which devastated parts of Nepal and Tibet earlier this week.

The Church of Scotland has well established links with Nepal, opening its first mission station in the region in the 1870s, and later as one of the founders of the inter-denominational United Mission to Nepal (UMN) in 1954.

Mr Kennedy said:
God of grace and mercy,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
We depend upon your grace,
We plead for your mercy.

Be quickly at work for the people of Nepal.

Following the tragic flooding in Nepal,
We pray for all who are bereaved,
that they will know your comfort.
We pray for all who are injured,
that they will know your healing.
We pray for all who have lost homes and whole communities,
that they will be upheld in your strong hands.

We pray for all those working to provide aid for those in need,
Clean water and sustaining food,
Safe shelter and warm clothing,
A hand to hold and someone to cry with.

Be with all those agencies working to support and care for all who are in need.

Give us generous hearts to give what we can,
Give us praying hearts to hold the people of Nepal before you,
Give us hearts broken with your love for your people.

God of grace and mercy,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
Be powerfully at work in Nepal,
Do your sovereign work of grace and mercy,
We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

United Mission to Nepal is responding to the crisis by working with partner agencies to provide essential food and other urgently needed supplies to families in the badly affected Dhading and Rasuwa Districts.

UMN initially hopes to support some 1,000 families affected by the disaster.

Donations can be made through UMN’s TrustBridge giving page: https://givingspace.trustbridgeglobal.com/project/1383517f-f6ab-431f-8b83-4ff1a3919b6e/eng/summary

Other agencies, including Christian Aid Scotland, British Red Cross and UNICEF UK have also launched appeals for support.

29/08/2026

When our eyes are graced with wonder, the world reveals its wonders to us. There are people who see only dullness in the world and that is because their eyes have already been dulled. So much depends on how we look at things. The quality of our looking determines what we come to see. Too often we squander the invitations extended to us because our looking has become repetitive and blind. The mystery and beauty is all around us but we never manage to see it. When the imagination awakens, the inner world illuminates. We begin to glimpse things that no-one speaks about, that the outer world seems to ignore.

JOHN O'DONOHUE

Excerpt from the books, Beauty: The Invisible Embrace (US) / Divine Beauty (Europe)
Ordering Info: https://johnodonohue.com/store

Cottage Window, County Clare, Ireland
Photo: © Ann Cahill

23/08/2026

Recognise either of these sladairs? The first guy in the hat stole the rope used to cordon off a loose step covered in safety tape at church Saturday night. The second guy in the yellowish shirt stoled the traffic cones on the step on Tuesday. Both safety measures as we await the repair of our steps. Geez.... 😠

20/08/2026

Read the full story -

https://www.churchofscotland.org.uk/news-and-events/news/articles/church-leaders-welcome-new-1million-listed-buildings-repair-fund

20/08/2026

Excellent article

Former archbishop of Canterbury also has ‘awkward questions’ for activist Tommy Robinson on his claimed faith

20/08/2026

Please join us for our second annual neighbourhood Potluck Picnic!

04/06/2026

Official Statement 🙏🏽