Rev Nico Weeber has been invited to preach at St Andrew’s Scots Kirk as sole nominee for the position of Minister at our Church. The plan is that he will preach on Sunday 5th December and those members present at Church on that day will be able to vote as whether to accept him as their future Minister.
Mission Projects at St. Andrew's Scots Kirk
Netherlee Cottage
Sinhala new year celebrations with past residents of netherlee
SASK ministers, residents of netherlee and buddhika from the netherlee mgt team
Netherlee residents with netherlee mgt team and friends
Ex residents of netherlee who have moved to the community house
Doctors and nurses from mulleriyawa visit netherlee cottage
Sinhala new year fancy dress competition won by ex resident of netherlee cottage
Sinhala new year games, who has the most puff
Sinhala new year games, lime and spoon race
Sinhala new year games, locating the elephants eye whilst blindfolded
Manic donated lunch to the team with lots of smiles
Netherlee residents taking a day out at kelantan temple
The Netherlee Cottage Project was started in 2005 with a donation from Netherlee Parish Church in Glasgow to celebrate their 75th Anniversary. It is a family house located in a suburb of Colombo owned by St Andrew’s Scots Kirk, Colombo, a congregation of the Church of Scotland. The residents are 6 ladies who were patients in a mental health hospital. The ladies are now living and working in the community and a joy to be with.
Netherlee Cottage is a development centre to reintroduce patients from Muleriyawa Mental Hospital back into society. This is a unique facility in Sri Lanka. Many of these patients have been in the Hospital for over 20 years , it has been their home and their families do not wish to know them. They are not familiar with making choices of what they eat or wear, two items amongst many everyday decisions we all make without any thought.
The residents are encouraged to follow any particular interests they may have to develop their individuality and any faiths which they wish to pursue. Some of the residents enjoy a monthly visit to the local Buddhist Temple where they meet with their friends. Development of the right to choose is paramount and always respected.
The Cottage is managed on a daily basis by our two House Mothers. They follow a rota system of work. Whilst on shift they live with the residents at the Cottage and are on duty 24 hours per day.
Support Netherlee Cottage
Bank: National Development Bank
Account name: St. Andrew’s Church
Current account no: 101000130258
Swift Code: NDBSLKLX
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Ward 8
Church members from St Andrew’s have visited and supported the patients in Ladies Ward 8 (previously ward 19) at Mulleriyawa Mental Hospital on a monthly basis for over 30 years. The visits began at the time of Minister Julian MacKnight and despite some years of less activity, the relationship continues today. Recent years have seen the renovation of the beds and the bathrooms, supply of new mattresses and a television and painting the ward. Each month, essential toiletries and other necessities, together with a special lunch and snacks are provided.
As well as providing music, song, dance and refreshments every month, St Andrew’s has engaged in a programme of refurbishment of the ward which has included new TV, clock, lights and fans, doors and windows, showers and wash facilities, internal and external painting and retiling of floors.
St Andrew’s has also arranged outings for the 40 patients as well as Christmas and New Year parties. The funding for this project comes from sales at our weekly Thrift shop.
Support Ward 8
Bank: National Development Bank
Account name: St. Andrew’s Church
Current account no: 101000130247
Swift Code: NDBSLKLX
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Lunch Project
There has been discussion to bring our mission projects closer to home and to try to serve the community in the vicinity of SASK as there are several areas of urban poverty in the locality. The Thursday Lunch Project was inspired by the Soup Bowl programme which functions from Kollupitiya Methodist Church. We then decided that a programme on Thursday would be appropriate and so set about walkabouts in the community in the areas of Slave Island and other areas of proximity where there are catchments of disadvantaged people. We found people who sweep and clean the roads and sleep rough, people who wait for handouts in the vicinity of the catholic churches, those who are labourers and many who work as cleaners at local offices. We commenced the programme in November 2018 and are pleased to report that the programme has been a tremendous success. We see many regulars who attend to receive a nutritious meal served within the haven of our church and engage in chat. We have also had a wonderful response from donors, many who have pledged to contribute regularly but we readily welcome new donors in view of rising costs to the programme.
We serve every Thursday from 11 am to 12 noon.
We are pleased to confirm we serve nearly 150 people a nutritious lunch.
Support Lunch Project
Bank: National Development Bank
Account name: St. Andrew’s Church
Current account no: 101000786967
Swift Code: NDBSLKLX
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Helping Hands
Food ready for HH Christmas Party 2023
2023 HH Christmas Party
2023 HH team
Local Church review team from Geneva meet the HH beneficiaries
2023 HH Children at the Christmas Party
Donations received for the Christmas Hampers 2023
Mrs Pieris allocating the monthly financial allowance for HH families
The broken wheel chair of one of the HH benficiaries
Prasath with his new wheelchair donated by the SASK
A desire to help people struggling to make ends meet and the constant requests for help at the Manse door, led Rev John Purves and Elder Alex Wolvers to develop a more methodical approach of dealing with the situation and the “Helping Hands” project was born in 2006.
When the project was presented to the congregation and, recognising the need and compassion involved in setting up the project, a donor came forward to support and sustain it. An initial fund was set up and a budget agreed by the Kirk Session. Their choice for a co-ordinator was Maureen Gennard, a Sri Lankan fluent in Sinhala, Tamil and English, who willingly accepted the challenge and has organised and developed this St Andrew’s project from 2006 until she left to join her husband in the UK in 2019. Maureen had started attending St Andrew’s in 2001, after meeting her future husband and they were married in the Church in 2004.
The Helping Hands beneficiaries come to SASK during the second week of each month to collect 3500/- or 4000/- which is the equivalent of 8.75/10 pounds. This sum is reviewed once a year. This project also meets the cost of the beneficiaries who provide medical bills, or other bills like stitching a school uniform, the purchase of a pair of shoes for a child, exercise books, spectacles etc. They also come for advice, direction and moral support.
A special thank you to the Ministers and some congregation members of the International Presbytery who in 2023 provided 5kg bags of rice, dhal and sugar for a period of 6 months but unfortunately, that came to an end.
The Livingston Church in Scotland also supports the project with their semi annual collection and those funds go into the Helping Hands account.
The team is made up of Nadhini, Lakshmi, Anna and Mrs. Peiris. From time to time Mrs Peiris who acts as the co-ordinator, together with a member of the Helping Hands team, visits the beneficiaries’ homes and attends to the personal needs of some of them, like Prasath who is disabled and lives with an elderly father. The project was able to provide him first with a bed and mattress and lately with a wheelchair.
Our goal for 2024 is to help Wijayanthi with an electric wheelchair.
This project tries to meet many of the demands of the beneficiaries with the limited budget it has. God is definitely with us; when funds deplete, a new door opens. We are grateful to the local and International donors; without your donations the project would not exist.
Any donation makes a difference, give whatever you can.
Support Helping Hands
Bank: National Development Bank
Account name: St. Andrew’s Church
Current account no: 101000130231
Swift Code: NDBSLKLX
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Thrift Shop
The Thrift Shop is open every Tuesday (except for Poya days and other public holidays) in the Church Hall from 11.00 am to 2.00 pm. There is always a plentiful supply of the following:
- Clothes (used)
- Household items (used)
- Cameras
- Books
- DVDs
- Audio Cassettes
- Historical Paintings
- Sports Items
- Handbags
- Sunglasses
- Lamp Shades
- Costume Jewellery
Almost anything that might prove useful to someone somewhere can be handed over to the Thrift Shop. You may visit the shop on a Tuesday between 11.00 am and 2.00 pm to hand in your donation.
The Thrift Shop came into being in the early 2000s. It was started by Mrs Pamela Kenny, a member of the congregation. At that time, St. Andrew’s was seeking to raise funds to support its work with the patients of ladies Ward 19 (now Ward 8) at Mulleriyawa Mental Hospital. As the wife of a foreign diplomat, she recognized that many people have unwanted goods when they leave the country. She saw that these could be recycled and that the proceeds from their sale used for the benefit of others. The Thrift Shop has been there ever since and continues to support the work at Mulleriyawa where, recently, we have just completed extensive plumbing, electrical and joinery repairs to the ward in preparation for repainting.
Three things are needed to ensure the success of this ongoing venture. The first is goods. We accept almost anything, as long as it can pass through the doors of the church hall! We invite everyone to be our customers. We believe we have something for everyone and at a price that all can afford. Finally, we invite anyone who has an interest in giving of their time to be a volunteer. There is always something that needs to be done – sorting and pricing goods, assisting customers, receiving funds, clearing out.
Support Thrift Shop
Bank: National Development Bank
Account name: St. Andrew’s Church
Current account no: 101000130247
Swift Code: NDBSLKLX
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