Every Wednesday the Toastie Club open its doors to the public of Aberdeen. The main people the Toasty Club cater for are the homeless, individuals with addiction issues, mental health issues and financial issues to name a few. I myself, who is suffering from addiction issues have been a patron of the service. What I found the club gives me is somewhere to go where other folk are in the same situation as me. A place where there is a supportive environment, where people ask you how you are doing and, in some cases, will be the only physical social connection you will have all week. Furthermore, it provides a free meal that may be your only subsistence for the day. It provides other necessities that individuals may need such as haircuts, assistance with form filling and above all else an introduction to other services that people like me never knew existed in Aberdeen. The Toasty Club not only offers sandwich and a soup but potentially the initial stages of a person’s rehabilitation as well. To me the Toasty Club is a service that is invaluable to people like me, it gives me hope where the smallest gesture can go a long way in my mood for the day. It gives encouragement, to try and work on overcoming my issues, as I know I am not alone. However due to the current lock down state the Toasty Club cannot hold these sessions, but in the true spirit of the club they have decided to drop off meal parcels to service users every Wednesday. Without the clubs work a lot of individuals may have been be very isolated in our current climate.
By Anonymous
The Bugle 