Working at Aberlour Child Care Trust

aberlour has existed for more than 140 years! here are some of our highlights:

1874 a proposal is made

Miss Macpherson Grant of Aberlour writes to Canon Charles Jupp asking him to be her personal chaplain. He declines at first but she persists, promising to fund the construction of an orphanage with a church, rectory and school.

1875 aberlour orphanage founden

1877 miss macpherson grant dies

The sudden death of Miss Macpherson Grant slows the development of the orphanage and puts its future in doubt.

1882 mr grant to the rescue

Mr W Grant of Wester Elchies leaves a legacy of £8,000 enabling land to be purchased to construct a bigger orphanage, and for St. Margaret’s Church to be completed. Over the next few years further residential blocks (1902), a laundry and an isolation hospital (1906) are added.

1907 - 1953 the royal visits

With the Royal Residence of Balmoral relatively close by, Aberlour orphanage was lucky to receive a number of Royal visits. In 1907 Edward VII visits the orphanage followed by Edward VIII and Queen Mary in 1922. Years later, in 1953 Princess Margaret opens the Princess Margaret Residential Nursery School, an extension of the orphanage at the Dowans.

1969 the aberlour trust

Aberlour moves its headquarters to Stirling, and the role of warden is replaced by the Aberlour Trust Director and the governing body is constituted.

1978 the aberlour child care trust

A new constitution is drawn up, creating Aberlour Child Care Trust and offering greater flexibility to respond to the needs of children.

2002 the aberlour memorial garden

BBC Scotland’s The Beechgrove Garden comes to Aberlour to develop a community memorial garden on the site of the orphanage, incorporating its old clock tower. The garden was supported by Mr Liddell in memory of his wife Ethel, a former resident of the orphanage.

2012 the one show

The Aberlour Orphanage is featured on BBC’s The One Show in a touching segment where Professor David Divine revisits his childhood home and house mother.

aberlour today

At Aberlour, we believe that all children deserve to flourish. We are there for children, young people and families across Scotland, helping transform lives for the better.
Our services are tailored to help each child, young person or family to be the very best they can be. We support them to overcome significant challenges like growing up in and leaving care, living with a disability and dealing with the impact of drugs and alcohol on family life.

What we do:

Residential & Fostering

we offer a safe and loving place to live for children who have suffered abuse and trauma

Recovery

we help families recover from drug and alcohol addiction so their children can thrive

Early years

we give babies a brighter future by building confidence in parents

Disability

we make life easier in families where a child has a disability

Early intervention

we work with young people and families to prevent their problems from spiralling out of control

Aberlour provides specialist care, support and advice to
vulnerable children and families across Scotland.
Established in 1875 we run around 40 services in
partnership with local authorities, health boards and
other agencies.

Our vision is to transform the lives of the children and
families we work with and, through this, contribute to
building a fairer and more equal society.

To help to ensure that this happens we put a particular emphasis on personalisation.  Whilst personalisation is about ensuring the people we support are involved in deciding the services they need and how those services are delivered, for us it’s also about our staff  being valued and empowered to be able to achieve this