Befriend a Child is proudly reflecting on a remarkable year of celebration, community spirit and generosity as the charity marks its 50th anniversary. Since 1975, the organisation has been dedicated to supporting children and young people across Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire who are growing up in difficult life circumstances.

GEOLOG, a global leader in surface logging, well-site geoscience, and advanced drilling optimisation services, has once again brought festive spirit by sponsoring Befriend a Child’s 2025 Christmas Party. The company, known for delivering high-value geological insights that help oil and gas operators drill safer and more efficiently, is equally committed to making a meaningful impact in the local community.

Befriend a Child’s annual Giving Tree Appeal is once again spreading festive joy across Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire, ensuring every child supported by the charity has a gift to open on Christmas morning. However, did you know the appeal goes far beyond the magic of unwrapping a present?

Befriend a Child is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year with a very special challenge from one of its own team members. Senior Family Support Coordinator, Louise Coleman, has taken on the incredible task of walking 50 miles every month throughout 2025 to raise vital funds for the Aberdeen based charity.

The first week of November marks Befriending Week, the national campaign celebrating the power of connection and friendship. Befriend a Child, a local charity based in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire, will dedicate the week to highlighting the incredible impact of its befriending programme and the people who make it possible.

This year, thanks to the sponsorship of Dales Marine Services, Befriend a Child will be able to reach even more children and their families, spreading the joy of Christmas further than ever before. Founded in Aberdeen, Dales Marine Services is a leading UK marine engineering and ship repair company, renowned for its expertise and commitment to supporting local communities. Their sponsorship reflects the company’s dedication to giving back and making a difference to families across the region.

As part of its intandem mentoring programme, Befriend a Child matches young people aged 7–15, who are supported by social work or living in kinship care, with volunteer mentors. The mentoring relationship is built around just 2–3 hours twice a month, during which the mentor and child spend time having fun together, setting goals, sharing interests and creating positive memories. Mentors are asked to commit for a minimum of 12 months, but no prior experience is required as full training and support is provided by the team at Befriend a Child.

Befriend a Child is delighted to announce the resounding success of its inaugural Ladies’ Charity Golf Day, which took place in the sunshine at Kippie Lodge on Friday 5th September 2025. The event brought together an enthusiastic group of women for a day of sport, collaboration and fundraising, raising an impressive £1,765 to support the charity’s vital work in transforming the lives of children and young people across the region.

Following the overwhelming success of its sell-out Boogie Boozy Brunch, Befriend a Child is thrilled to launch a second date for the event, which will take place on Friday 20 March 2026, from 10:30am to 4:00pm at The Marcliffe Hotel.

Befriend a Child is thrilled to unveil the return of one of its flagship events, Boozy Brunch which is set to take place on Saturday 21 March 2026 at The Marcliffe from 10:30am to 4pm. Next year’s ‘Boogie Boozy Brunch’ brings together disco beats, delicious brunch, dazzling décor and funky vibes, all to raise vital funds for children and young people across Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire facing challenging circumstances.

Befriend a Child is proud to announce it has once again achieved the prestigious Quality in Befriending Excellence Award following reaccreditation from Befriending Networks in June 2025.

Befriend a Child celebrated 50 years of impact at their Golden Anniversary Ball on Friday the 30th of May 2025 at The Chester Hotel, raising £35,600 for local children the charity supports across Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire. The evening brought together supporters, volunteers and partners to honour five decades of transforming the lives of local children and young people.

Local children’s charity Befriend a Child is thrilled to announce that their recent Barbie Boozy Brunch events raised an incredible £52,847.25! Held over two fabulous days at The Marcliffe Hotel, the sell-out events brought together hundreds of supporters in a sea of pink, all in aid of local children growing up in challenging life circumstances across Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire.

We were delighted to receive a grant of £16,054 from the People’s Postcode Trust during 2023-2024. The funding enabled us to support 20 children aged between 5 and 16 years who had been referred to us. The children were living in complicated home lives, and a large percentage struggled with social isolation and lived in poverty.

Befriend a Child, is calling on people across the North-East to take on the Return of the Inferno Firewalk Challenge this March 2nd.

A Poverty Demographic Report from Aberdeen City Council showed that 21.8 per cent of youngsters in Aberdeen City have been judged to be living in poverty, with 21% of children in Scotland living in marginal, low or very low food security. Aberdeen City-based charity Befriend a Child recognised that many of the families of their befriended children could often do with extra support and therefore launched their Family Support Project in 2022.

We were delighted to catch up with volunteer befriender Fiona Forbes on celebrating 25 years with Befriend a Child!!

We sat down with our Tackling Child Abuse Project Lead, Linzi Bremner to discuss the vital project and how it is supporting local children and young people across Aberdeen City and Shire.

After seeing an increase in the number of children and young people being referred due to poor personal or parental mental health, the team at Befriend a Child developed the Healthy Minds Project. Senior Befriending Coordinator and project lead, Susanne McMenemy tells us a bit more about the programme and how it is helping the young people they support.

Since the success of their initial pilot project, Befriend a Child have been able to recruit a Family Support Co-ordinator, Louise Coleman, who is working directly with the parents and carers of befriended and mentored children, providing help and a listening ear to the families who need it.