After a last minute entry, Birthlink 2 at Lochrin Buildings has been nominated as a finalist in the UK’s favourite Charity Shop of the Year Awards. The shop is one of only five in Scotland which are recognised, and the only one in Edinburgh.
Birthlink Thrift Shop 2 was originally bought to become the charity’s bookshop – and it has many bookshelves but now stocks a bit of everything.
The charity’s ethos is to create a place with community feeling where people can come for a chat or volunteer. A new pilot project is running linking employability schemes in Edinburgh helping people progress into work. Birthlink is particularly proud of the way it supports the diverse community.
Now the charity is looking for some support as their success will depend on a public vote. You can access the voting page here and here.
Birthlink was established in 1911 and owns and manages the Adoption Contact Register for Scotland which began in 1984. All people aged 16 and over whose birth and/or adoption took place in Scotland can register, as well as birth mothers, birth fathers and any other birth relatives.
The charity also offer a search service where trained volunteer genealogists find the contacts people are looking for from public records. After matches are made on the register, or people are located, service users can choose to enter into a period of mediation to reunite with estranged family members if this is their mutual wish. The adoption contact register also gives siblings an opportunity to reunite if they were separated in childhood. The service extends to accessing original court papers relating to adoption on behalf of service users who may not be able to travel to the National Records of Scotland in Edinburgh to access these.
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