Tenant Spotlight

Knights Templar Goodwill Charity of Scotland

Knights Goodwill Charity of Scotland are a Veterans, Homeless and Poverty charity based in Cowdenbeath, Fife. Gary Steveson, Chairman of the charity has provided us with further detail on what it is they do and are aiming to achieve.

‘We started the charity with just three veterans back in March 2021 and have grown a very successful frontline crisis charity. We are committed to helping those who are living in poverty or who are homeless, and our team of twenty-one dedicated volunteers and trustees work tirelessly across the whole of Scotland to help those in need.

We provide Care Packages full of everyday essentials some of us take for granted. Our Care Packs contain items such as toothbrush and toothpaste, soap, thermal socks, thermal hat, gloves, roll on deodorant, water, chocolate, foil blanket and so much more. To date we have given out just over 1600 care packages across Scotland giving those who are homeless or living in poverty a bit of comfort which helps with their mental health and well-being.

We have recently opened our first Veterans, Homeless and Community Hub in Cowdenbeath, Fife. This helps and supports those in need covering the whole of Fife. At The Hub, our visitors can collect a Care Pack, grab a bite to eat, access our clothing bank for clothing and our pantry to see them through with the basic food essentials. Within The Hub we have our Social Space which allows people to come along and relax and get help and support. They can stay all day in The Hub if they wish, providing a safe, friendly, welcoming, and warm environment. They will still be able to access all our services more in our Social Space. We have put laptops in The Hub for them to access the internet and they can get help with job searches, CV writing, covering letters etc. We also help them with referrals and their benefits. In addition to The Hub, we have created a community garden where they can come along and either relax in it or for the green fingered visitors, they can get their hands dirty and help out in the garden. In November we will be launching our Veterans Supper for veterans, currently serving armed forces personnel and reservists. They will benefit from the services we already provide but also, we will run a different activity each time we meet. This will be such things as movie nights, military model making and visits. Each time the veterans meet we will provide them with a hot cooked meal such as curries, stew etc. This will help with their mental health and wellbeing allowing them to tap back into the comradeship that they will be missing from their time serving in the armed forces.

The charity has recently been awarded its bronze award with the ERS with the Armed Forces Covenant which was a great honour, and we are truly humbled by this. We will continue to help, support and care for those who are in need, living in poverty or those who have just fallen on hard times and need a hand until they get back on their feet.

In-site Property Solutions Ltd have been absolutely fantastic with the Knights Templar Goodwill Charity and we cannot thank them enough for all the help and support we have had from them. It has truly been the right move for the charity to rent from In-Site Property Solutions Ltd as it has allowed us to expand our operations and help even more people across Scotland.’