Reflections from Richard Frazer, our GCP Founder

A Message from Founder and the outgoing Chair of the Grassmarket Community Project – Richard Frazer

The development of the Grassmarket Community Project has been a humbling experience for me over the past 22 years.

I came to be minister of Greyfriars Kirk with a few ideas, about social enterprise, transforming redundant church pews, growing herbs in the Kirkyard after a gap of 450 years, developing a Greyfriars Tartan and a few other ideas that involved looking for the strength within people rather than dwelling on problems.

It was all about seeing the person and the potential that lies within each one of us that sometimes lies buried deep due to all the stresses and trauma that life can bring.

My wife, Kate, helped to shape the sense of a caring and nurturing community that is the hallmark of GCP. She initiated the Friday afternoon art group and for many years coordinated the Open-Door meals that had begun in the 1980s. Over the last 10 years Kate along with her friend Shilpa has established CoCo Counselling at the Greyfriars Charteris Centre that provides invaluable one-to-one support to any that need it in the GCP community and further afield regardless of their ability to pay.

Initially people thought we were crazy to have such bold ambitions to build a new centre to house all our activities and create such a diverse community organisation. We had no money at the beginning and only a few very amateur helpers. A remarkable group of people have made all that the project is today.

The most humbling part is the caring and supportive community that has emerged along with the energy and commitment of members, staff, board members and volunteers who have contributed so much to the success of the project over the years. Each person has brought their own unique personality, humour, energy and passion. It is hard to keep track of everyone who has laid a stone on the huge cairn that is GCP today but it is a bright beacon of hope marking a pathway towards human flourishing.

In the late 1970s I spent some time working in West Pilton and Muirhouse assisting people with housing and welfare needs. It was then that the idea for what has become the Grassmarket Community Project began to form in my mind. I could see such dignity and passion in people trying to make the best of their lives but frequently a host of factors made it difficult for people to make headway. What made things even worse was the way in which they could be treated by some in authority who should have had people’s best interest at heart. How could people hope to achieve their greatness when society wrote them off, patronised them, saw only the problem rather than the person or treated them with contempt?

As the years passed, I began to see that many of the problems people face in our society are not just practical they are spiritual. We all want to be valued and most of us want to contribute positively to our society, these are profound and universal spiritual needs, not so much about religion but about what it takes to be a fully formed human being.  As I began my education to be a minister, I came to understand that Jesus always sought out those who were being left behind. He gave the people he met dignity and a sense of their infinite value.

As we began to develop the Grassmarket Community Project, it was always rooted in the idea that there is some greatness within us often waiting to be set free. We have tried to offer people a non-judgmental welcome, to look for strengths rather than problems and the chance to contribute positively to the community.

People have come and gone. There have been some amazing success stories, moments of laughter, joy and creativity as well as some heart-breaking tragedies. I have learned so much from the GCP community. You have made the stories I read about how Jesus treated people real and brought the Gospel to life. Rather than taking Jesus to the community I have realised he is already there, and I have bumped into him time and again.

I have learned over the years that we are all vulnerable, we all have needs, whether we have been successful in life or have struggled. I have learned that the best kind of leadership is about enabling leadership in others. I have learned that we have it within ourselves to find our greatness and all it takes is to value one another, love another and look for the best in each other.

Helping to steer the Grassmarket Community Project through these last 22 years has been the greatest honour of my professional life. I am glad that the GCP Board have invited Rob Trimble to succeed me as chair. In getting to know him over the last couple of years I realise that he really understands the vision with which we have tried to shape our community. One of the most inspiring places we visited early on in the GCP journey was the Bromley-by-Bow Centre in the east end of London. A truly inspiring community project in an area where there is much social need. Rob steered that project for over 20 years. We are so fortunate that he has come to us now.

I am grateful that the Board has asked me to continue my connection with the project in the role of Founder. Though Kate and I no longer live in Edinburgh, we will both value the ongoing connection with the Grassmarket Community Project, will visit on our regular trips to Edinburgh and take part in occasional special events and watch it continue its special and unique journey. Thank you.

Richard Frazer – March 2025