2024-01-24T09:00:10+00:00

Meet Duncan, the Roxburghe House chaplain

Duncan Vickers is the healthcare chaplain at Roxburghe House.

He spends two days a week with us – usually Tuesdays and Thursdays – with the rest of his work carried out at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary.

A North-east native, 32-year-old Duncan graduated in divinity from the University of Aberdeen around 10 years ago and has been at Roxburghe House for just over a year.

There is less religion in his work than you might think, with the emphasis on providing comfort to those in their hour of need, and being there to listen. This care is available to people with or without specific religious beliefs.

“I love meeting people and speaking to them and I find my work really rewarding,” he said.

Ambassador

Duncan didn’t come from a particularly religious background himself, but as a teenager he became interested in Christianity.

Having gone on to study religion at Aberdeen University, his natural warmth and enthusiasm made him a great student ambassador and recruiter for the institution while he was there.

Duncan’s varied background has given him the ideal training to connect with people.

He spent time teaching at a Roman Catholic school in Birmingham, before moving back to Scotland as a care worker in Helensburgh.

More recently, he spent almost two years as a support worker at VSA’s Linn Moor Residential School.

“I was working alongside the team there to provide a professional, caring and effective service to students with autism between the ages of 10 and 25,” he said.

“The role needed me to communicate effectively on difficult, complex and sensitive issues but it was important that service users experienced a good quality of life.”

Pastoral care

There are 13 hospital chaplains working across Aberdeen. As a group, they provide spiritual, religious and pastoral care in all the hospitals in NHS Grampian. They are available not only for patients, but also relatives, carers, visitors and staff.

In 2019, Duncan gained a Masters in Theological Ethics with his dissertation focusing on a Theology of the Body and Reproductive loss, which has particularly helped him working in a healthcare environment, particularly supporting those at ARI who have experienced a stillbirth. In his spare time, he volunteers at King's Community Church.

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