Barnardo’s Scotland has received an additional £345k from the Scottish Government’s Winter Support Fund.
The money will be used to provide direct support to children, young people and families supported by the charity who are struggling this winter.
The Winter Support Fund is available to help those on low incomes, children and people at risk of homelessness against a backdrop of rising living and fuel costs.
Martin Crewe, Director of Barnardo’s Scotland said: “We are delighted to receive this additional and substantial £345,000 in funding from the Scottish Government’s Winter Support Fund, which has truly never been more needed. The pandemic has exacerbated existing inequalities in Scotland, pulling many more families into hardship and with the prospect for many being that they face a long, bleak and challenging winter.
“Barnardo’s services are located in communities right across Scotland and our staff will work hard to ensure that this money is distributed quickly and efficiently to those who need it most, to young people and families who are struggling financially during this winter.”
The new allocated funding follows on from the Scottish Government’s Immediate Priorities Funding in 2020, from which Barnardo’s received over £1million to provide emergency support to vulnerable families and young people negatively impacted by the Covid-19 crisis.
This money enabled Barnardo’s Scotland to respond to around 11,000 requests for support.
Barnardo’s provided food parcels, e-vouchers and disbursed emergency cash payments to vulnerable families and young people to enable them to pay for basic necessities such as utilities, clothing and to make emergency household purchases.
The cost of digital devices, software, data and wifi presented a major barrier to many of our families through the pandemic, who had to prioritise food and heating over digital access. For some families this increased their risks and vulnerabilities in relation to issues such as isolation, poor mental health, domestic violence and access to education. The Wellbeing funding was therefore used to provide a range of digital devices and wifi connections to a large number of individuals and families.
It also became increasingly evident that many young people we were working with were struggling with their mental health, with the lockdowns only impacting on this further. As such, Barnardo’s allocated funding to support young people dealing with significant trauma to access counselling, which has made a huge difference to their wellbeing.
Barnardo’s Scotland has worked closely with Action for Children and other partners to coordinate our response and ensure maximum coverage and reach across Scotland.
Martin Crewe said: “The funding we have already distributed over recent months has been warmly welcomed and has made such a huge difference to the lives of young people and families, at a time when they needed that extra help. We look forward to reaching and supporting many more families in the coming months.”