Fresh Start and Home Link get together to support under pressure families
Charities have joined forces to feed struggling families at Christmas.
Fresh Start and Home Link Family Support got together to help those with pre-school children who are feeling the pressure of welfare reforms.
Fresh Start provided large red bags full of store cupboard essentials like tins of sausages, soup, vegetables and cereal, while Home Link Family Support added children’s books and toys to the bags.
Home Link’s energetic team of volunteers distributed the fifty bags to families in south Edinburgh and Midlothian.
The books have been selected and donated by staff at Scott-Moncrieff and Lloyds and the toys come from ForthOne’s Cash for Kids, Mission Christmas.
Families who are already foodbank users and at risk of homelessness are visited every week by a Home Link volunteer who offers practical and emotional support.
Paula Swanston, the charity’s manager, said: “Our charity is just entering its 30th year helping families in Edinburgh and Midlothian we’ve never been needed as much as we are today.
“More and more of the families we are supporting are really struggling to make ends meet, our families who are on low income are the ones who are really stressed and making daily choices about what bills to pay, this is even more of an issue at Christmas.
“I’m so grateful that our volunteers can go into family’s homes to support parents with the simple things that have a big impact like offering opportunities to play and read to the children, as well as helping families access additional support like foodbanks.”
Keith Robertson from Fresh Start said: “Food poverty is a very real issue for a growing number of people, not just for those who have experienced homelessness but for anyone living on a low income.
“Thanks to our generous supporters donating food items, we can distribute food packs to local families who are really struggling, especially at a time of year where money has to stretch such a long way.
“Fresh Start is pleased to be able to work with Home Link Family Support to achieve our common goal of helping people experiencing poverty.”
