​Festive aid packages gave families a Christmas lift

During December Fife Gingerbread delivered vital Festive Packages to 121 families to help ease the stress of the Christmas period.

Each package consisted of food, fuel, cosy clothing and toys, and had an average value of £214.

This support, which reached 224 children across Fife, is given to the most vulnerable families the charity works with, and is vital for those who receive it as many would not be able to afford to heat their homes, provide warm clothing for their children, or give their child a gift for Christmas.

Rhona Cunningham, chief executive of Fife Gingerbread, said “We would not be able to provide this essential assistance without the extremely kind help of our partners and donators. 22 local organisations and 16 individuals from all over Fife donated volunteering time, money, rooms, clothing, toys and much more. We can’t thank them enough for their continued support.”

Of the 121 families that received packages, 95 were lone parents with only 30% receiving financial support from the parent without care.

This means that around 66 lone parents in Fife faced significant struggles over the festive period with absolutely no financial support from the other parent.

Rhona added: “Fife Council just released statistics highlighting that there’s over 17,500 children living in poverty in Fife.

“We know that child poverty is a problem that is getting out of control but to actually see a figure as high as that is staggering.

“You simply cannot talk about children living in poverty and not tackle child maintenance, the problem is the system right now is failing parents every single day.”