Charity responding to growing need

A new charity has launched in Dundee to cloth and feed children living in poverty.

Dundee Bairns has launched Bairns at Home to supply boxes of essential items as it responds to growing need in the city.

Some 275 families have already been helped in the first six weeks of the project.

Organiser David Dorward said: “We’re up and running and this is going to make a huge difference to families in Dundee.

“This was started by the ex-Prime Minister Gordon Brown in Fife.

He phoned us in March and said ‘would you like to do this in Dundee?’ and here we are six months later. It will make a huge difference.”

Millions of pounds’ worth of household goods are being donated from businesses across Fife, but the charity is now appealing for Dundee-based companies to get involved.

The boxes are distributed to local schools, agencies and charities who have made referrals on behalf of families needing help.

Project co-ordinator Jenna Millar said: “The cost of living crisis has hit families so hard in Dundee. There are a lot of people who are beyond the point of crisis now and we are really looking to make an impact.

“It’s supplying things that statutory services can’t supply them with, so household goods, essentials, we’ve seen toiletries and items for washing.

“It’s all stuff that makes a massive difference to people’s da- to-day lives and their ability to thrive instead of just surviving.”

Ballumbie Primary School is using the donations to create an ‘essential items’ bank.

School worker Sheila Nicolson added: “I feel like when some families ask for help, they don’t always want to go out to the community to get it. So if it’s in school then they already know, me and the staff, they won’t be scared to ask.

“It is discreet and they can get a parcel without having to go anywhere else and be seen.”