Recipients secured the funding after being shortlisted by Scotmid Co-operative’s Community Connect award scheme
Nine good causes across Scotland have been awarded a share of a £75,000 funding pot.
The recipients secured the funding after being shortlisted by Scotmid Co-operative’s Community Connect award scheme to receive the lifeline financial support, helping them to continue delivering their vital work.
Three charities - Sepsis Research, Moira Anderson Foundation and Glen Urquhart Childcare Centre - received a £15,000 award, with the remaining six projects each receiving £5,000.
Each supported project shares one goal, to enhance the lives of others within their communities and further afield.
The full list of organisations across Scotland are:
- Dundee Starter Packs assists individuals and families who are unable to provide themselves with basic household goods and bedding, as they prepare to take on a tenancy or rebuild a home after a crisis. Funding will be used to provide microwaves to enable those without cooking facilities to prepare and serve a hot meal.
- The Sunshine Box aims to raise funds for toy boxes at children’s units in hospitals and clinics across Tayside. These boxes are filled with brand new toys, books and games for children aged 0-16 who are undergoing painful and often frightening procedures. The funding from Scotmid will enable the charity to fill their existing boxes and to purchase teenage gifts and specialist sensory toys.
- Glen Urquhart Childcare Centre provides wrap around childcare for ages three to 14. It works tirelessly to ensure their childcare facility meets the needs of those in the community, to maintain and sustain this true community resource for future generations. The funding will allow them to develop a sensory areas within the nursery enabling children, particularly those with additional support needs, to fully participate in centre life.
- FetLor Youth Club provides services for children and young people, many of whom come from the most disadvantaged areas in north Edinburgh. It supports children aged seven to 17; some suffer challenges at home or do not attend school and FetLor offers them positive mental and physical support. All activities are free and everyone is offered a hot meal. Funding will be used to host the 2022 summer programme which supports over 1,000 people, where children and their families can spend time together and enjoy life-changing experiences.
- Sepsis Research, based in the Roslin Institute at Edinburgh University, is striving to identify why some people are more affected by sepsis than others. Sepsis is a life-threatening reaction to an infection when the immune system overreacts and this can quickly lead to multiple organ failure. Funding will be used to research genetic variants, target new treatments and improve survival rates for those affected.
- You’re Never Too Old supports older socially isolated people living in their own homes in the north west of Edinburgh. Twice a week it provides transport for members to the club where they take part in stimulating activities, days out and enjoy a healthy light lunch together. Reducing isolation, making new friends and creating memories is at the heart of everything they do. Funding will be used to help cover transportation costs and part of the salary of their only paid employee.
- Levern Valley Defibrillator Community Partnership helps to save lives by installing and maintaining public access defibrillators, as well as providing invaluable free training in how to use them. Cardiac arrest affects people of all ages and the funds from Scotmid will be used to continue their aim of ensuring that a defib can be accessed any time of the day or night to help make the community safer and stronger.
- Moira Anderson Foundation - pictured above - is dedicated to supporting people affected by childhood sexual abuse. Supporting both young people and adults, the aim is to help people heal, prevent further abuse and to raise awareness of the issue. Supporting people in North Lanarkshire and further afield, the funds will be used to deliver therapy and ongoing support to 50 new clients helping them to build resilience and focus on their personal strengths.
- Maggie’s Forth Valley helps people take back control when cancer turns life upside down, with professional support for anything from treatment side effects to money worries. It provides practical and emotional support to anyone with cancer, whatever kind of cancer, and whatever stage they’re at. The funding will fund expert benefits advice, helping them focus on their treatment and less on the financial struggle of supporting their family.
Harry Cairney, president of Scotmid, said: “Community Connect is one of the core ways in which we are able to support the communities we serve. We have seen first hand how local charities and good cause groups have provided a vital lifeline to many people, particularly over the course of the pandemic, whilst also facing new challenges of their own.
“We are truly delighted to award these nine good causes with this funding support, which will help them to provide vital projects within their own communities.”
Since Scotmid’s Community Connect launched in 2017, more than £500,000 has been awarded to 54 good cause groups, enabling key projects to continue operating.
