Charity celebrates £100,000 funding

A local charity which plays a vital role in supporting parents and making a positive impact on the lives of children and families living in Aberdeen is rejoicing at securing £100,000 of funding.

The funding includes £50,000 in Common Good Funding from Aberdeen City Council, £40,000 from the RS Macdonald Trust, and £10,000 from the Scottish Children's Lottery Chance to Flourish fund. This will aid the charity’s core service in the provision of support and assistance to vulnerable and disadvantaged young families in Aberdeen City.

Helping to prevent family crisis and breakdown Home-Start Aberdeen provides a support service where carefully selected and trained volunteers are there for families, visiting them in their own homes with compassionate, confidential help, backed by expert staff. Volunteers support parents as they learn to cope, improve their confidence and build better lives for their children. Over 90% of parents say they see significant improvements in their own and their children’s emotional and physical health and wellbeing following Home-Start support.

Eleanor McEwan, general manager said: “Demand for our services is at an all-time high. Increasingly Home-Start seems to be one of the few safety nets available for vulnerable families. Our service is unique in Aberdeen with no other agency offering a similar service to support families with young children in their own homes, who may just need a little help. This funding is equivalent to the amount of money we need to support around 65 families for a year. Last year we supported 259 families across the city and this year we have already supported over 160 families with more on our waiting list who need our help.”

Recurrent themes affecting the families Home-Start supports are debt and poverty, physical and mental illness, relationship breakdown and bereavement.

Home-Start Aberdeen has been supporting families in Aberdeen city for over 30 years changing the lives of thousands of local families. The charity which started life as a small project based in the Mastrick area of the city has since grown to become one of the largest Home-Start schemes in the UK.