Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser
Charity pleads for vital hospice service funding
Scottish Parliament election candidates in Lanarkshire are being asked to back a call for sustainable funding for vital hospice services for children.
Children’s Hospices Across Scotland (CHAS) is calling on politicians from all parties to stand alongside the 16,700 families, many of whom live in North Lanarkshire, who face the terrifying heartbreak that their child may die young.
Many of the children are stable, but three die each week of a lifeshortening condition – and numbers are going up.
The charity, which is the single national provider of children’s hospice services in Scotland, has launched its manifesto ahead of the upcoming Scottish Parliament election.
It comes at a time when the numbers of children with lifeshortening conditions is higher than ever and many families are feeling particularly isolated and vulnerable due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
CHAS is asking candidates from all parties to back it as it calls for continued sustainable funding for children’s hospice care over the next five years, a new national plan for palliative care in Scotland that addresses the needs of children, more specialist training for health and social care staff to meet increasingly complex needs, better financial support for struggling families – including after a child dies – and bespoke support for children with complex needs living into adulthood.
Rami Okasha, CEO of CHAS, said: “Children with lifeshortening conditions might live shorter lives, but CHAS makes sure their time is filled with love, compassion and care.
“The numbers of children with life-shortening conditions are going up. The need for care is greater than ever.
“We are asking politicians from all parties to look at a range of actions that will truly make a difference to these families.
“Politicians have a key role in helping keep the joy alive, even in the face of death.”
She received treatment as well as walking aids to help her move independently
A Lanarkshire aid agency has continued to support more than a thousand schoolchildren in Africa, despite the global pandemic and a host of logistical issues.
Project Gambia: People Feeding People has been able to keep the school gates and canteens open for the hundreds of impoverished pupils they support and feed daily within three schools in Gambia.
The team have done so by successfully delivering on their promise of sending over a large consignment of foodstuff for the pupils and staff as part of their School Feeding Programme which ensures that every child is fed, every day throughout the year.
They also sent much-needed clothing and goods such as backpacks filled with stationary, school jotters and hygiene materials, including soap, toothbrushes and toothpaste, to the school pupils in the poverty-stricken region of Serrekunda, West Africa.
The project’s outstanding work has included helping Mohammed Cham, a young African boy born with no ears, receive life-changing surgery in
Monklands Hospital which gave him the gift of hearing in 2019.
Charity treasurer Paul Lafferty said: “We are very fortunate indeed to be able to call on the support of trusted partners in Africa, people we have worked closely with over the past 10 years who have ensured we have been able to keep our promise to St John’s School for the Deaf, Serekunda, St Patrick’s Lower Basic School and St Joseph’s Nursery School at Darsalami, close to the Gambia-senegal border.
“Last month we were delighted to deliver a large consignment of foodstuffs to the St John’s School for the Deaf, which is the largest school for children with additional support needs in Gambia and possibly in the whole of West Africa, as well as rice and other foodstuffs to St Patrick’s and St Joseph’s.”
In countries in West Africa, and in the Gambia in particular, which is the fifth poorest state in Africa, Covid-19 has wreaked havoc in so many areas of life with over half of the population existing on less than one US dollar per day.
So, donations like those from Project Gambia are vitally important to people who rely on their charity.
Project chairperson Frank Devine
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said: “It’s amazing to think we’ve managed to continue our work in Africa at this time, despite all the difficulties thrown up by Covid-19.
“The Gambia is in a terrible situation. There’s no aid workers getting into the country due to border restrictions, no tourists or back packers, so a country and economy which absolutely relies on visitors is really suffering.
“For us to still be able to deliver food and other goods to the children at this time is unbelievable.”
Paul added: “All we’ve achieved in Africa over the past 10 years is down to the support we receive from ordinary people in Lanarkshire.
“If anyone wants to find out more about Project Gambia they can visit our Facebook page where you can find details of how you can support us.
“Some people do this by taking out a monthly direct debit, making a one off contribution or by sponsoring a classroom of children to participate in the school feeding programmes being run over three locations in one of the poorest countries in Africa.”
For more information on the aid agency, visit Project Gambia: People Feeding People on Facebook or go to www.project-gambia.org
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A new home-downsizing programme is being introduced by North Lanarkshire Council in a bid to increase the availability of larger rental properties for families.
Tenants living in underoccupied homes will be offered up to £1500 to move to smaller properties, and will be given practical assistance ranging from packing boxes to redirecting mail.
Introduction of the new scheme was unanimously approved at a meeting of the authority’s housing committee – with councillors emphasising that participation in the scheme will be voluntary.
Housing convener Heather Brannan-mcvey praised the “innovative pilot” programme and added: “It’s important to stress that this is not an attempt to remove residents from their homes who wish to stay there.
“Rather, it’s about offering a greater level of support to those who wish to downsize but would struggle to carry out the work involved with a move.
“This could then free up family council housing that is sorely needed across North Lanarkshire; this is a £150,000 investment to tackle one of the biggest issues our constituents tell us about, which is the waiting time to get a council home.
“We hope this initial work will allow us to start working to get our waiting list down, while giving those who wish to downsize support to secure the property they need to live their lives to the full.”
Members were told that there are currently more than 4500 under-occupied council homes in North Lanarkshire, most commonly single-person households living in threebedroomed properties.
Councillors were told that nearly three-quarters of the single residents in larger homes are aged 56 or over, with a report adding: “It is possible that these age groups are more likely to benefit most from the full package of incentives outlined.”
Waiting list figures from last year indicate that more than 800 council and housing association tenants in North Lanarkshire are currently seeking moves to smaller properties.
The £1500 voluntary incentive scheme will be open to those living in homes with three or more bedrooms, for which there is currently unmet demand, and who are moving to smaller properties with one or two bedrooms.
As well as the payment, participating home-movers will receive help as required including removal, decoration, reconnecting appliances and satellite TV, and transferring of community alarms or similar support.
Consultation will also be carried out on the accompanying change to the housing allocation system, which will increase the priority points awarded for each under-occupied room, “ensuring that more people can be offered the opportunity to downsize”.
Members were told that several authorities operate similar incentive schemes; and Stephen Llewellyn, the council’s head of housing, said: “We’re trying to provide the most suitable housing for as many individuals and families as possible with the limited stock we have available.
“Under-occupancy is a concern for most social landlords in Scotland. People [moving] to properties better suited to their needs would benefit from lower fuel bills, rents and council tax
levels, and many tenants have already expressed a willingness to downsize.
“This is a voluntary scheme and we recognise some people will not want to move from their family home. We’re hoping [it] will provide encouragement and reassurance to others who may consider moving, that practical and financial help is available.”
SNP councillors also backed the project – and say they initially
suggested a similar incentive scheme as long as nine years ago.
Alan Valentine, the group’s housing spokesperson, said: “I warmly welcome the action to introduce and offer assistance and incentives to our tenants to downsize from their current council house.
“The ‘bedroom tax’ [reducing housing benefit for underoccupancy] remains an attack on those on the lowest incomes
and the Scottish Government has been mitigating this since 2013, to the tune of £275 million through discretionary housing payments.”
He added: “This incentive to downsize was actually first proposed by the SNP group in 2012-2013 and then again two years later; I’m glad that the Labour administration has finally caught up with our thinking and got on board with this initiative to help support local people.”