Charity seeing demand surge
EK’s most vulnerable need support
An East Kilbride charity which h e l p e d s o me o f t h e most vulnerable through lockdown is once again seeing a surge in demand.
And Share Alike -part of take Five now - fears if the country is hit by a second lockdown it will quickly run out of supplies to provide the help desperately needed by so many.
From March to mid September the organisation handed out 24,600 meals, al most 122 cr i si s cl othing packs, 860 per i od poverty packs, 21 new mum and baby packs, 226 mental wellbeing/pamper packs to chronically ill/isolated, 42 new start home packs distr i buted over 700 books and 150 CDs to help people when libraries were closed.
The charity worked alongside East Kilbride Community Foodbank and South Lanarkshire Council to help coordinate the COVID-19 response for East Kilbride.
But Annmarie Campbell from the charity told the News that many of the sources of funding they relied on stopped at the end of September.
She t ol d us : “We have s een an upturn again in people needing our help for a variety of reasons.
“Whether it’s people coming out of hospital and social work contacting us because there will be absolutely nothing for them to come home to; women fleeing abuse with children; or people who haven’t been able to pay their rent and find themselves homeless or i n emergency accommodation without so much as a mug or a plate to their name.
“The people who we delivered to while shielding, we are still delivering t o many of t hem. But sadly, as of the end of September, many of our funding streams and sources of food and other items just stops.
“However, COVID just doesn’t stop even if the furlough came to an end. It ’s still here and people still need our help.
“But i n all honesty i f we are hit with another lockdown we are in real trouble.
“Everyone here are volunteers but if nothing is put in place we would run out of food in a matter of a couple of weeks – it’s that serious.
“It ’s exacerbated by the fact we have seen a massive increase in cases recently.”
As well as the crisis support t hrough emergenc y packages i t s Mental health & Wellbeing section at SAVI Kids Wellbeing Hub has also provided vital support continuing six online support groups and four different virtual classes.
It has also undertaken 367 support sessions and 465 telephone support sessions to young people.
And it has taken three and a half times as many calls to the SAVI Kids helpline as same period last year.
Me a n w h i l e , t h e c h a r i t y h a s made wellbeing videos for children f or Women’s Aid i n exchange f or donation towards Share Alike food section.
They’re also about to start a new group of ‘Get the Picture’ project. This will allow children to explore their feelings about the last six months in a safe environment whilst teaching them some wellbeing and coping techniques for mental health.