Caring centres given cash boost

A CHURCH which runs one of Glasgow’s largest foodbanks is celebrating a £220,000 transformation.

The Blawarthill Church, in Scotstoun, used funding to create a more welcoming space to serve the local community which will enable more people to access their services.

Refurbishment was much needed due to an increase in the number of people being referred to the Glasgow North West foodbank and the amount of help service users required.

Due to high demand, volunteers also now operate out of two distribution centres in Maryhill.

The foodbank, which works in partnership with the Trussell Trust, provided a total of 53,307 meals to those in need in 2016, an increase of 46 per cent.

More than 2400 people were referred for emergency aid, a 36 per cent rise on the previous year.

The church received £200,000 of funding from the Kirk’s Priority Areas wing which supports Scotland’s poorest communities.

A further £10,000 was raised by the congregation of the church.

The money was put towards new double-glazing, re-rendered walls, re-covering the roof, a new security system and a new emergency door.

Blawarthill’s minister, Rev Melvyn Wood, said: “We aim to meet our foodbank users’ needs in a dignified and respectful way and it helps enormously to have a base that’s attractive both to clients and volunteers.

“This has been a big project, and we now have an attractive building which is a credit to the community and the national church. We’re delighted to be opening our doors and look forward to offering a warm welcome to more people coming to our church.”

Financial and technical support for the project was provided by the General Trustees of the Church of Scotland.

Its chairman, Raymond Young, said: “We follow the General Assembly’s will to support Scotland’s poorest communities.

“It’s the Church’s duty to share resources and I would urge other congregations with big ideas to come to us first and we could be able to not only provide funding, but also expertise on how to develop refurbishment projects.”

Reverend Martin Johnstone, Secretary of the Church of Scotland’s Church and Society Council, has called on political leaders from all parties to take action to reduce child poverty after a report by UNICEF found that one in five children in the UK are at risk of going hungry.

He said: “These are not simply statistics; they represent children with names, faces and all too often empty stomachs.

“Foodbanks, breakfast clubs and community meals do a spectacular job trying to alleviate this crisis but we need to recognise that the fundamental problem is about the lack of money that families have to feed themselves.

“It is estimated that increasing child benefit by £5 per week would mean that 30,000 less children in Scotland would have to grow up in poverty.

“Surely this is the sort of bold and courageous leadership that these children need and deserve.”