THE CHARITY

One of Scotland’s biggest children’s charities says rising costs and pressure on fundraising means only a fraction of vulnerable Scots in need can be helped.

Wendy Laing, assistant service manager with Aberlour, fears her team in Perth can only support one in four families in need.

The charity had to close its Urgent Assistance Fund to new applications from the end of July this year until late November.

“The pressures on matching fundraising with the serious demand for help from families in distress are immense,” she said.

“We desperately need to continue operating our Urgent Assistance Fund especially in cold and unforgiving weather where heat and food are essential for healthy survival. I work directly with families who need what many of us routinely pick up in supermarkets without a second thought.

“Those living in extreme hardship with empty cupboards, unable to put their heating on in freezing temperatures or buy children warm jackets and decent shoes are recommended by social workers and others for a one-off £349 grant.

“We can only help one in four. Some are on minimum wages in cleaning jobs or catering which don’t pay enough to feed and care for families.”

The charity brought cooked food to a family with no food and a basic supermarket microwave to heat it. A seven-year old boy in the house said: “You have made all my dreams come true. I would love hot food like everyone else’s.”

Aberlour has also helped families whose children have been forced to stay off school because their feet are blistered from wearing shoes two sizes too small.

“One parent fainted because they had not eaten for four days. Others sleep on mattresses on the floor because they cannot afford beds and a change of bedding is a luxury,” added Laing.

“We can understand the pressures on others to support when they are facing rising costs and bills themselves.

“One child’s eyes lit up when I took a package of toiletries to them as an extra surprise and they carried them around with pride, desperate not to lose their new treasures. That’s heartbreaking.”