Scotland’s largest children’s charity, Aberlour Child Care Trust, is appealing to the nation to come together to help the thousands of children and their families who it expects will experience significant levels of poverty as a result of the Coronavirus.
Whilst the full-scale impact of Covid-19 is yet to be fully quantified, Aberlour Child Care Trust warns many families are already at breaking point and as the situation unfolds, will struggle to put food on their tables, heat and light their homes, or even meet basic and essential needs.
Aberlour has today called on supporters and members of the public to donate some of the money they will save as a result of working at home, such as the cost of a takeaway coffee or the price of a bus fare, to its Urgent Assistance Fund.
The Aberlour Urgent Assistance Fund makes cash payments to those most in need, helping them pay for a range emergency needs. The charity is expecting significant demand for money to pay for everything from food and toiletries, to household essentials, power cards and emergency clothing.
SallyAnn Kelly, Aberlour Chief Executive said: “Demand for our Urgent Assistance Fund before the Coronavirus struck was already at an unprecedented level. More than £57,000 had been given out so far this financial year and we expect this to climb sharply in the coming months.
“Covid-19 is now causing severe disruption to normal everyday life: jobs are already being cut and other businesses will take some time to recover. The result is that the people worst affected will be those on low incomes.
“Many people unable to work because they have contracted the virus will receive statutory sick pay however this is usually less than their normal wages and seldom sufficient to pay for all expenses a typical family may face.
“We know that so many people are desperate to help those less fortunate, but just don’t know how or what to do. That’s why we’re asking the public to donate some of the money they will save as a result of working from home, such as the cost of a takeaway coffee or their bus fare to work.
“If we all come together as a nation and help in a small, affordable way, it will make a huge difference to the most vulnerable in society as we help them through these unprecedented times.
“Please take this opportunity by donating to the Aberlour Urgent Assistance Fund so that children, young people and families don’t suffer as a result of Coronavirus.”
You can donate to Aberlour’s Urgent Assistance Fund here: www.aberlour.org.uk/donate/
How Aberlour’s Urgent Assistance Fund helped Sarah and her baby
Shortly after Sarah’s baby was born, both became unwell and were rushed to intensive care for a week. After recovering, they were due to be discharged when it became apparent that Sarah had very little income and no support from family. That meant after paying her household bills and baby essentials, there wasn’t enough money left to buy warm clothing.
Aberlour’s Urgent Assistance Fund came to the rescue for Sarah and her baby. It provided Sarah with a sum of money to enable her to have food for her cupboards and freezer, warm clothes for her and her baby to minimise any repeat visits to hospital, and money for her gas and electricity meters.
If you require urgent assistance, you can apply to receive funding from Aberlour’s Urgent Assistance Fund.
You’ll need a health professional, Social Worker, teacher, third sector organisation, clergy or other professional to support your application.
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