Month: April 2020

NHS Lothian ‘under significant strain’

The latest NHS Lothian board papers warn its “total capacity will be under significant strain throughout April and probably beyond” (link).

The papers reveal the estimated cost of dealing with coronavirus for the board and local social care alliances is £80m, but that figure was of 17 March.

Officers from the Royal Marines and British Army are supporting the health board’s executive team as well, it is revealed.

The papers also show that urgent cardiac surgery is now being carried out at the Golden Jubilee National Hospital in Clydebank.

Lothian MSP, Miles Briggs, said: “It is very concerning that NHS Lothian is going to be under such significant strain over the next few months.

“NHS Lothian were already facing significant challenges in delivering service before the Coronavirus outbreak and are now facing even greater challenges.

“It’s welcome during these difficult times that our NHS can call on the help of our UK armed forces.

“The Scottish Government and NHS Lothian must work together during this crisis to support NHS staff to provide the best possible patient care at this extremely challenging time.”

Emergency help for those worse affected by coronavirus

People most at risk from the impacts of the coronavirus outbreak are to receive further support following emergency investment in crucial services.

Charities Scottish Women’s Aid, Social Bite (above) and other key partners will share up to £8 million to provide an emergency response and ensure services can react to coronavirus (COVID-19).

Disadvantaged groups facing hardships such as homelessness, food insecurity or social isolation and loneliness are among those to benefit from services such as:

• emergency accommodation in Glasgow and Edinburgh
• the provision of food and essential supplies to vulnerable groups in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen
• public health information translated into British Sign Language (BSL) and the creation of an easy, one-stop shop approach for BSL users
• online and telephone support for both older people and young people, and more isolated members of the LGBT community, to improve mental resilience and wellbeing

This investment is part of the Scottish Government’s wider £350 million Communities Funding to help those most affected by the pandemic.

Communities Secretary Aileen Campbell said: “We are facing an unprecedented situation that requires a practical response – at scale and pace – to help people most at risk in our community. We must do all that we can to protect the health, welfare and wellbeing of the people of Scotland.

“These significant national investments are helping to strengthen the support available to individuals and ensuring that key services are available for those most in need.

“We are continuing to work with partners, including community organisations to ensure funding reaches those best placed to provide support.”

The Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO) receives an award of £3 million. SCVO Chief Executive Anna Fowlie said: “I am delighted that Aileen Campbell, Cabinet Secretary for Communities and Local Government, and her colleagues in Scottish Government have listened to the voices from the voluntary sector looking for urgent support at this time of unprecedented uncertainty.

“The measures announced today will go a long way to helping voluntary organisations through the immediate pressures, which of course means that they can continue to rise to the challenge of supporting people and communities across the country.”

Scottish Women’s Aid has been allocated £1.35 million and there’s over £226,000 for Rape Crisis Scotland. The Child Poverty Action Group is awarded £105,000.

The £350 million Communities Funding was announced by Communities Secretary Aileen Campbell on 18 March 2020.

Since it was announced more than £100 million of new support has been delivered to local authorities to assist their efforts. This includes £50 million in hardship funding, £22 million to bolster the Scottish Welfare Fund, and £30 million from the Food Fund.

An additional £23 million is held in reserve for the Scottish Welfare Fund and will be targeted to where it is most needed. £50 million is also in reserve to meet increased demand for Scottish Social Security and support through the Council Tax Reduction Scheme.

The Third Sector Resilience Fund, worth £20 million, launched on the 25th of March.

The full list of the projects to be awarded a share of the funding is:

Organisation Amount Brief outline of project
Young Scot £46,992 Young Scot will deliver Covid-19 information and social media support for young people.
Who Cares? £175,132 Support for the Care Experienced Community.
British Deaf Association Scotland £26,212.50 Public health information to be translated into British Sign Language (BSL) and for there to be an easy, one-stop shop approach for BSL users to find official information
Scottish Women’s Aid £1,350,000 Deliver increased provision of support
Rape Crisis Scotland £226,309 Deliver increased provision of support
Child Poverty Action Group £104,877 Ensure the most up to date advice and support is disseminated to advisors to support families in need through increasing staffing levels; provision of IT equipment to facilitate the move to home provision of support; development and delivery of webinars to a group of front line advisors; subscription costs, development of benefit advice bulletins and increased advice line capacity.
One Parent Families Scotland £100,000 Deliver increased provision of support
Simon Community £296,000 Securing emergency accommodation in Glasgow and Edinburgh to support vulnerable people through the COVID 19 Crisis. Their actual funding proposal shows this is for two months
Simon Community £21,290 Extra accommodation in Edinburgh
Glasgow Night Shelter £153,500 Destitute Asylum Seekers – Emergency accommodation response for destitute asylum seekers
Age Scotland £80,000 Helpline costs
Gypsy/Travellers – Various Partners £73,600 Deliver increased provision of support
LGBT Health and Wellbeing £10,000 Provide telephone support to more isolated members of the LGBT community, with a particular focus on older LGBT people and those experiencing digital exclusion, and expand their LGBT Helpline Scotland from 2 to 4 days per week.
LGBT Youth Scotland £41,500 To improve support for the LGBTI community in Scotland, particularly those aged 13-25, throughout Covid-19 through accelerating development of a Digital Youth Work platform, including learning hub to offer improved support, help them develop greater resilience in relation to their mental health and in time, new skills and strengths.
BEMIS £56,100 To provide access to essential food to diverse minority ethnic communities across Scotland through a network of organisations via a Small Grant Sustenance Fund and emergency grant relief to individuals and families or those supporting them directly such as foodbanks.
Befriending Network £6,333 Additional staff costs to support befriending organisations
Glasgow Disability Alliance £85,800 Additional staff costs for telephony and online support
Equality Network £3,932.82 To provide Zoom accounts to allow regional LGBT groups to stay in contact, many of whom have members who are socially isolated for a number of reasons
SCoJeC £4,650 The proposal has 3 parts: 1. Connecting with Jewish Communities (£2,750), 2. Crisis Hardship Fund (£2,000) and 3. Providing food packages urgently for Passover (£1,900) totalling £6,650.
DeafBlind Scotland £30,000 To produce information in Braille, Moon, XXL print, BSL videos or audio CDs; increase access to advocacy and advice staff to help people understand what support is available to access grants and support; and to increase home visits for Deafblind people who don’t have self-directed support.
Social Bite £500,000 The provision of food and essential supplies to vulnerable groups in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen through the Covid-19 crisis
FareShare £500,000 To purchase and distribute ambient food
Cash For Kids £500,000 To give vouchers/cards to families for essential items including food and fuel
Food Train £241,515 To respond to the increased demand for older people seeking home delivery of food
Coalition with support from the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO) Up to £3,000,000 The Scottish Government is working with SCVO as part of a coalition programme to ensure funding gets to community groups
Intercultural Youth Scotland £22,296 Provides for a range of activity to support young minority ethnic people, particularly around mental health support and careers support
Barnardo’s £178,000 To provide direct support to 2,100 children, young people and families with an estimated distribution of £23k per week, plus £40k across the period to support capital spend (e.g. laptops/phones/activity packs to support school work and reduce social isolation). Barnardos’ is working with Action for Children to ensure a cohesive approach is taken across Scotland.
Action for Children £202,000 To support over 20,000 children and young people, including disabled children, care experienced young people, and young carers, and their families, through a two-tier response: i. Welfare Response and Emergency Fund which will distribute funding support to young people and families and ii. Wellbeing Response and Safeguarding Capacity which will increase the organisation’s capacity to protect children, young people and families at greatest risk who may be more isolated than ever due to the current situation.

Total: £8,036,039.32

Boris Johnson in Intensive Care as his condition worsens

Downing Street issued the following statement last night:

Since Sunday evening, the Prime Minister has been under the care of doctors at St Thomas’ Hospital, in London, after being admitted with persistent symptoms of coronavirus.

Over the course of this afternoon, the condition of the Prime Minister has worsened and, on the advice of his medical team, he has been moved to the Intensive Care Unit at the hospital.

The PM has asked Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, who is the First Secretary of State, to deputise for him where necessary.

The PM is receiving excellent care, and thanks all NHS staff for their hard work and dedication.

There has been no change to his condition overnight.

A further statement on the Prime Minister’s health is expected later today.

Free Coronavirus Information book for children

Axel Scheffler has illustrated a digital book for primary school age children, free for anyone to read on screen or print out, about the coronavirus and the measures taken to control it.

Published by Nosy Crow, and written by staff within the company, the book has had expert input: Professor Graham Medley of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine acted as a consultant, and the company also had advice from two head teachers and a child psychologist.

The book answers key questions in simple language appropriate for 5 to 9 year olds:

• What is the coronavirus?
• How do you catch the coronavirus?
• What happens if you catch the coronavirus?
• Why are people worried about catching the coronavirus?
• Is there a cure for the coronavirus?
• Why are some places we normally go to closed?
• What can I do to help?
• What’s going to happen next?

We want to make sure that this book is accessible to every child and family and so the book is offered totally free of charge to anyone who wants to read it.

However, we have suggested, at the back of the book, that families might make a donation to help our health service if they find the book useful: https://www.nhscharitiestogether.co.uk/.

Kate Wilson, Managing Director of Nosy Crow, said: “We were very aware that many parents and carers are struggling to explain the current extraordinary situation to children, many of whom are frightened and confused.

“We thought that the best thing we could do would be to use our skills to produce a free book to explain and, where possible, reassure children. We asked Axel, whose work is so familiar and so loved, to illustrate it. He was happy to do it, and did it extraordinarily quickly.

“Meanwhile, having heard Professor Medley interviewed by the BBC, we looked him up and wrote to him, and despite his huge workload, he reviewed the book over a weekend, and we were able to incorporate his suggestions, together with those of two head teachers and a child psychologist, into the final version of the book. We hope it helps answer difficult questions in difficult times.”

Axel Scheffler, illustrator of The Gruffalo, said: “I asked myself what I could do as an children’s illustrator to inform, as well as entertain, my readers here and abroad. So I was glad when my publisher, Nosy Crow, asked me to illustrate this question-and-answer book about the coronavirus.

“I think it is extremely important for children and families to have access to good and reliable information in this unprecedented crisis, and I hope that the popularity of the books I’ve done with Julia Donaldson will ensure that this digital book will reach many children who are now slightly older, but might still remember our picture books.”

Professor Graham Medley, Professor of Infectious Disease Modelling at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, said: “This pandemic is changing children’s lives across the globe and will have a lasting impact on us all.

“Helping children understand what is going on is an important step in helping them cope and making them part of the story – this is something that we are all going through, not something being done to them.

“This book puts children IN the picture rather just watching it happen, and in a way that makes the scary parts easier to cope with.”

You can download a copy of the book here 

Coronavirus crisis: local government unions call for consistency

Scotland’s leading trade unions in local government are calling on First Minister Nicola Sturgeon to take urgent action to address the inconsistent approach being taken by local authorities, which could risk lives.

UNISON, Unite and GMB collectively represent over 120,000 workers in local authorities across Scotland, many of whom are on the frontline delivering essential services and providing care to vulnerable groups.

The trade unions have been involved in ongoing discussions with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) on their response to this crisis, but are increasingly concerned that the lack of urgency and consistency is now putting service users and workers at risk that it now requires the First Minister’s direct intervention.

In a letter to the First Minister the trade unions are highlighting a number of key concerns including:

  • Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) – Ongoing concerns regarding the availability and quality of PPE for workers. There are specific issues regarding the availability of PPE for those working with vulnerable users in home care settings and the need for urgent clarification over the self-isolation for workers who have been in close contact with service users confirmed as having the virus.
  • Testing Workers – There is an urgent need to test frontline workers in accordance with WHO guidance. There appears to be no strategy or consistency currently about when tests will be rolled out and who will be tested.
  • Social Distancing– Serious concerns continue about the ability of workers to observe social distancing measures at work.  There are particular difficulties with workers being told to travel to sites in the same vehicle – in waste and home care services in particular.
  • Key Workers– The need for greater clarity around who meets the definition of a ‘key worker’ because there are many situations where some workers in some authorities are being deemed ‘key workers’ and others are not.
  • Waste Collection– The need for a one nation policy on residential waste collection. 32 local authorities are doing different things – some maintaining a full service, others closing all waste and recycling centres.

The Joint Trade Unions state:  “UNISON, Unite and GMB have been raising a number of key concerns in relation to the inconsistent and potentially dangerous approach to dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic with COSLA.

“We believe that local government workers, and those in the third and private sectors, delivering our essential services must be protected in terms of their health both physical and mental. To date this is not being done anywhere near effectively enough.

“We are on the brink of the peak of the pandemic and still there exist major concerns over the availability, and guidance around the use of, personal protective equipment – particularly in the social and residential care sector – testing of frontline staff, the difficulties in workers being able to observe social distancing at work and the definition of who is a key worker.

“The trade unions appreciate that this is an unprecedented time but the lack of national, consistent, guidance in these areas has the potential to put lives at risk.

“We need a national co-ordinated response – the First Minister needs to lead the effort to ensure that national guidance is both clear and consistently applied by local authorities.”

North Edinburgh community effort gets support to the vulnerable

North Edinburgh groups work together to support vulnerable residents 

It started with a meeting called by local activist Willie Black at West Pilton Neighbourhood Centre on 18 March. That initial discussion got the ball rolling, lit the fuse. From there, there were email from Spartans’ chief exec Douglas Samuel, quickly followed by another from local Lifelong Learning Development Officer Allan Hosey. A community campaign was building …

The idea? To coordinate a local community response to the unprecendented challenges posed to vulnerable people by the coronavirus.

Despite years of funding cuts, North Edinburgh retains a wealth of voluntary sector organisations able to adapt to changing circumstances, so who better to take on this major logistical challenge?

While individual community groups initially started their own support schemes for local folk through Muirhouse Millennium and Drylaw Neigbourhood Centres, pooling resources and sharing information offered a unique opportunity to devise and deliver a bespoke plan to ensure that North Edinburgh’s most vulnerable residents would not go hungry or be without basic essential supplies.

That was mid-March and three weeks later, following a regular series of Zoom meetings, hundreds of local people are seeing the benefit of local organisations working together in partnership.

A co-ordinated community response to the greatest public health emergency of our lives is now fully operational and is constantly being fine tuned as new information becomes available.

Hundreds of hot food, sandwiches and essential supplies pack deliveries are now being distributed from community hubs to all who need them on a daily basis, provided by project staff and a dedicated team of community volunteers.

Reflecting on progress so far, Spartans’ Dougie Samuel said: “It’s been great to be able to play our part in a wider community effort to help and support local families.

“The Academy has become a hub for the collection and redistribution of daily lunches and weekly food parcels for members of our community. In a true ‘bottom-up approach’ numerous community partners have come together to provide a co-ordinated support over these past few weeks.

“I’m super proud of the way in which numerous organisations, many of whom who did not have close day-to-day relationships previously, are pulling together as one.”

Among the community organisations involved in the sexily titled (!) North Edinburgh Cov-id 19 Foodshare Group are: Drylaw Neighbourhood Centre, Drylaw Rainbow Club Daycare Centre, Fresh Start, Granton Community Gardeners, LIFT, Muirhouse Millennium Community Centre, North Edinburgh Arts, Pilton Community Health Project, Pilton Equalities Project (PEP), SCRAN Academy and The Spartans Community Football Academy. There may be more and apologies if I’ve missed you!

Local politicians and community councillors are also taking a leading role and community organisations like Granton Information Centre continue to provide advice and support for vulnerable people during these anxious times.

Willie Black, who continues to chair the foodshare group’s regular Zoom meetings, said: “Local People and organisations are working flat out and this has been a huge community effort. 

“The biggest challenge facing us now is that of capacity. We need the politicians to get us the resources we need to keep the momentum going, because there’s no doubt the demand will increase in the days and weeks ahead.

“In particular we  urgently need additional kitchen capacity and accessible community space for storage.

“News of additional government funding is very welcome and it’s key that this gets down to grassroots level as quickly as possible to enable this vital initiative to continue.”

The next Zoom meeting will take place on Thursday.

At the outset of the lockdown, social enterprise SCRAN Academy,  based at Fet Lor Youth Club on Crewe Road South, launched a crowdfunding appeal to raise £12,000 to provide hot meals for those who need them.

Deliveries commenced on 20 March.

SCRAN’s John Loughton explained in the appeal: “We have had every bit of earned income and work cancelled since covid19 was announced, as well as having to sadly cancel supporting our young people face to face. This has been tough. But it’s right.

“Despite this, our charity staff and volunteers, working with others, responded in less than 24 hours and have now applied our catering and community experience into creating a supply chain where we are delivering a FREE, HEALTHY and SAFE meal every day to people across North Edinburgh and Leith (initially).

“We hope to help, love and support those most vulnerable to follow advice, reduce stress and stay home. Please help us support the OAPs, frail, struggling families, those with health conditions all access one wee crucial lifeline at this stage.

“Our direct partners include Prep Table Scotland, Pilton Equalities Project (PEP), Fet Lor Youth Club, Ryvoan Trust, Muirhouse Millenium Centre and many others including support from EdinburghCatering Co., ArtFe, EdinFoodSocial and many more locals.

“We’re delivering over 1,500 meals per week, your help will guarantee us at least £1000 a week over lockdown. Roughly £12 will feed 1 pensioner everyday for a week.

“The local community, MPs, MSPs, the NHS and others are supportive and we are taking stringent industry-level measures to maximise safety and hygiene.”

The total raised so far stands at £7500.

 

 

Hints and tips on managing money if you’ve been furloughed

The Government’s furlough scheme allows for 80% of salary, up to £2,500, to be reclaimed by the employer per month. 

Many companies are now taking advantage of this scheme in order to protect cash and ensure the longevity of the business when social distancing restrictions can be lifted later in the year, say tax and advisory firm Blick Rothenberg.

David Hough a partner at the first said: “For many employees this is a far better outcome than losing their job altogether, maintaining a slightly reduced income and in all likelihood being able to return to the same place of work later.

“However, many families will still feel the impact of this over the next few months whether it be from being placed on furlough, reduced income from the Government’s Self-Employed Income Support Scheme or loss of income altogether.”

He added: “There are some things that many people can do to help manage over the next few months.”

Remove your salary sacrifice deductions

Plenty of employees contribute into a pension pot through salary sacrifice deductions. It is important to save for your retirement, and the Government encourages this by making such deductions tax free, however removing or reducing these payments will increase your take home pay in the next few months. You can top up your pension later in the year when you have more certainty over your income.

Review your direct debits

Review your direct debits with your family to check you aren’t paying for things that you don’t really need. Gym memberships cannot be used at the moment and should be cancelled or deferred. Families should make sure they are not paying for multiple streaming services, or sports packages for which there is no live action. Companies like Spotify offer family memberships which will save money if a household has more than one account holder.

Defer some payments

Payment deferrals, including mortgage deferrals and other loan holidays, should be agreed with the other party but this approach should mean that you can continue pay for crucial items whilst catching up on other payments later in the year.

Many of us pay for our utilities on a monthly basis which is helpful because it means we can predict our monthly spend. However, you might have built up a credit for gas and electric or contributing more than you will actually use in the warmer months coming up. There is an opportunity to schedule these costs differently to help manage through this more challenging time.

Prepare a six-month budget

If you feel that your available cash is going to be less than normal for the next few months you should aim to make a six-month plan and budget your income and expenses over that period.

If restrictions are lifted in the early summer many people will gradually see their incomes return to a normalised level in months four to six.

You will find it helpful to see that your payments can be managed over a longer period and it will also highlight if there are items you are spending money on that you may need to cut back on at early stage.

The Future is Digital: Scottish Book Trust launches Future

Scottish Book Trust has launched this year’s ‘Your Stories’ national campaign, appealing for members of the public to share real life stories around the theme of future.

People all over the country are encouraged to submit, even if they have never written before.

A selection of stories will be included in a free book that will be given out during Book Week Scotland in November. Submissions can be made in English, Scots, or Gaelic in any form – story, poem, comic strip, play or letter – of up to 1,000 words.

For many of us, the future represents opportunity and gives us hope that we can make positive change for our loved ones, our communities or ourselves.

So whether you’re an activist desperate to transform tomorrow, an eternal optimist setting another target for the year ahead or just a dreamer wondering what the next chapter in your life will be, Scottish Book Trust wants your story.

For those unsure how to start, Scottish Book Trust will be running free, digital workshops with some of Scotland’s most exciting writers:

  • Not the Booker Prize awardee Kirstin Innes, whose upcoming novel Scabby Queen (Fourth Estate) will be released later this year
  • New Writer Awardee and Robert Louis Stevenson fellow Malachy Tallack, author of The Valley at the Centre of the World (Canongate)
  • Saltire Award nominated author Alison Irvine, author of This Road is Red (Luath Press)
  • Next Chapter Awardee Samina Chaudry

Marc Lambert, CEO of Scottish Book Trust said: “2020 is a landmark year, and future is the perfect theme to reflect the ongoing social and cultural change happening right now.

“We want to hear your story: even if you’ve never written about yourself before. Hopes, fears, dreams – Scottish Book Trust welcomes them all.”

Alison Lang, Director of the Gaelic Books Council, said: “Everyone has a story to tell, and the Gaelic Books Council hopes that people throughout the country will take the opportunity to reflect on the theme “Future” – in verse, in prose or in any other way they choose – and that there will be plenty of Gaelic stories among this year’s submissions.”

The digital nature of the workshops will allow the writers to engage with an audience no matter their location, allowing the opportunity to be as inclusive as possible.

Given the current climate, online workshops can provide the public with a safe space to be creative, supporting positive mental health and wellbeing.

Each workshop has limited space so sign up is essential, and the writers will explore different prompts and methods for story writing. They will all also contribute their own stories about future for the book.

Visit Scottish Book Trust’s website for more information.

Poet and performer Marjorie Lotfi Gill will also provide writing prompts every Tuesday to help tackle the future theme. These will be made available through Scottish Book Trust’s website and social media.

Tam Clark, poet and writer, will provide his own interpretation of Future in Scots. Scottish Book Trust is also working in partnership with the Gaelic Books Council: author Cairistìona Stone and poet Griogar MacThòmais will provide their own stories for the campaign.

Future is open for submissions from today until Friday 5 June 2020.

Submissions can be made online or via post to:

Future, FAO Gordon Connelly, Scottish Book Trust, Sandeman House, Trunk’s Close, 55 High Street, Edinburgh, EH1 1SR.

 

 

Wide range of support for families, says council

We’ve put in place a wide range of much-needed support for families of children with additional support needs during the Coronavirus pandemic, says the city council.

This is clearly a very worrying time for everyone in Edinburgh but even more so for those families with children who have complex needs and require additional support.

Our teams from across Children’s Services have worked tirelessly to put in place a series of measures across the city. These include:

  • Residential respite care at our own Seaview Centre and third sector partners Action for Children and Barnardo’s Caern targeting families most in need
  • Day care in two special school hubs for children of key workers and to provide respite to some families with children with complex needs
  • Our Additional Support for Learning service is taking a small number of children outdoors for activities as these children would struggle in a hub school due to their vulnerabilities.
  • We’re engaging with third sector providers to develop more bespoke one to one services for children with additional support needs to give families respite
  • The All of Us campaign with the NSPCC provides support and advice with parenting or the worries about family life and where to turn to if there are concerns about a child
  • Some families with children with disabilities/complex needs have been unable to get online supermarket deliveries as they cannot shop with their children due to their complex needs (i.e. ASD) so our staff are shopping and delivering supplies to them

Council Leader Adam McVey said: “Now more than ever we have to ensure there is continued support for children with additional support needs and their families during this pandemic.

We’ve put in place a series of initiatives to do just that and thanks must go to our hard-working staff and third sector partners who are providing these vital services.

Depute Leader Cammy Day said: “Our teams have been identifying families and contacting them in person which means those in the greatest need are benefiting from the wide range of services available.

In many cases it involves targeted one to one support which is crucial in supporting families and preventing the need for crisis respite.”

Coronavirus food fund: support to put meals on tables

Families unable to access food as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak will get support from local authorities with £30 million of new investment from the Scottish Government Food Fund.

The funding will support those most in need including families with children who are eligible for free school meals, older people, those with long-term health conditions and pregnant women.

Councils will have flexibility to use this additional resource in ways that best meet emerging local needs and circumstances, working with community groups and businesses to support home delivery, provide financial help and meet dietary requirements. 

Allocations include more than £4.7 million for Glasgow, £1.65 million for Edinurgh and £2.2 million for Fife.

The funding, one part of the £350 million Communities Fund, will be distributed to councils across Scotland by COSLA.

Communities Secretary Aileen Campbell said: “This pandemic is impacting on all our lives but for some it is more than a disruption, it is severely restricting their ability to access food for themselves and their families.

“It is vital that we work together to ensure the most vulnerable people in our communities receive the support they need.

“Local authorities are uniquely placed to respond swiftly in partnership with community groups and organisations to help those struggling.

“We know that free school meals are vital for families across the country and an important way of ensuring their children receive the nutritious food they need. That is why it is so important that support continues while schools remain closed.

“This fund will help ensure the most vulnerable people in our society during this outbreak receive support. The guidance shared with local authorities today supports local thinking about how funding can best be targeted and deployed.”

COSLA Children and Young People spokesperson Councillor Stephen McCabe said: “Access to food is a current and vital concern for many people in our communities. Councils are committed to working flexibly, ensuring local access for those who are vulnerable or isolating and to maintain access to free school meals for entitled families.

“Local Authorities will continue to work with and for local people to ensure provision that is right for them. We welcome the food fund guidance produced by Scottish Government that supports this local decision making.”

COSLA Resources spokesperson Councillor Gail Macgregor said: “As a result of Covid-19, greater numbers of people are at risk of food insecurity. Councils are facing additional challenges in ensuring food reaches those most in need.

“In these challenging times, we welcome the Scottish Government’s announcement of additional funding.”

Edinburgh’s council leaders have also welcomed news of the Scottish Government’s Food Fund, which will provide Edinburgh with an additional £1.651 million to help feed the city’s most at-risk residents.

Council leader Cllr Adam Mcvey said: “No one should be left feeling hungry and without enough food because they’re self-isolating. We’re here to help our most vulnerable residents through this difficult time and we’ll do everything in our power to support them.

“Already, we’ve been delivering food parcels to those in our care and thousands of families who might be struggling while schools are closed. The £1.65 million we’ll receive from the Scottish Government as part of their Coronavirus Food Fund is hugely welcome and will allow us to build on this work, as long as there is a local need.”

Depute Leader, Cammy Day, added: “There has been an incredible response from local communities working together to reduce the risk of food poverty and while there is no shortage of food overall, it’s increasingly difficult for people who can’t leave their homes to get the supplies they need.

“One of the actions we’ve already taken is to provide additional cash support to eligible families with school children. We now need to work hard over the coming days to identify how to best use this additional funding to support Edinburgh’s residents, working closely with local communities and charities, who are already supporting vulnerable people with essential basic food supplies.”

 

The £350 million Communities Fund was first announced by Communities Secretary Aileen Campbell on 18 March 2020.

Since it was announced, over £100 million of new support has been delivered to local authorities to assist their efforts. This includes £50 million in hardship funding, £22 million to bolster the Scottish Welfare Fund and £30 million from the Food Fund.

The guidance shared with local authorities outlines seven key principles to support local thinking about how funding can best be targeted and deployed.

People worried about food during the COVID-19 crisis should contact their local authority for further information on the help and support available to them.