charity – Page 77 – The NEN – North Edinburgh News

MYDG is Sainsbury’s new charity partner

Sainsbury’s Blackhall has announced that Muirhouse Youth Development Group (MYDG) will receive a year’s worth of fundraising and awareness support.

MYDG supports local young people by giving them a purpose with volunteering, educational experiences and activities, and the project will be the new Local Charity partner for Sainsbury’s Blackhall store for the next twelve months.

It’s the sixth year of Sainsbury’s Local Charity partner scheme, which has raised over £6 million for local charities.

Congratulations, MYDG!

Still time to donate food at Tesco

There’s still time to donate food items to support Tesco’s Neighbourhood Food Challenge.

Tesco is hosting a nationwide food collection from 3 – 5 July with foodbank charity Trussell Trust and food redistribution charity FareShare, and the group hopes that customers and colleagues will collect five million meals for people in need.

This is Tesco’s fourth Neighbourhood Food Collection since the initiative was launched in December 2012. So far they have collected 10 million meals for people in need around the UK with the last collection in December 2013 achieving 4.3 million donated meals.

Tesco will also be topping up total donations by a further 30%.

This weekend has been chosen because Tesco research found that “people are usually less generous in the Summer months than at other times of the year”. Only 7% of people surveyed said that they were at their most charitable during the Summer – yet many low-income families find the summer particularly hard as children no longer benefit from free school meals.

In July and August last year Trussell Trust foodbanks alone gave emergency food to 133,539 people, including 47,639 children. The charity expects demand to be higher this Summer.

Thousands of volunteers from the Trussell Trust and the FareShare network are involved over the weekend campaign, as will hundreds of volunteers from the British Red Cross. FareShare will distribute some of the donated food to some of the other 1,290 charities that it supports.

Lindsay Boswell, CEO of FareShare said: “As the research shows, people are more generous at Christmas when it’s easier to remember those in need. However, we are urging people to give generously once more and not forget that the summer is also a difficult time for many as they struggle to provide for their families during the long break”.

MS Therapy Centre seeks volunteers for Golden Mile

The MS Therapy Centre is looking for volunteers this Sunday (22 June) to take part in the Golden Mile Walks.

As part of the Centre’s 30th anniversary, it is looking for each volunteer to raise £30 which will make a difference to all those in the Lothians living with multiple sclerosis.

Nancy Campbell, Operations Manager at the Centre, said: “With a choice of walking one, two or three miles we hope Edinburgh people who may be at a loose end on Sunday and fancy a walk will take part in the Golden Mile Walks and raise much needed funds for us.

“Nearly 2,500 people in the Lothians live with the debilitating condition of MS and our Centre provides a life line for many. We are there for practical and emotional support and only exist because of the generosity of others.”

The Golden Mile Walks take place at 11:30 am at the Edinburgh College Sports Grounds (formerly Civil Service Club), Marine Drive, Silverknowes.

For more information go www.challengescotland.com

Creativity’s the write approach for therapy centre

MS Therapy Centre Lothian launches creative writing fundraiser

The MS Therapy Centre Lothian today launched its latest fundraiser – a new creative writing service which will benefit its 200 visitors. MS: My Story will be a series of eight weekly creative writing workshops, specifically designed for people with multiple sclerosis to experiment with writing about their lives.

The groups will be led by a creative writing facilitator who focuses on the therapeutic benefit of writing – not spelling, grammar or literary quality. This means that the content of the writing, no matter how personal, will be treated as important and valuable.

At the end of the eight week series, participants will be given the option to publish a piece of their writing in a small booklet which will then be used to raise awareness of MS and to raise funds for the centre.

Nancy Campbell, Operations Manager at the Centre, said: “Writing is not a substitute for counselling or therapy, but it is a cost-effective, community-based and often enjoyable way to address emotional issues. Putting words down on the page can help people to order their thoughts, perhaps even leading to positive adjustments to their lives. Penning a poem can also create a wonderful sense of achievement.”

To make the initiative possible, the centre is looking for £2,500. Each person that provides funding – ranging from a minimum of £10 to over £500 – will be kept informed of the project’s progress with some being offered the opportunity to take part in a creative writing workshop.

Nancy added: “The yearly cost of providing our current services is around £200,000, which we are able to raise thanks to the kind support of regular donors and fundraisers. However, these running costs mean that we simply cannot draw upon existing support to fund new projects – every penny is needed to maintain our current level of support.

“We are hoping that crowdfunding will help us to find new supporters, interested in pioneering this innovative and exciting way of supporting our clients. The money will cover the fees of the creative writing facilitator inclusive of materials and over an eight week period, the cost of 200 copies of our publication and a launch event.”

To donate please visit http://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/MS-My-Story/

The MS Therapy Centre Lothian is a charity providing help and practical therapies such as physiotherapy, complementary therapies and oxygen therapy as well as emotional support and advice.

www.mstc-lothian.org.uk

Further £15 million to support disadvantaged families

Thousands of Scotland’s most disadvantaged children, young people and families are set to benefit from £15 million new funding over the next year, Minister for Children and Young People Aileen Campbell has announced.

The Scottish Government will invest £10 million to continue the Third Sector Early Intervention Fund for 2015-16 to support voluntary groups working to give children the best start in life, for example through projects to tackle poverty, promote parenting skills and encourage family support for learning.

An additional £5 million will be made available to allow strategic funding partnerships (SFPs) that were established in 2013 to help the government and public sector partners improve outcomes for young people and their families to be extended through to spring 2016.

Ms Campbell, Minister for Children and Young People said: “We are working to give every child in Scotland the best start in life. That’s why we’re extending funded early learning and childcare, making free school meals available for every child in P1 to P3 and strengthening how public services work together to support children and families and ensure our most disadvantaged young people are not left behind.

“We’re also committed to supporting a capable, sustainable and enterprising third sector. This new funding will help deliver a wide range of projects to support families and empower communities, improving the life chances of children across the country and moving us closer to our shared vision of making Scotland the best place to grow up.”

A £20 million Third Sector Early Intervention Fund was established in early 2013, with 96 awards made for a range of organisations and projects. A further 45 organisations received support through SFPs to enhance or develop work focussed on supporting the needs of young people and their families. Both funding streams run over two years, up to March 2015.

One of those groups currently funded, One Parent Families Scotland (OPFS), has received a total of £709,284 from the Third Sector Early Intervention Fund.

OPFS Director Satwat Rehman said: “We received core funding which has been invaluable in ensuring we can have the information, advice and systems in place across the organisation to work with single parents and their children and respond to the issues they tell us they need support with such as debt and money advice, family and parenting support and childcare, ultimately improving outcomes for children at greatest risk of not achieving their potential due to the effects of poverty.

“We also received project funding to work with single fathers and contact fathers to work with them and help them support their children through positive activities and interactions as well as support the fathers to be more involved in local activities and groups thereby reducing the isolation they and their children experience”.

Among other projects currently being supported are Mellow Parenting, which has been able to establish eight new Dad’s groups across Scotland to improve parental attachment between fathers and their children; Mind Mosaic, which has provided play therapy to 25 children and young people and family support to 32 parents/carers and 9 kinship carers; and Dyslexia Scotland, which is providing high-quality advice, support and information to young people, and those who support them.

The funding has also been able to support organisations to work in partnership to add value to their activities. So far well over 3,500 families facing significant challenges have been supported.

The Third Sector Early Intervention Fund (TSEIF) was established in early 2013 and is administered by The Big Fund in Scotland. Today’s funding announcement means that the TSEIF and current SFPs will continue for a further year until March 2016.

Further information on the new funding will be published by the Scottish Government next month.

Happy birthday CAB!

Local MP praises work of Citizen Advice service

Mark Lazarowicz MP has pledged his support for Citizen’s Advice’s new campaign at a reception held to celebrate the charity’s 75th birthday. The Advice for the Future campaign aims to highlight the importance of free, impartial advice and get 100,000 people pledging their support.

Citizens Advice has launched the campaign as rising household bills, changes to the welfare system and a troubled jobs market mean that for many life is getting increasingly complicated. This means it’s even more important that people can access free, relevant and impartial advice to help make complex decisions.

Citizens Advice Scotland, the Scottish counterpart to Citizens Advice, opened its first bureau in September 1939 and so will also be celebrating its 75th anniversary later this year.

The North and Leith MP said: “I know from my work as a constituency MP just how valuable the service provided by Citizens Advice is to constituents: free, independent, impartial and trusted.

“The major changes to the benefit system introduced by this Government, sharply rising energy bills and the difficulty that many households have in just keeping their heads above water have left many more people turning to Citizens Advice for help.

“It has also used its first hand experience in dealing with the practical problems people face to contribute positively to debate on public policy which is why I and other Opposition MPs fought so hard against the restrictions that the Lobbying Act would have placed on charities.

“Largely run by volunteers though publicly funded, it supports the vulnerable and indeed anyone who needs advice: our society would struggle to cope without it.”

Citizens Advice celebrates its 75th anniversary this year:

• In 2013/14 the charity helped 2 million people to solve 5.5 million problems
• In 2012/13, 22,000 volunteers donated nearly 7 million hours to the service
• This amounts to a contribution of £109 million worth of volunteering hours.

SSPCA plea: don’t leave dogs in hot cars

Dogs die in hot cars warning

The Scottish SPCA is urging pet owners not to leave their dogs in hot cars this summer, warning that last year a man in Scotland was convicted for doing so.

Concerned members of the public have already been contacting the
charity’s animal helpline after seeing distressed dogs left inside warm
vehicles.

The Scottish SPCA is keen to remind the public that they may be risking their dog’s life by leaving it in a hot car for even a short period of time.

Chief Superintendent Mike Flynn said, “Most people know what it’s like to get into a car after it’s been sitting in the sun. It’s unbearable and we immediately roll down the windows or turn on the air conditioning.

“Imagine being trapped inside a hot vehicle wearing a fur coat for minutes, possibly hours, and you are some way to understanding how a dog left inside a hot vehicle feels.

“Many people might not realise that even on warm, cloudy days, cars can
effectively turn into ovens and dogs can overheat in minutes. Leaving a window open or providing water is simply not good enough – dogs can’t sweat the way humans do and need to pant to cool down which can lead to severe dehydration and hyperventilation.

“We run our ‘dogs die in hot cars’ campaign every year but we continue
to receive a large numbers of calls from concerned members of the public
each summer and we fear some owners don’t fully appreciate the danger
they are putting their pets in.

“Causing an animal unnecessary suffering is an offence and last year a
54 year old man from Glasgow was convicted after leaving his two dogs
inside a hot vehicle in the height of summer. He was banned from keeping animals for ten years and his two jack russells were not returned to his care as a result.

“Thankfully these dogs made a full recovery after receiving emergency
treatment for heat stress but they could have died had we not
intervened. “We hope this case serves as a warning to other owners who may be tempted to leave their dogs in their vehicle on a warm day.

“Our advice is to leave dogs at home as it is simply not worth the risk.”

Scottish SPCA posters highlighting the dangers of leaving dogs in hot
cars are available to be displayed in local communities. To request copies please phone the charity’s Animal Helpline on 03000 999 999 and
select option 5.

Alternatively, email editor@scottishspca.org, providing the address you
wish your posters to be sent to and the number you wish to receive.

Events students go bananas to raise charity cash!

Edinburgh College students have raised a whopping £5,000 for charity by organising a series of enterprising events, including a tropical-themed party.

As part of their coursework, the group of events students put their heads together and organised an imaginative programme of events to raise thousands of pounds for the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SSPCA) and children’s charity When You Wish Upon A Star. As well as raising money, the projects gave them practical experience in managing real-life events.

HNC Events Management student Sonia Gruszczynska was part of the Tropical Escape team that organised the party, transporting guests to a tropical paradise in the city with the help of fruit headpieces, a full reggae and ska band, limbo competitions and Hawaiian hula dancing!

Sonia said: “It was fantastic to use our practical experience as events students to raise money for these worthwhile charities. You learn so much more about the practicalities of organising events when working on large-scale fundraisers such as this.

“The night before our event, the venue we had booked cancelled on us due to technical problems. Despite this massive dilemma, we found another venue within 24 hours and managed to tell our guests in time. The night was a success and, despite the enormous difficulties faced with the venue cancellation, we managed to pull off a great party and raised a lot of money for charity.”

Scottish SPCA animal rescue officer Lee Williams said: “We’re extremely grateful to the students from Edinburgh College’s HND Events Management course, who have decided to donate this money to us.

“As we rely solely on the generosity of the public to help us care for abused, abandoned and neglected animals each year, we’re very appreciative of every donation we receive. This was a fantastic gesture and we’d like to offer our sincere thanks to the students for choosing to donate half of the funds raised to the Scottish SPCA.”

Stephanie Donaghey, the Scotland regional fundraiser for When You Wish Upon A Star, said: “All of the events we attended were really well organised and it was great to be able to communicate our purpose as a charity to such a wide and diverse audience. The significant donation from the college will enable us to grant more special wishes to children in Scotland with life threatening illnesses. We were extremely grateful for the opportunity.”

Edinburgh College events lecturer Caroline Patterson said: “We believe it’s crucial to give our students first-hand experience in organising and managing their own events. The events industry in Scotland is expanding and is incredibly fast paced, so in order to give our students the competitive edge when they graduate we know it’s important to make sure they have this valuable experience under their belts. We’re very proud of them all for raising so much money for charity and we have every faith that they will succeed in the future.”

As well as the tropical-themed party, the HNC Events Management students organised a host of events including a tapas bar crawl, a 90s-themed night, an art exhibition, the Wee Gig Night, a masquerade ball, a prohibition-themed night, a country hoedown, a ceilidh, a scavenger hunt and a late-night screening of the Rocky Horror Show. Over the last five years, the HNC Events Management students have raised more than £16,000 for a variety of different charities.

Sainsburys cheque for Maggies Centre

As voting for our new charity partner begins (see earlier [post), we now hand over the final cheque for our outgoing local charity partner.

Customers and colleagues at Sainsburys Blackhall have raised a fantastic £9,050 for the Maggie’s Centre at the Western General over the last year!

Thank you to all our customers for their support.

Gail, Sainsburys Blackhall.

CY4You: New service for vulnerable young people launched

CY4You, a one-to-one support service to help vulnerable young people, has been officially launched by the specialist relationships and sexual health charity Caledonia Youth.

Stacey Burns and Rachael Mulhern, two young women who have benefitted from Caledonia Youth services, helped launch the initiative and were joined by Kezia Dugdale MSP, Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning and the Caledonia Youth team for the CY4You launch at the charity’s city centre facility at Castle Terrace.

Representatives from education, social workers, the voluntary sector and funders heard Rachael (18) and Stacey (24) describe their experiences and explain how they were supported by the Caledonia Youth one to one service.

Rachael had suffered from serious confidence issues at a transitional stage leading up to her leaving school and moving into employment, and Stacey had experienced relationship difficulties, stemming from a brain tumour when she was just five. The service helped them cope with these problems.

“We are delighted that Rachael and Stacey shared their own stories to help us launch our innovative CY4You initiative, along with Kezia Dugdale MSP who has been most supportive of our services,” said Caledonia Youth Chief Executive Hawys Kilday.

“CY4You is a fundamental part of our overall strategy to ramp up the provision of preventative services in Scotland. It builds upon years of experience delivering specialist one to one support and counselling services, which have benefited hundreds of vulnerable young people.

“It supports them by providing sessions tailored to suit each individual’s personal circumstances. We focus on a young person’s ability to cope with the transition into adulthood, aiming to improve resilience, reduce risk taking behaviour and enhance personal and family relationships. We also support those at risk of sexual ill health, sexual abuse and exploitation.

“We are most grateful to our funding partners, the R S Macdonald Charitable Trust, the Volant Charitable Trust and Ponton House Trust, whose support lets us deliver CY4You in the Edinburgh and Lothian region. Moving forward, we will be actively seeking further backing to help us extend as a centre of excellence and widen the reach of this unique service across Scotland.”

Kezia Dugdale MSP said: “Caledonia Youth has a strong track record in being dedicated advocates for young people, and I am delighted to see the launch of this innovative one-to-one service.

“Caledonia Youth excels at providing specific sexual health services for young people, something which I firmly believe should be supported. Young people need dedicated services, with people trained to deal with the needs of a young person, be it medical or emotional.”

The CY4You service, which complements statutory Relationships, Sexual Health & Parenthood Education (RSHPE) by providing much needed and more intensive individual support, begins with the preparation of an individualised plan and bespoke materials following a discussion based needs assessment, when learning outcomes are also agreed.
Young people are given the opportunity to attend up to 10-one hour sessions with an assigned member of the CY4You team. Information is only shared with the young person’s consent unless it is deemed a Child Protection or Vulnerable Adult issue when the relevant individuals are informed.

Young people must be under 25 and, at present, resident in Edinburgh and the Lothians when CY4You sessions begin. One hour sessions are delivered at Caledonia Youth’s Edinburgh facility at 5 Castle Terrace, unless otherwise agreed.

For more information on how to refer to the service contact the CY4You team on 0131 229 1402

email: cy4you@caledoniayouth.org

or online at www.caledoniayouth.org