Tag: Community One Stop Shop

Three Edinburgh charities to benefit from Scotmid support

Three Edinburgh charities have successfully secured £8,500 funding thanks to Scotmid Co-operative’s Community Connect award scheme.

Street Assist, Community One Stop Shop and Kids Love Clothes have each been awarded funding after being shortlisted by the convenience retailer as charities in the East of Scotland to receive financial support from an overall £84,000 pot.

Commenting on the support, Street Assist Edinburgh Founder, Neil Logan, said: “Street Assist Edinburgh are delighted to receive an equal share of the Scotmid Community Connect Grant with the Community One Stop Shop Project and Kids Love Clothes.

“It has been a very difficult time for many charities operating throughout the pandemic so this funding will get us some much-needed stability over the coming months as we try to re-establish our services.”

In normal times, Scotmid would typically select a shortlist of community projects which its members then vote on to allocate different amounts of funding. However, due to the pandemic, the Scotmid Board agreed that all shortlisted charities and community groups would receive equal amounts of funding within each region.

Kids Love Clothes Founder, Denise Thomas, said: “We can’t thank Scotmid enough for their massive generosity.

“We plan to use the money to purchase much needed warm winter jackets and warm clothes to pass onto children in our area. A massive thank you from everyone at Kids Love Clothes.”

Carol Swan, Project Manager of Community One Stop Shop, added: “Thank you so much to Scotmid for their generosity in granting us the funding – it could not have come at a better time for us and the individuals and families we support.

“We will use this money to enhance our services during extended opening hours, and to strengthen the ways in which we can support our service users.”

Since Scotmid’s Community Connect launched in 2017, more than £385,000 has been awarded to 39 good cause groups enabling key projects to come to life in local areas.

Harry Cairney, President and Chair of the East Regional Committee at Scotmid, said: “The pandemic has created numerous challenges for communities to overcome and adapt to.

“Community Connect is one of the main ways we can support the communities that we serve and we are delighted to provide Street Assist, Community One Stop Shop and Kids Love Clothes with funding as they continues to provide vital support to the Edinburgh community.”

Broomhouse foodbank doing vital work during Coronavirus crisis

An Edinburgh food bank is providing a lifeline for some of the Capital’s most vulnerable residents during the Covid-19 crisis.

Community One-Stop Shop in the Broomhouse area, which operates a non-referral food bank service, has seen the demand rise sharply during the outbreak.

Carol Swan, project manager, Community One-Stop Shop, says: “In March we saw around 300 food bank clients, which was an increase of 43% on the same period last year.

“We are delivering to people who are self-isolating or who are just too anxious to step outside and in place of our holidays support programme for families with school-age children, we have been distributing food packs instead and in some cases we have also been delivering cooked lunches.

‘People are feeling very lonely and isolated and that’s particularly the case for people who are already dealing with mental health issues and with so many support workers now having to work from home, we are filling in the gaps that this has created.”

The project, which also includes advice and employment services, is run by staff and volunteers, and since the lockdown began Carol says they have been inundated with offers of help.

Last year the project received £73,000 from the Scottish Land Fund to expand its operations into two shop units and now the group has received a further £4,512 which it is using to help meet the extra demand for its services.

Carol says: “Without our larger premises we would have been unable to continue operating during this period in a way that was safe for staff and volunteers so we would have had to shut up shop at a time when the need for our service has never been greater.”

The extra money that Community One-Stop shop  has now received  from the Scottish Land Fund is part of a package of £70,000 that has been allocated to a total of 12 shops, food banks and other SLF-funded enterprises across Scotland to allow them to respond to additional demand for their services during the Covid-19 outbreak.

Cabinet Secretary for Land Reform Roseanna Cunningham said: “Through the Scottish Land Fund,  the Scottish Government has supported a number of communities, particularly in rural areas, who have wanted to save their local shop.

“Some of these shops are now playing an important role in distributing food and other essentials to people in need who are not eligible for other support measures

“This volunteer-led activity is especially valuable at this point in time. I’m delighted that the Scottish Land Fund has responded quickly to help communities help themselves and them step up their efforts at this difficult time.”

John Watt, Scottish Land Fund Committee Chair said: “This crisis has highlighted the need for strong communities and the response of local groups has been outstanding.

“Some of these shops and enterprises would not exist if it wasn’t for the support of the Scottish Land Fund yet during this time they have become a lifeline for many people who would otherwise struggle to access the food and other services that they need.”