Tag: prevention

Increased support offered to Scottish families in relationship crisis across the country

Latest figures from Relationships Scotland show continued fallout from pandemic and cost of living crisis are having a negative impact on family life

Support for Scottish families seeking help to deal with relationship difficulties and family breakdown has increased by almost 40% in the last year, according to Relationships Scotland.

Relationships Scotland, the largest provider of relationship support in the country, has published its Annual Review highlighting the increase in support being offered to couples with relationship problems.

The figures for 2022/23 show that across the charity’s network of 21 member services, 86,000 hours of direct support were delivered, increasing from 62,000 the previous year. The figures also show the network provided support to over 14,400 people across the country, up from 13,850 in 2021/22.

Stuart Valentine, Chief Executive of Relationships Scotland said: “There is no doubt the pandemic and the cost of living crisis have put a strain on families and relationships, and these figures are a stark reminder of how acute this strain is.

“This is a significant increase in hours of support across the whole country, and while it paints a worrying picture of the pressures being felt across the nation, we are encouraged that people feel they have somewhere to turn, and are seeking help to deal with these issues.”

The Relationships Scotland network has a strong focus on early intervention and prevention, working with families as early as possible to support them to look at the issues they are facing and helping them avoid problems spiralling. The work of the 21 member services across the country is supported by around 900 people, including over 400 volunteers.

Stuart Valentine added: “The importance of positive and resilient relationships can not be underestimated, with the damage caused by relationship breakdown estimated to cost the Scottish economy around £3.5b each year.”

Keeping The Promise: Helping families stay together

Vital funding to help transform family support services and reduce the number of children going into care has been announced by the Scottish Government. Local authorities will receive £32 million in Whole Family Wellbeing Funding for 2022-23, with a further £6 million available to support this work.

This will help build services that focus on prevention and early intervention, so families get the support they need to overcome challenges before they reach crisis point.

Arrangements for distributing the remaining £12 million of Whole Family Wellbeing Funding committed for 2022-23 are being finalised.

Education Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville said: “It is essential that we provide the right kind of support to enable families to thrive so that, ultimately, fewer children and young people go into care. 

“Whole Family Wellbeing Funding aims to transform the way support is delivered by ensuring families can access seamless support that meets their individual needs.

“The £50 million committed in 2022-23 will focus on building the capacity for further investment from 2023-24 onwards. This funding is a critical part of how we will keep the Promise by helping families access the support they need, where and when they need it.

“Our ambition is that from 2030, we will be investing at least 5% of all community-based health and social care spend in preventative whole family support measures.”

The Scottish Government has committed to investing £500 million in Whole Family Wellbeing Funding over the course of this Parliament.

Decisions on the use of the £32 million allocated to local authorities for 2022-23 will be made by Children’s Services Planning Partnerships.

New fund to support survivors of gender-based violence

More than 120 projects across Scotland will share £38 million to support survivors of gender-based violence and focus on prevention.

The Delivering Equally Safe Fund (DES) is a new two-year funding programme to support third sector organisations and public bodies contribute to the objectives, priorities, and outcomes of the Equally Safe strategy.

The Fund includes more than £28 million for frontline services which provide direct support to women and girls, prioritising services that maximise their safety and wellbeing.

The two-year fund has also been increased by an additional £1 million per year to support projects which focus on early intervention and preventative measures.

Funding will be distributed to 121 projects, including Respect, which provides helpline services for perpetrators of domestic abuse, Kingdom Abuse Survivors project and Moray Women’s Aid.

Equalities Minister Christina McKelvie said: “Violence against women and girls is appalling and unacceptable which is why we are funding organisations that are tackling the issue head on, including frontline services that support survivors and get to the root of abusive behaviour.

“These organisations are offering new and innovative ways to aid recovery, encourage education, and increase prevention awareness.

“I am also pleased that we have been able to increase our funding by more than £1 million a year more than our original fund to increase our support to these important initiatives.

“I look forward to seeing the  results of the important the work that Equally Safe Fund will deliver.”

Melanie Wood, from Moray Women’s Aid said: “We are delighted to receive funding through the Delivering Equally Safe fund. It will allow us to continue to deliver essential services to vulnerable women, children and young people experiencing domestic abuse when they most needed it. 

“The funding will support the work of our Community Outreach Project and the Children and Young Person’s Service.”

Top 10 Most Rat-Infested Cities in the UK Revealed

Lockdown has created an ideal habit for the rat – with careless waste habits, vacant shops, and quiet streets – leading to a breeding frenzy in some of our favourite UK Cities.

“They say you are only ever 6ft away from a rat – and in some cities this is quite possibly true!”, says Jenny Rathbone from UK Pest Control company Pest.co.uk

The survey of 3,400 callouts in October across the UK by Pest.co.uk reveals the cities where you are most likely to spot a rat.

Birmingham tops the list of “Rattiest” places in the UK with more rat infestations than anywhere else, and this is common – where you see one rat, you usually see more.

“Rats can breed like mad, so we get localised infestations, where a breeding pair can create six litters of 6-12 pups a year, creating more breeding pairs and so on – hence why you need to get these problems under control fast”, explains Rathbone.

The cities with the most rat infestation callouts in October were:

  1. Birmingham – 353
  2. Newcastle – 305
  3. Leeds – 266
  4. Liverpool – 251
  5. City of London – 190
  6. Manchester – 187
  7. Sheffield – 155
  8. Cardiff – 139
  9. Bristol – 131
  10. Edinburgh – 120

“Rats are loving life at the moment, they are being left to breed in vacant shops with abandoned bins – the technicians out on the road have seen nothing like this before”, explains Jenny Rathbone from UK Pest Control company Pest.co.uk

Rats do not need much to get by – mainly food and shelter. The damage they can cause to buildings when left unchecked can be severe and in the worst cases can lead to fire and flood.

The worry is that with a cold winter and more lockdowns that we will be creating a “perfect storm” of rodent infestations across the UK

Jenny concluded: “It’s really important not to leave food scraps around, even compost bins have been known to attract rats in large numbers, a tidy and clean environment helps reduce these problems massively – however if you love rats, head to Birmingham!”