support – Page 88 – The NEN – North Edinburgh News

POP at PY

PYCP’s Preventative Opportunities Programme (POP) are now looking to receive referrals for young people aged 14-18 years to start now and continue until February next year.

It is a six month intensive support package for young people and their families. We will offer the young person 1:1 support, group work based sessions on a range of different issues and interests and possibly some outings.

We will also provide the parent/carers and siblings with support on what issues are affecting the family and opportunities to get involved in new experiences and activities together as a family.

If you have any young person or family who would benefit from this type of support or have any questions, please feel free to contact me directly on 332 9815 or send a referral to Katie@pycp.co.uk.

I have attached a referral form and a poster for families (see below) to look at as we do require the family to agree to the support before a referral is received.

POP Leaflet pdf version

POP referral-form

Katie Grover
Senior Preventative Worker, Pilton Youth and Children’s Project

Care in crisis: charities issue wake-up call

All across Scotland a huge but invisible army is caring for increasing numbers of older, ill or disabled loved ones, new research has revealed. The report highlights a crisis of carers struggling without support and huge gaps in national understanding of growing social issue.

Research published to mark Carers Week 2014 (9 – 15 June) reveals worrying public ignorance of the rising call on families to provide unpaid care.

The reality is that 6.5 million people in the UK – 657,000 in Scotland – are already caring for a family member or close friend who is frail or facing long-term illness or disability.

The Carers Week/You Gov poll shows that adults of all ages drastically underestimate the issue, with only a tiny fraction (11%) of Scottish adults correctly stating the true scale of unpaid, family care.

And while numbers across the UK are predicted to rise to 9 million by 2037, most adults don’t think caring will happen to them. Only around a third of adults in Scotland who are currently not carers (35%) believe it likely they will become carers in the future, the survey found.

Speaking on behalf of the nine charities behind Carers Week 2014, Simon Hodgson, Director of Carers Scotland said: “The reality is that all of us, at some point in our lives, will either be carers or need the help of carers. This survey is a wake-up call, clearly and alarmingly showing that as a society we need a much wider understanding of the realities of caring.”

The survey also asked what would be of greatest concern if a loved one did come to need care

Scotland’s Top 3 Caring Worries are revealed as:

1 Money worries – Being unable to cope financially
2 Emotional strain – Finding it too stressful/upsetting
3 I wouldn’t know how – Not having the experience or skills to be a carer

The views of current carers gathered through the same poll, reveal carers across the country are struggling behind closed doors without adequate help. Worryingly, over half (53%) of carers polled across the UK said they were not receiving enough support. Their experiences included:

“My brother cares full time for both my parents. My father’s 91 and unable to walk without assistance. My mother’s 86, has severe dementia and needs help 24/7. I help at weekends and one evening a week. My brother’s spoken to the doctor about care for my mother and was told the dementia nurse has a full case load. He’s contacted a charity who have agreed to help for two hours per week.”

“My daughter has spina bifida and is a full time wheelchair user….. At 60, it can be hard for me to push a manual wheelchair plus carry shopping up a hill. …”

“I have been looking after my disabled wife for 13 years. … I work part time and my physical health is not great and sometimes I feel like I am cracking up.”

Simon Hodgson added:“We need to understand what carers are doing day in and day out, the impact caring can have – and the difference we as individuals and organisations can make. That is why during Carers Week we are calling on the public and professionals across the UK to reach out to carers in their local communities.”

www.carersweek.org

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

Sainsbury’s: search is on for local charity

Sainsbury’s Blackhall are calling on customers to cast their votes and help a registered local charity receive a year’s worth of fundraising and awareness support. From Wednesday 28 May, customers will be able to vote for their favourite local charity either in store or by visiting www.sainsburys.co.uk/localcharity.

The retailer’s Local Charity scheme is now in its sixth year and gives customers the chance to vote for their favourite local charity to be considered to receive a year’s worth of support from their nearby Sainsbury’s store.

This year’s voting ends on Sunday 8 June. After voting closes, a shortlist of nominations will be drawn up and the stores’ colleagues will then invite the three charities that they feel best fit the needs of the community into store to talk about how Sainsbury’s can support them. The chosen charity will be selected based on the reasons given and the store will announce their chosen charity in July.

Local charities that have benefitted from the scheme in previous years at Sainsbury’s Blackhall include The Guide Dogs for the Blind which was Blackhall store’s Local Charity partner between July 2011 and May 2012 and still collect for them. Over £20,000 was raised from the partnership, which helped towards sponsoring 4 guide dog puppies. Meanwhile, the store’s Local Charity partner last year was Maggie’s Centre and the partnership helped to raise over £8,000 and raise awareness of the centre.

Sainsbury’s Blackhall Store Manager George Paton said: “We’re looking forward to supporting a local charity which touches many of our customer and colleagues’ hearts. The scheme gives us the chance to make a real difference to important causes in the community and we hope our customers get behind this year’s voting stage and nominate their favourite local charity from 28 May”.

STV provides FAST support for family school project

Save the Children has received over £177,000 from the STV Appeal 2013 to deliver its Families and Schools Together (FAST) programme across Scotland.

Families and Schools Together (FAST) is an award-winning, family focused programme that brings together parents, children, teachers and the wider community to make sure children get the support they need to fulfil their potential at school and in life.

The eight week programme, aimed at parents, carers and children aged three to eight, has been proven to help children achieve more in schools and improve family relationships and links between home, school and the local community.

The programme is entirely voluntary and open to all families, with typical activities including singing, family games, imaginative play, and sitting down together to eat a family meal. It provides a fun and relaxed space for families to experience a mixture of play and learning activities, hands on coaching and support for parents and carers.

FAST was originally developed in the US by Professor Lynn McDonald and runs in partnership with Middlesex University throughout the whole of the UK. Funds from the STV Appeal will allow Save the Children to run FAST in 20 schools and six local authorities across Scotland, potentially reaching over 800 children.

The STV Appeal was set up in 2011 by STV and The Hunter Foundation and in 2013 the Wood Family Trust pledged its support to the Appeal. Now in its third year, the STV Appeal has raised a total of £5.8million which has been invested in 163 big and small community projects across all 32 local authority areas in Scotland, helping over 18,000 children. Every penny raised stays in Scotland and goes directly towards helping the children who need it most.

One in five children across Scotland live in poverty – and for some communities that figure is even worse. In parts of the country every second family is living in poverty meaning that in every community there will be a family struggling to feed its kids, a family struggling to clothe them in the winter, a family struggling just to make ends meet. The STV Appeal works in communities all over Scotland helping those young people and giving them the same opportunity that other children take for granted. Working at a local level, the STV Appeal has helped projects in every local authority.

Neil Mathers, Save the Children’s Head of Scotland, said: “FAST has been phenomenally successful in Scotland and the feedback we get from schools and parents is always so positive. More families than ever are keen to be involved this year and with the help of STV Appeal, we will be able to make this happen.

“It’s clear from visiting each FAST programme how much children enjoy the activities and time spent with their families and that this has a positive impact on how they view school.”

Rob Woodward, STV CEO and trustee of the STV Appeal, said: “The third year of the STV Appeal has been our most successful yet. With the help of our generous supporters and fantastic fundraising efforts taking place right across Scotland we have now raised over £5.8m. The money donated to the STV Appeal stays right here in Scotland and will help make a real difference to the lives of vulnerable children and young people on our doorstep.”

Sir Tom Hunter, trustee of the STV Appeal, said: “The STV Appeal is for Scotland by Scotland’s people who truly have stepped up to support our work in trying to beat the horror that is child poverty here in Scotland. This is a long haul but at the end of the day we can and we will eradicate the impacts poverty has on Scotland’s young people. Every single penny we raise goes directly to tackling the issue of child poverty across all of Scotland something I’m really proud of.”

Sir Ian Wood, trustee of the STV Appeal, said: “This is the Wood Family Trust’s first year of involvement with the STV Appeal to help tackle the issue of child poverty in Scotland. We are delighted to be part of the fundraising endeavours of so many, which have enabled the distribution of such significant financial support to local projects in our own communities. We are optimistic that with the generous total raised by supporters of the STV Appeal, combined with the on-going hard work and dedication seen in communities across Scotland, the lives of children and young people affected by poverty in Scotland can, and will, be changed for the better.”

FAST has already proved to be a great success in North Edinburgh – see the ‘FAST work at Craigroyston’ NEN blog post in March 2012. The STV Appeal grant will now enable FAST to be delivered in new areas in Dundee, Edinburgh, Fife, Glasgow, West Dunbartonshire and Renfrewshire.

New service to help local veterans find work

EMPLOY-ABLE:

A NEW SERVICE TO HELP EDINBURGH & LOTHIANS VETERANS FIND WORK

Veterans in Edinburgh and the Lothians can now access a local service that will deliver support to help vulnerable ex-Servicemen and women find work. Veterans’ charity Poppyscotland and mental health charity SAMH (Scottish Association for Mental Health) have created Employ-Able, which provides local support, training and practical advice to assist veterans in their search for jobs.

Employ-Able aims to remove barriers, help develop skills and set goals, taking the form of one-to-one and group work sessions, using the model of SAMH’s successful workshop-based Tools for Living programme. Ongoing support once veterans are in employment is also available.

Bobby Duffy, Director of Operations at SAMH said: “Scotland’s veterans deserve as much support as we can give them when they settle back into the community. We know it can be hard for some veterans to get back into regular employment and that unemployment and financial difficulties are bad for your mental health, so we’re really pleased to be working with Poppyscotland to deliver this service.”

There are around 189,000 veterans of working age in Scotland and Poppyscotland research suggests that the unemployment rate for veterans aged 18-49 is twice that of the general UK population, with around 28,000 veterans in Scotland out of work. The research found a lack of current employability services that specifically target veterans who may be vulnerable or need additional support to get back into work. Employ-Able is intended to address this gap.

Gary Gray, Head of Welfare Services at Poppyscotland, commented: “A small but significant number of veterans face difficulty in adjusting to civilian life with many facing complex and multiple issues. Employment and mental health are areas of great concern as they impact greatly on all aspects of veterans’ lives and those of their families. By combining Poppyscotland’s knowledge of veterans’ issues and SAMH’s expertise we believe Employ-Able will tackle some of these key areas of difficulty and improve veterans’ prospects.”

Army veteran William Burnett (23) served with the Royal Regiment of Scotland for four years and saw service in Afghanistan. After leaving the Armed Forces William struggled to find a secure job but he is now in full-time employment as a warehouse assistant after taking part in Employ-Able. He said: “I was a nervous wreck when it came to interviews and never got the jobs I applied for. Employ-Able really helped me to get my confidence back. It helped me to develop my skills and I received support to prepare for interviews and get my CV up to date.

“I am now in a full-time job, which is going really well, and I am still in contact with my work preparation adviser who is there to offer me ongoing support. I would recommend Employ-Able to anyone who is unsure about how to get back into work after their time in the Forces.”

To find out more about Employ-Able call Poppyscotland’s Employment Services Co-ordinator Dot Pringle on 0131 550 1568 or email d.pringle@poppyscotland.org.uk

A helping hand at North West Foodbank

With little sign of the recession ending any time soon families are finding it increasingly hard to make ends meet. Wages, for those who do have a job, are not keeping up with rising prices and for those on benefits – well, it’s never been tougher and with more reforms in the pipeline it’s going to get tougher still.

One sign of this is the growing dependency on foodbanks – for some families it’s become the only way to put food on the table. Figures released by The Trussell Trust show that the current economic climate is seeing many more people struggle to put food on the table, including families who are in work. Over 45,000 children were fed by foodbanks in 2011-12, while the numbers of adults and children fed nationwide increased from 61,468 in 2010-11 to 128,697 in 2011-12.

For many foodbank clients, the rising cost of food and fuel combined with static incomes, high unemployment and changes to benefits have forced them into a crisis where they cannot afford to eat.

The latest addition to the growing number of foodbanks opened recently – in Edinburgh North West.

How do foodbanks work? Foodbanks operate through food donated at ‘Supermarket Collections’. Foodbank volunteers engage shoppers at supermarkets and give them a ‘foodbank shopping list’, asking them to buy an extra item with their regular shop, which is then donated to the foodbank. Schools, churches, businesses and individuals also donate non-perishable, in-date food to the foodbank – all food given out by foodbanks is donated.

Once collected, the food is sorted by volunteers who check it’s in date and pack it into boxes ready to be given to people in need. Care professionals – doctors, health visitors, social workers, Citizens Advice Bureau staff, welfare officers, the police and probation officers, amongst others – identify people in crisis and issue them with a foodbank voucher.

Foodbank clients bring their voucher to a foodbank centre where it can be exchanged for three days supply of emergency food. Volunteers meet clients over a cup of tea or free hot meal and are able to signpost people to agencies able to solve the longer-term problem.

Like many organisations in this cash-straitened times, foodbanks rely on the generosity of volunteers. How you can help? Your gifts of time, funds or food could help stop local people going hungry – and there are lots of ways you can help. For further information see the Edinburgh North West Foodbank website at:

http://edinburghnw.foodbank.org.uk

The Edinburgh NW Foodbank is now open.

Crisis food packs with a referral from frontline care agencies and charities only.

For enquiries, please telephone 0131 202 9130

Email: info@edinburghnw.foodbank.org.uk