CHILDREN 1ST

CHILDREN 1ST is one of Scotland's leading childcare charities. For over 120 years CHILDREN 1ST has been working to give every child in Scotland a safe and secure childhood.

Today, CHILDREN 1ST

•  supports families under stress

•  protects children from harm and neglect

•  helps children recover from abuse

•  promotes children's rights and interests.

At its Killen Centre in the Black Isle, CHILDREN 1ST provides a therapeutic service for children and young people to help them recover from the effects of childhood abuse and neglect. Staff provide individual counselling and family support, and help families protect their children from further abuse.

CHILDREN 1ST is looking to raise money to design, build, furnish and equip an extension to our premises at Killen to accommodate our new Kinship Care Support Service. The service will provide learning and support for grandparents, uncles, aunts and other family members who find themselves taking care of vulnerable young relatives whose parents are unable to look after them.

The children who will benefit from the service have experienced real loss. By helping the ‘kinship carers’ better understand the needs of these children, the service will enable children to stay with family members rather than going to live with strangers in foster or even institutional care.

CHILDREN 1ST’s services in the Highlands are highly respected. Given this and our capacity to support the event with professional fundraising staff and an extensive and well-organised volunteer base, CHILDREN 1ST is the ideal working partner for Highland Cross Organisers.

NEW START HIGHLAND - TENANT SUPPORT PROJECT

New Start provides support to people who are marginalised in our society.

We provide the practical support that people need to live independently.  Currently (thanks to support from Highland Cross in 2002) we deliver the following services to over 3000 people across Highland every year.

• Furniture & Starter Packs - The basic essentials needed in a home.

• Housing support - Support to develop the skills to sustain a tenancy.

• Volunteering and training placements.

To assist those needing more in depth and structured support to sustain their tenancy, New Start is developing a team of staff, trainees and volunteers who will train clients to decorate, garden, fit and use appliances, lay carpets, and carry out general DIY. The team will work across Highland.

The project will assist marginalised volunteers and trainees towards employment. At the same time pass on key skills, giving new tenants opportunity to learn how to manage their tenancy, to establish stability in their lives, and increase their confidence and employability.

To allow the project to proceed we require a 3.5 tonne crew cab side tipper. This vehicle would allow up to 5 persons to form a squad at any one time and give a substantial carrying capacity for tools, materials and waste from any jobs.

The van is the last item required. This is a unique service that will make a significant contribution to assisting people become their solution to escape the trap of poverty.

SHOPMOBILITY HIGHLAND - DINGWALL

The Dingwall branch of Shopmobility Highland operates a minibus service Monday to Friday, covering rural areas from Tain to Drumnadrochit and Nairn and villages or residences along the way, collecting elderly and disabled members from their homes and bringing them for shopping to Dingwall or Inverness, a journey that they would otherwise find formidable or indeed impossible to undertake using public transport.

In order to achieve this Shopmobility employs an administrator for whom Highland Council contribute some £13,000 per annum while local volunteers drive the minibus and escort the members from their residences, assist with their shopping, before returning them safely to their homes.

Extensive use is made of the minibus which was originally deployed in Inverness in 2001 but as numbers registering and requiring the service increase (current membership in Dingwall is 542) the minibus was transferred permanently to Dingwall in 2005.

The minibus, which has seating capacity of 11 passengers plus 3 wheelchairs, is approaching its 7th Birthday and regardless of the strict maintenance regime applied, reliability is becoming a concern in that the service may have to be curtailed while the strategic plan remains to increase the service to the seaboard villages of Easter Ross.

A purpose built minibus to replace the existing vehicle would ensure continuation of the important contribution being made to the quality of life of the members using this valuable service.

SHOPMOBILITY LOCHABER

Shopmobility Lochaber is a registered Scottish Charity, which enables people who have mobility problems, to enjoy a greater degree of freedom in their daily lives.  We provide equipment, which our clients may borrow; long or short term to undertake shopping, visits, outings, attend functions or simply enjoy their local environment. We offer our services to local residents and visitors to the area.

At present we are confined to Fort William since the pilot of the mobile unit finished.  In the first month of it ending we had fifteen requests from existing and potential new clients wishing to use the service that only the mobile unit can offer.

 
We ran the pilot for a year with funding from WHELK and Lloyds TSB. The service was used in Mallaig, Kinlochleven, Corpach and Caol.  The van also enabled us to do other work that we did not think about, i.e. pick up and drop off equipment at holiday accommodation and attending all field events in our area. The biggest highlight was providing scooters and wheelchairs to disabled people who wanted to take part in The Caledonian Extra Challenge.

We need to lease or purchase the van and will employ two part time drivers. Our aim would be to provide the same service in remote parts of Lochaber as is offered at present by our existing service in Fort William.