Aberdeen Harbour has donated £30,000 to charities and community groups supporting individuals and families through the cost of living crisis.
Cfine, Inchgarth Community Centre, Big Noise Torry and the Denis Law Legacy Trust were each given a donation through the harbour’s support-all programme.
Bob Sanguinetti, chief executive of Aberdeen Harbour, visited Cfine’s headquarters on Monday to meet representatives of the charities and discuss what the money would be used for.
He said it was “humbling” to hear the challenges people in the city are facing on a day-to-day basis.
Two awards of £10,000 were given to Cfine and Big Noise Torry, while Inchgarth Community Centre and the Denis Law Legacy Trust were awarded £5,000 each.
Keeping foodbank stocked with ‘much-needed’ food
Fiona Rae, chief executive of Cfine, said the service is now seeing up to 100 people a day at their foodbank with deliveries also continuing.
The port’s donation will go towards keeping the foodbank stocked with “much-needed” food as well as providing fruit and vegetable bags to beneficiaries.
Mrs Rae said: “We’re delighted to have received support from Aberdeen Harbour, it’s great recognition of the work we do along with many partners to be able to deliver the services that we can do to make a positive impact on people in priority communities experiencing financial hardship.
“I think for us, the important thing there is, the people that are benefitting from the services and the participants we work with, by being able to access food they’re going to be able to put money towards other costs that are going to be coming in.”
Inchgarth Community Centre, who also help to feed local families, said the donation from the harbour was “phenomenal” at a time of such need.
Donation is ‘absolutely needed’
Treasurer Gary Aitkenhead said: “It’s a phenomenal amount of money and what it’s getting used for is absolutely needed.”
The centre has decided to put the money towards upgrading their tables and seating areas, as well as buying new games consoles, for everyone to enjoy the space.
Lorna Carruthers, head of centre at Big Noise Torry, said they are “really excited” to have the opportunity to expand the selection of instruments they can offer to the children and young people in Torry thanks to the funding.
The Denis Law Legacy Trust will use the donation to buy more sports equipment for the young people they support through Streetsport.
“Support in this time for all third sector organisations is huge,” said Mark Williams, chief operations officer for the trust. He added: “There’s so much happening just now.”
Supporting local community ‘incredibly important’
The harbour – which will soon be known as the Port of Aberdeen – has donated more than £600,000 to community groups since 2016.
Mr Sanguinetti said: “Covid and the cost of living crisis have created a perfect storm for those most vulnerable in our communities.
“It’s very humbling because you realise when you hear the stories and hear the challenges that the charities are facing in supporting people in need, it brings it life. It’s real people with real issues struggling on a day to day basis and it’s here and now, it’s not something that might be round the corner.
“So it’s very humbling and also from the harbour perspective it’s satisfying to see that we can support, albeit in a small way, the work that these four charities are doing.”
The P&J is working to tackle food poverty by raising awareness of the help that is available right across the north of Scotland.
We also want to use The Big Food Appeal to debunk some of the myths, and keep the conversation going about the struggle many people are facing.
