Three north-east charities have been nominated to receive funding through a NFU Mutual national fund.
A total of 33 charities from across Scotland will benefit from the £191,000 fund, which is part of the £1.92 million Agency Giving Fund.
Each of the NFU Mutual agency offices and branches from across the country were given the opportunity to pick a local charity to receive a share of the money.
The three charities nominated by the Thainstone, Turriff and Keith agencies will each receive £6,379.
Support is ‘heartening’
Home-Start Garioch, which has been supporting families in the area since 1995, was put forward by the Thainstone team.
The funding will be used to support the charity’s recent area expansion.
Mhairi Philip, scheme manager for Home-Start Garioch, said: “We were very pleasantly surprised when NFU Agency Thainstone got in touch and said that they had nominated us. It’s heartening that a local company supports a local charity.
“Home-Start Garioch has recently extended their geographical area from Garioch and Formartine to cover part of Deveron so the money received will go a long way towards the support and recruitment of new volunteers and their travel expenses.
“Referrals continue to come in thick and fast and so its really important we have the volunteers in place to provide that one to one support in the home which we know brings about positive change.”
‘Generous donation’
Meanwhile, the Keith NFU Mutual agency has nominated the Cullen Sea School, run by charity Three Harbours Association, to receive a cut of the fund.
Based in the seaside town, the charity provides free water activities for the community – including paddle boarding, kayaking, sailing and coastal rowing – which helps to support the health and wellbeing of young people.
Professor Ashley Mowat, chairman of the Three Harbours Associations, said: “Cullen Sea School was extremely grateful to be a beneficiary of the NFU Mutual Community Support Fund.
“The nomination by the Keith agency and receipt of the generous donation is most welcome recognition of Cullen Sea School’s efforts to promote and develop our community service and will aid our recovery from the Covid pandemic and the current cost of living crisis.
“The sea school has welcomed over 3,000 participants to watersports, boat building, beach cleans and school visits in 2022 and this funding was crucial to supporting our costs to deliver these activities and achieve our charitable aims and objectives.”
‘Building community spirit’
The second Aberdeenshire charity to benefit from the fund is Turriff Men’s Shed which provides social support to the community by creating spaces where people can go to escape loneliness.
At the Men’s Shed, those over the age of 18 can learn a new skill or share their knowledge with others, while breaking down barriers and building community spirit.
Ian Murray, chairman of Turriff & District Men’s Shed, said: “Following Covid, the NFU Mutual recognised the vital need to support local frontline charities, so they set up the Agency Giving Fund and this year the Turriff agency decided we ticked all the boxes.
“We at the Turriff Men’s Shed are absolutely delighted to have been awarded over £6000, which for a small local charity like us is a massive boost.
“For us it equates to almost two years of our fixed costs such as rent, insurance and phone and internet expenses. This award will allow us to devote more time to community projects and not to be making goods for sale to cover our operating costs.
“And there are always other tools and equipment that we can add to the shed. We are therefore extremely grateful to Sarah Law and her team at the Turriff NFU Mutual office for nominating Turriff Men’s Shed.”
