Lidl Hairmyres

We offer a number of wellbeing services, such as free therapy, information and support to anyone affected by childhood trauma or abuse, and those affected by cancer. With these wellbeing aims in mind we have also established our Share Alike project. This is open to all in our community for free, supporting anyone in need by offering a community wardrobe, community fridge, free brunch club and a food bank. Within and outside our normal office hours we also help in emergencies for local families directly and via referrals from different types of organisations, such as women's aid. We give families immediate assistance with free food and clothing, and help via our donations to help them reestablish a home after fleeing or losing theirs. All our staff are volunteers and offer some classes and services to the general public for a small donation. This means we both keep SAVI Kids open for those who need help after childhood trama and abuse, while making alternative health/support services more accessible to all.

We are a small independent foodbank established to support people in need within East Renfrewshire. Our service is not means tested and is open to all – no questions asked. We have over 100 clients and on average deliver to 60-70 families and households a week. We are very proud to have been awarded charitable status and hope this will help us to continue in our work. While there are several food poverty support mechanisms available through both health and social care services and other local authority organisations, what we discovered was that there are gaps within that provision. Through FERN Foodbank we want to provide an alternative service to meet the needs of our community where they cannot be met by other food poverty organisations. Working households and those who do not qualify for benefits are often left with no option when their money runs out. For example (not an exhaustive list); • The cost-of-living crisis has put so many more individuals, couples and families into food poverty. Put simply, households trying to meet the ever-growing financial pressures of today’s society will have to make hard choices about which bills to pay, with the overarching priority for most is to keep a roof over their head. • Post Covid many families found themselves in significant debt, their incomes had suffered during the pandemic and that has led to severe financial hardship. • Increasing rates of divorce has seen the number of single parent families increase. • Ill health or disability often means that those who are working find themselves on half or even no pay, yet still seen as employed. • Women who have fled domestic violence are often in crisis when they first leave and may be too scared to seek support that requires them to give their name. • Those who have fled war in other countries and arrive in Scotland with nothing do not always have anyone to turn to. • Failings in our Social Security system, for which the Trussell Trust are advocating change, often see people with nothing through no fault of their own. Situations like these is where FERN Foodbank can step in – no formal records and no questions asked. We are entirely volunteer run and rely solely on donations and funding from our local community to survive.

Kilbryde Hospice exists to provide compassionate, specialist palliative care to people with life limiting progressive illnesses and to their relatives and carers. The hospice currently provides day services, care at home and counselling services. Caring for a person with a life-limiting condition can place extreme demands on a family, physically and emotionally, so the hospice tries to lighten the burden. Our services are free and available to those people with palliative care needs. No two patients are the same and Kilbryde Hospice has the flexibility to respond to the individual needs of the patients by providing professional care, practical help and emotional support. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, colour, faith, national origin, disability, sexual orientation, age or financial means.