David Lloyd Aberdeen

2018 marks Aberdeen Cyrenians 50th year, meeting the needs of people who are homeless, at risk of homelessness or affected by homelessness. What started off as a simple soup kitchen now provides a range of support services to over 1,500 people each year. While providing advice, support and information to address root causes and help people to sustain more permanent accommodation, we also ensure that their basic needs are met. We do this in a number of ways which includes providing food parcels and our Street Alternatives service which provides hot meals four times a week. Both of these services rely on donations from individiuals and organisations for fresh and long-life produce. Almost all of the food we have is donated and we simply could not provide the services without support from the local community.

The Lullaby Trust is a charity that saves babies’ lives and supports bereaved families. Around 3 babies a week still die from sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and we are committed to bringing that number down to zero. Through educating parents on how they can reduce the risk of SIDS and investing over £12 million in research, we have played a key role in reducing the number of babies who die from SIDS by 82%, saving the lives of more than 29,000 babies. Each year we train thousands of health professionals to support parents in sleeping their baby safely. We campaign tirelessly to raise awareness of SIDS and ensure our life saving advice reaches all parents. The Lullaby Trust supports bereaved families, through our helpline and befriending scheme. Our work with the NHS to provide a Care of Next Infant Programme (CONI) offers a lifeline to bereaved families expecting a new baby.

Mental Health Aberdeen is a local charity that operates 6 distinct projects in and around Aberdeen. The projects offer a range of confidential one-to-one counselling services that are all delivered free of charge, and there are no barriers to accessing our services. At our core, we believe in providing unwavering support and respect for those battling mental health. Our goal is to break the stigma around mental health, empower individuals with guidance and increase awareness. We are here to provide assistance and support to anyone who may require it. We won't stop until we achieve our mission.