9 out of 10 Scots support the view that vulnerable children need access to support sooner

Aberlour Children’s Charity has launched a new campaign – “The Clock Is Ticking” – which aims to raise awareness of the need to support vulnerable children across Scotland as soon as problems arise, before the crisis point is reached.

Results of a survey commissioned by Scotland’s Children’s Charity, Aberlour reveal that 93% of Scots support the view that there should be more emphasis placed on helping vulnerable children as soon as problems emerge, rather than waiting until families are at crisis point. Furthermore 86% agree that the issue of vulnerable children is one that affects families from all types of backgrounds and in all parts of Scotland.

Aberlour currently helps over 7,500 children and families across Scotland, however there are many more that are in need. When participants were asked if they knew of households in their local community which include vulnerable children, 60% said yes, suggesting that there are many more hidden children across Scotland that urgently need support.

CEO of Aberlour, SallyAnn Kelly said: “We know that we need to get in there early. The clock is ticking, and we need to act fast to prevent children across Scotland from suffering, before families reach crisis point, before it’s too late. That’s why we’ve launched our new campaign, because we know that taking action quickly, significantly improves long-term outcomes for children and young people, and we need to raise awareness of the children out there who we are yet to reach.

“Although 93% support our view that the emphasis should be on helping children before they reach crisis point, 63% agreed that currently help only starts when a crisis happens, rather than when issues first appear. With the work of charities, such as Aberlour and the support of the public, we can close that gap.”

The campaign is calling on people across Scotland to #spendanhour on Aberlour to help raise the urgent funds required

SallyAnn says, “We would like to urge the people of Scotland to get behind this campaign and spend an hour of their time fundraising for us, whether that’s running a 10K, holding a fundraising event during their lunch hour; all funds raised will help us reach families sooner.”

Please visit www.aberlour.org.uk/the-clock-is-ticking for more information.

ENDS

For more information, please contact BIG Partnership on aberlourcc@bigparntership.co.uk or 0131 557 5252

Notes to editors:

Aberlour is the largest solely Scottish children’s charity, helping to improve the lives of Scotland’s vulnerable children and young people. Not all children are born with an equal chance. Aberlour is there for Scotland’s hidden children, when others let them down, because every child deserves a chance to flourish.

Aberlour’s mission is to reach Scotland’s vulnerable children as early as possible to stop damage being done, before families reach crisis point, before it’s too late. Taking action quickly, significantly improves long-term outcomes for children and young people.

Aberlour provides a wide range of services including:

residential care and fostering,
help for families with babies and very young children,
support for families affected by disability, and
help for mums and dads struggling to cope in the face of challenges like poverty, addiction and poor mental health.

Our vision is to transform the lives of the children and families we work with and, through this, contribute to building a fairer and more equal society.

Survey source: the research was carried out by Mark Diffley Research and Consultancy Ltd., using a sample drawn from the ScotPulse online panel. A total of 1002 completed responses were received from a representative sample of the adult population in Scotland. Fieldwork was conducted between 15th and 17th May 2018. Results were weighted to the Scottish population by gender and age.

Glasgow office move