A Joint Statement of Sabir Zazai Chief Executive of Scottish Refugee Council and SallyAnn Kelly Chief Executive of Aberlour “The World has watched in shock and horror as recent events have unfolded resulting in the war in Ukraine. War is always shocking and disturbing and invariably leads to immense human suffering. This war on European … Continued
A new evaluation has found that the Scottish Guardianship Service offers a lifeline for asylum-seeking children who arrive alone, with no family. Since its launch in 2010, the service has supported over 750 extremely vulnerable young people, from 44 nationalities, speaking 46 different languages. The average age of children referred to the service is 15. … Continued
Today (Wednesday 23rd February 2022) the Scottish Parliament’s Education, Children and Young People Committee will be looking into what progress has been made to reduce the so-called poverty-related attainment gap. Poverty is the single greatest issue faced by families Aberlour works with. Children spend only around 15% of their time in school. What most often … Continued
Children in Moray who are struggling with disadvantage, who feel excluded from their communities, and whose wellbeing is suffering are to receive more help thanks to a cash boost from the William Grant Foundation, totalling £70,000 over two years. Aberlour Children’s Charity runs the Youthpoint, from their base in Elgin in Moray where staff have … Continued
We welcome and share the Scottish Government’s ambition to end poverty and the need for foodbanks. At Aberlour, we see that food insecurity is one of the most common symptoms of child poverty and we support families across Scotland every day who struggle to provide food for their children. This week we responded to Scottish … Continued
Aldi Scotland has launched its ‘Not Socks Again?!’ campaign for the second year running, following its widespread success in 2021, which saw more than 2000 pairs of socks donated to good causes. The initiative encourages customers to donate any unwanted or extra unused socks they may have received as Christmas gifts to charities supporting people … Continued
We believe the act of learning is a personal experience for each child. Despite the challenges of lockdown, young people in our residential houses became empowered to take ownership of their education and learning. Over the last year and a half, young people in Scotland faced persistent disruptions to their education due to COVID-19. Online classes, … Continued
Aberlour started to look at how its staff were using physical restraint on children in 2017. Recognising that challenging behaviour was most likely to be children communicating distress, anxiety or fear, and that use of physical restraint was traumatic and created a risk of harm for the children and adults involved, the organisation decided that … Continued
For low income families across Scotland there won’t be much to celebrate this Christmas as COVID-19 continues to hit the poorest hardest. Families already struggling to keep their heads above water against a rising tide of financial insecurity are finding themselves trapped in poverty by spiralling debt. Energy bills are on the rise and so … Continued
Aberlour can confirm that the organisation is a member of the Financial Redress scheme. We offer an unreserved apology to anyone who was abused whilst in the care of Aberlour. Aberlour see membership of the scheme as an important step in addressing the failings of our past. SallyAnn Kelly, Chief Executive said: “We would like … Continued
On 7th December 2021 Aberlour Child Care Trust sent the Scottish Ministers an acknowledgement letter, as required by Section 14 of the Act, in order to be added to the contributor list for Scotland’s Redress Scheme. To read the full letter please click here.
Aberlour has welcomed additional funding of £250,000 for its Urgent Assistance Fund from the Scottish Government’s Winter Support Fund. This boost comes at a time when Scotland’s poorest families are facing really challenging circumstances and the charity continues to be inundated with applications to its Urgent Assistance Fund. We know that, even before COVID struck, … Continued
Tonight (Thursday 18th November 2021) Aberlour Children’s Charity foster carers, Rhonda and Gordon Milne, and Calum Muir (13) won prestigious awards at the UK’s leading annual foster care awards, The Fostering Excellence Awards. Rhonda and Gordon won the prestigious Jon and Kathy Broadbent award. This award recognises the outstanding work of a foster carer who … Continued
EVEN HARDER WINTER PREDICTED AS NEW ABERLOUR SURVEY REVEALS PARENTS SCARED OF THE LONGER-TERM IMPACT OF POVERTY ON THEIR CHILDREN Scottish children’s charity Aberlour has warned that a decade of rising and stagnated poverty levels in Scotland combined with the impact of the pandemic, the increasing cost of living and the end of the Universal … Continued
Happy International Volunteer Managers Day! This years theme is ‘What is Excellence, Pushing us beyond the Ordinary’. Here’s what Jen Reston, Aberlour’s Head of Volunteering, had to say about championing excellence through our volunteering: “Excellence is Not a Skill. It is an Attitude.” – Ralph Marston To be a person of excellence is someone who … Continued
Lynda has been an Aberlour Foster Carer since Dylan* joined her family when he was eight year’s old. Dylan didn’t see school as a safe place. School made him feel very anxious and he would hide under tables. He has really heightened senses meaning the smell of school, school colours and uniform would really upset … Continued
“Inspiration”, “Creative”, “Whirlwind of Emotion”, “Fantastic”, “Nerve wracking”, “ Fun” – just a few words that our AbJam Young Planners used to describe how they felt about planning AbJam 2021! In January 2021, a group of eight amazing young people from Aberlour services across the country got together to plan AbJam 2021. AbJam is a … Continued
Juliet lives with her partner and three children. She works in a supermarket and so was a key worker during the COVID-19 lockdown. At the start of the pandemic, her husband lost his job and so she became the only worker in the family. She says they were struggling and it was her son’s guidance … Continued
