Edinburgh charity Home Link Family Support awarded £5,000 grant from Scottish Children’s Lottery.

Edinburgh charity Home Link Family Support has been awarded a £5,000 grant from the Scottish Children’s Lottery.

Home Link Family Support helps families with young children in Edinburgh and Midlothian by providing a range of services including family counselling, antenatal support, young parents support, early years home visiting service and family group work.

The charity recruits and trains volunteers who provide weekly in-home support to families who have pre-school children and are in need of additional support.

Paula Swanston of Home Link Family Support said: “We are very grateful to the Scottish Children’s Lottery for its financial support towards our recruitment and training of family volunteers. This support will help keep children with their families in stable and caring home environments, by providing family learning opportunities so children can have the best start in life with parents increasing their confidence in their parenting skills. It will also help parents who struggle to find help early, before a situation spirals out of control.”

The Scottish Children’s Lottery was launched in October 2016 to raise money for children in Scotland, with proceeds helping to improve the lives of children right across the country and make a real difference to those who need it most.

Dame Anne Begg is trustee of Chance to Flourish which operates as a society lottery under the Scottish Children’s Lottery. Chance to Flourish supports projects that work within the area of social development of pre-school children and their families and carers, making a positive difference to children’s lives in their early years.

Dame Anne Begg said: “Chance to Flourish believes that no baby born into poverty should be left behind.  We know we can’t change that by ourselves, but what we can do is help.  By supporting Home Link Family Support we hope to give as many children as possible the very best start in life. Thank you to those who play the Scottish Children’s Lottery; you are helping to support the great work that our charities undertake.”

Charities that support children in Scotland can apply online for Scottish Children’s Lottery funding.

Picture shows staff at Home Link Family Support with the cheque from Scottish Children’s Lottery.