Christmas surge in families seeking charity's help
AberNecessities has expanded its storage space so it can help more hard-up families
- Published
An Aberdeen charity which offers food, clothing and Christmas gifts to those living in poverty, says it is dealing with a huge uptake in calls for help.
AberNecessities said it would normally support about 250 families per month, but it was now dealing with that number on a weekly basis.
The charity has expanded its premises over the festive period to cope with storing the larger amount of stock needed to service the increased demand.
It wants to send out Christmas Eve boxes to more than 3,000 children who would not otherwise celebrate Christmas, along with urgent, basic essentials.
AberNecessities founder Danielle Flecher-Horn said: "Sadly we're hearing about a lot of families keeping the heating off, even though we're in minus temperatures.
"You hear of children sitting in freezing cold homes, with no Christmas lights up, no Christmas tree up and there are no toys to play with.
"It's really bleak."
She added: "The cost-of-living crisis touches us all but is disproportionately affecting families who were already living in poverty."