Firms rally round to help struggling families in Fife

Decorators, painters and joiners working alongside the Cottage will teach parents how to makes their homes more homely.

A Fife charity is enlisting skilled tradespeople to teach people ways to make their houses warmer and homelier.

The Cottage Family Centre hopes it will help cut heating costs as bills rise sharply.

Several companies are providing furniture and household goods for the charity to distribute to those in need.

Pauline Buchan, manager at the Cottage, said that by working together, they could protect households and improve families' living standards.

In December 2021, the Kirkcaldy-based group worked with Amazon to deliver thousands of unwanted goods from its warehouse to local households for an anti-poverty project.

Amazon donated thousands of surplus goods to struggling families in Fife

The charity is appealing for blankets, duvets, beds, carpeting and floor coverings to get 200,000 household goods and furnishings to families in need, after recording a rise in requests for help as heating and food costs soar.

The "Houses to Homes" project will work with a team of decorators, painters, joiners and electricians to give practical home improvement support and advice.

Local businesses offering their services to the growing project include Scotmid, Fishers Laundry, Craig and Rose, Bell Group Kirkcaldy, RGM Heating Ltd and The Purvis Group, who will store the goods, rent-free, in its 6,000 square foot Lochgelly warehouse.

Scotmid has kicked off its support with £10,000 and support with toiletries and cleaning products, while Fishers Laundry and Amazon have provided bedding.

Pauline Buchan, of the Cottage, said families were struggling to cope

Pauline Buchan, manager at the Cottage said: "Many of the houses we work in don't have carpets in every room, they don't have wallpaper, paint, or a cooker, and might not be able to replace bedding, a bed or a mattress.

"This project is going to not only give them these goods, but we're going to work with the likes of RGM and Bell group to upskill."

A spokesperson for RGM, said the company would help install the gas cookers and washing machines provided by Amazon and also help with the gasworks.

The Bell Group in Kirkcaldy will give parents the opportunity to learn painting and decorating skills at their training centre, using goods like wallpaper, paint, carpets and home furnishings to improve and refurbish their houses.

Former prime minister Gordon Brown, who is patron of the Cottage, said Fife was experiencing great hardship and was in need of urgent help.

He said: "We're now not just a food bank, but we're a bedding bank, we're a baby bank, we're a children's clothing bank and that's really the shape of things to come."