Fife's unsung heroes: Vikki Wilson

Fife has many unsung heroes who have gone the extra mile to help others during the coronavirus lockdown. They are working hard behind the scenes to make sure that our buses still run, our prescriptions dispensed, and our services all keep ticking over. They deserve their moment in the spotlight as part of our Big Thank You.

Vikki Wilson is a lead fund advisor with the Scottish Welfare Fund which helps families and people in Scotland who are on low incomes through Crisis Grants and Community Care Grants. More recently, it has assisted people who have found themselves out of work due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Vikki leads a team of 17 advisors who are all working remotely from home.

She said: “We help people from Fife apply for funding for a wide range of reasons, for example, if they are waiting for their benefits to start or if they have recently lost their job.

“We have been helping quite a few self-employed people who have been left without an income, and furloughed employees as well as their wages have been reduced leaving some struggling to make ends meet.

“The coronavirus pandemic has really changed the dynamics of the way we work – it can be a stressful job, but it is also very fulfilling.”

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Vikki, who lives in Dunfermline, has been juggling her time between working and homeschooling her six year old son.

She said: “I’m not going to lie, it has been tough trying to find a routine, but I’m not putting to much pressure on myself.

“Homeschooling can be quite difficult as you can’t replicate what it is like in the classroom. We have been doing lots of activities together and doing the best we can.”

Vikki predicts more people will be needing support in the future as an ever increasing number of businesses struggle to survive due to the pandemic.

She added: “We are expecting to see more redundancies, even as businesses and shops start to open back up. We still don’t know what the long-term impact will be for these businesses.

“It really has been a challenging time, trying to prioritise everything and to make sure that my son and myself are safe, physically and mentally.

“I hope we can learn from this, everything can change so quickly – it really puts things into perspective.”

» To nominate someone for our Big Thank You please email [email protected]

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