Kirkcaldy charity set to smash appeal target

The Cottage’s Christmas Appeal, which has been running since late September has almost reached its target of £32,000 with less than £500 left to raise before the big delivery day on Monday.

Support for the centre has been pouring in as people in the Kirkcaldy area have outdone themselves with donations of cash, gifts and food for children and families who have fallen on hard times.

Volunteers and staff have been working around the clock to organise the gift and food packages to ensure that no-one misses out this Christmas.

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Pauline Buchan, centre manager, is on the frontline when dealing with poverty and has seen a steady rise in the number of people needing support since Universal Credit was rolled out in the town.

She said: “In the last five years we have had to change the criteria, so the people that receive support are in significant hardship, because most people are experiencing some sort of hardship nowadays.

“This is due to several factors, with the biggest being Universal Credit and the changes in the benefit system in general. People have an average income of about £800 per month, so it is extremely difficult for them to save from that. The £800 is before any deductions like gas and electricity or food and clothing, never mind any of the extras that come along at this time of year.”

Pauline has expressed her gratitude to everyone who has donated and volunteered their time to help the appeal.

She said: “It is thanks to everyone who has donated to us that we are literally a few hundred pounds away from our target of £32,000 .

“The money that we have raised is going to provide families with ten days worth of food and gas and electric for ten days also.

“The food will include everything they will need for Christmas dinner and the toys that have been donated are currently being bagged up so they are ready to go out on Monday.

“ We can’t thank everyone enough, because without you all this would not be possible.

“There is no government help or money for this appeal, this is all done with the generosity of the general public, the community and the businesses around us.”