Kirkcaldy migrants charity's lockdown support for ethnic minority families
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With the onset of tighter new restrictions, many migrant families have been needing extra support as they have been furloughed, and or, made redundant.
Safia Yassine, case worker with the forum, said: “Many are facing considerable hardship at this time.
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Hide Ad"A lot of families have been hit quite hard due to being furloughed or being made redundant, and we have had to apply for Scottish Government resilience funding for them.
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"Since lockdown began, hundreds of families are needing help.
"People are experiencing homelessness and food poverty.
"We are also supporting them with information regarding the ongoing pandemic as there can be issues with the language barrier, meaning a lot of our clients can be left in the dark concerning restrictions and Covid vaccine information."
Although the situation is worrying, Safia said that the support from Edinburgh food charity, Uthink, and the local community in the form of donations and volunteering has been second to none.
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Hide Ad"Our volunteers in the community are doing a great job,” she adds. “James Murphy from Uthink and Paul McPherson from Cowdenbeath have been particularly helpful - Paul has been delivering food and he has raised over £750 since Christmas to help buy food and toys for families.
"It has been a lot of hard work, but we know that one day things will return back to normal. We just have to get through this difficult time.”
Billy Lynch, interim manager said: “Migrants are mostly young, skilled, hard-working, and contribute greatly to our local economy and communities.
“During the pandemic lots of people have been made unemployed, for many migrants this means they not only haven’t a job, but also may not qualify for public funds like welfare payments.
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Hide Ad“We would also like to punch home the message that all EU citizens who have not already registered as ‘Settled Status’, including children have only until the June 30, 2021 to do so and we’d urge anyone needing help with registering to contact the forum at: [email protected] or phone (01592) 642927 before it is too late.”