Kirkcaldy volunteers making a difference to families with additional needs

We’re celebrating the amazing work that volunteers around Kirkcaldy are doing in and around the town to mark Volunteers Week Scotland.

It runs from June 1-7 every year, and is an opportunity to recognise the fantastic contribution volunteers make to our communities.

Rab Ramage, lead volunteer with Kirkcaldy additional needs charity Nourish, has been giving his spare time to the vital service as a way to give back to the team which supported his family.

He said: “I started by picking up food deliveries during lockdown and it continued on from there.

"I also help to facilitate the Happy Mondays group alongside staff, help out at the new hub in the Mercat Shopping Centre, and sort parcels for the foodbank.

"Since our family joined Nourish in 2019,it has helped us massively, and now when I volunteer I can see the joy in other families when they first find the group."

Rab said that families with additional needs can often feel isolated, and that when his family found Nourish he knew that they had a place to call home.

"To be surrounded by other families who have additional needs, who are in the same situation as yourself is a great thing and it shows you that you are not alone,” he said.

"Since I started volunteering I’ve been filled with a great sense of pride knowing that I’m helping others, and as Nourish as a charity grows so does my pride.

"Nourish is the friendliest charity around - I really don’t know where my family would be without its support.”

Vicki Rennie, is also a volunteer and fundraiser with Nourish. She recently completed the Edinburgh Half Marathon to raise cash for the charity.

She said: “I’ve been volunteering with Nourish since October last year, and as well as fundraising I also help out with the after school club and the foodbank.

"My sons Marc and Logan as well as my husband John also volunteer their time to help out – it’s a real family affair!

"We try to help out as much as we can as Nourish is such a wonderful charity that helps so many families with additional needs.

"Throughout lockdown was when we truly saw how much it helps people – Lynne Scott the centre manager, staff and volunteers really went the extra mile to ensure that its families were well supported and not forgotten about.”

Vicki said that she and her family volunteers with the charity as a way of giving back to thank Nourish for its amazing support.

“Nourish has helped my family so much and everyone there makes you feel like family, so it is the least I can do by volunteering to help give a little something back.

"I think Nourish is amazing, there’s no judgement, and they include the whole family – it’s so inclusive and no one is left out.

"Lynne and her team really understand what families with additional needs go through and really go the extra mile to help – it’s the little things that make it so special.”

For more information about volunteering with Nourish, please visit: https://www.nourishsupportcentre.com/.