A Fife charity fears it could close within a matter of weeks without vital emergency funding to keep it afloat.
Staff at the Kindred service, which is based in Dunfermline, have written to Fife councillors, politicians and Fife Council chief executive Steve Grimmond requesting their assistance in sourcing just over £21,000 which would see it survive for the rest of the financial year.
The Kindred team in Fife has helped children with disabilities and their families for the last decade and has a high level of referrals directly from consultants, community paediatric nurses, the neo-natal ward, child development centres and Fife’s social work department.
If the organisation fails to find the additional cash needed to keep it going until at least April, it will be forced to close its doors by December 1.
The Courier understands the charity suffered unexpected cuts in external Lottery funding, contributing to the current predicament. The level of council funding has remained the same.
Linda Black, information and advocacy manager at Kindred in Fife, said staff had been issued with letters informing them of the threat of redundancy unless the funding shortfall can be plugged.
A Facebook appeal has been launched along with a Justgiving page.
“In the last year, we supported 314 families with in-depth one-to-one support throughout Fife and also had 122 families come along to our parent support groups and information events,” she explained.
“The work Kindred undertakes helps alleviate the pressure on the statutory services along with providing invaluable in-depth support to families that are often frightened and overwhelmed.
“If Kindred closes then there are no other third sector services to refer the families to and we will have to refer these very vulnerable families to Fife Council statutory services putting a further strain on social work, education and health services.”
Kindred work with some of the most vulnerable families in Fife, with more than 50% of the families supported living in the highest areas of deprivation and facing significant social emotional issues along with the added responsibility of caring for a child with disability.
The charity offers emotional support, along with formal advocacy and information during very difficult at challenging times for families, while it also provides support to a number of families with children at the end of their lives and continue to offer support after bereavement.
One family member, who did not want to be named and who has benefited from the charity’s advice, described the organisation as “invaluable” and added: “I can’t thank Kindred enough, the help we received was amazing.
“Having the support of someone knowledgeable of our situation was so helpful – I couldn’t have done it myself.”