In February 2024 Fairer Aberdeen Fund partners held a showcase event in the Town House attended by funded organisations and their participants, volunteers, Elected Members, and local MSPs and MP. Along with a presentation from Peter Kelly from the Poverty Alliance, several of the Fairer Aberdeen funded organisations presented their work on tackling food poverty, financial inclusion, employability, and community engagement.
Following the event Kevin Stuart MSP submitted a motion in the Scottish Parliament to applaud the work of the participants, staff and volunteers who have contributed to the Fairer Aberdeen programme over the last year and thank the Fairer Aberdeen Board for working with Third Sector partners to deliver the projects making up the Fairer Aberdeen programme.
To celebrate the event SHMU supported some of the funded projects to make short videos to highlight the work that they do.
Befriend A Child is an early intervention and prevention youth project providing group activities for children involved in the Befriend A Child scheme. It is delivered in priority areas by a Youth Worker, 12 volunteers and 2 young leaders and provides a safe space for children with youth led activities including games, arts & crafts, cooking & baking. They support over 50 disadvantaged children and young people, aged 5-15 years old, who are socially isolated in their communities.
Relationship Revolution by Choices Aberdeen is an early intervention programme to break the cycle of gender-based violence and sexual exploitation and to raise awareness, challenge prejudice and stereotypes amongst young people. 1,410 young people participated in the programme which delivered 153 educational workshops and 80 drop in clubs. 98% of participants reported being able to identify violent and exploitative relationships and 95% an increased knowledge of existing support services following participation in the workshops. 8 young people were trained and supported to volunteer and 524 volunteer hours contributed.
Printfield Community Project provides resources for community activity and a venue for a range of organisations that offer support including information and advice; and support community capacity building and adult learning. They offer support with the cost-of-living crisis and help to address social isolation and loneliness. 234 people were supported, 98 children and young people participated in activities, and 70 young people were provided with healthy lunches during the school holidays.
Silver City Surfers offer one to one computer tutoring for over 55s, including support to confidently learn how to use the computer and surf the internet safely in a welcoming and social environment. They had 590 contacts with older people and 17 volunteers contributed 4,105 hours.
St Machar Credit Union provides access to affordable financial services and products, promoting easy access savings accounts for adults and juniors and low-cost loans within the community. They provided affordable loans of over £1.9m and 2,924 people had access to affordable credit, avoiding payday loans or doorstep lending.
Fairer Aberdeen Fund 