Lottery grant will support vulnerable families

A project which aims to support vulnerable families has secured a grant of over £300,000 from the Big Lottery Fund.

The scheme is being led by local police chief inspector Lindsay Tulloch through the community planning partnership.

The project aims to “improve the outcomes for Shetland’s most vulnerable individuals and families, and shift spend from services addressing failure demand to early intervention and prevention”, Mr Tulloch said.

He added: “I have been in the police service for over 25 years, responding to the needs of the most vulnerable in our community.

“Despite significant interventions, we continue to see the same issues arise from generation to generation with no real improvement for families in need of our services. We need to work differently, with other partners, and with families.”

A total of £321,500 has been granted to the project, a chunk of the £5.9million in grants made by the Big Lottery Fund this week towards criminal justice projects.

The money will primarily be used to fund a new post which it is hoped will be the catalyst for families and services to explore different ways of working and achieve better solutions.

An additional £80,000 in match funding will be found through the reprioritisation of existing budgets.

Helen Budge, the council’s director of children’s services said: “I’m delighted that the strength of Shetland’s leadership, strong partnership working and proposal has been recognised by the Big Lottery, in this highly competitive fund.”