Free advertising for charities
Broadcaster STV has launched its Local Lifeline initiative, an extension of STV’s successful Growth Fund, which will support local businesses and charities impacted by the coronavirus pandemic by providing free on-air and online advertising.
STV has committed £1m of airtime to charities and businesses who are working tirelessly to sustain their organisations whilst helping the most vulnerable in our communities.
The campaign will celebrate local businesses which are permitted to be open at this time and are adapting and innovating to help others whilst they are unable to operate their usual service. In addition, STV is working closely with the STV Children’s Appeal to identify community charities which would benefit from TV exposure to tell their stories and help further their amazing work.
STV will produce the adverts free of charge and they’ll appear on TV, on the STV Player and on stv.tv. Each 30 second commercial will be bespoke to the business or charity’s region, with multiple organisations featuring across the country. Ads will be scheduled across the STV schedule throughout the day to maximise their impact and reach.
Charities helping in battle against coronavirus
The Coalfields Regeneration Trust (CRT) is helping charity Glasgow the Caring City get soap to people in former mining communities across Scotland to support the ongoing battle against coronavirus.
One of the biggest messages from governments and health experts to try to prevent the spread of Covid-19 is to watch hands thoroughly with soap and water. However, soap is hard to find in many shops due to the unprecedented demand.
Glasgow the Caring city, headquartered in Govan, was set up 20 years ago to help communities across the globe in times of need, such as following natural disasters or during civil conflict. One of its initiatives is SoapAid and the charity has now rolled this service out across Scotland with soap being distributed from its Glasgow resilience centre to community hubs.
The initiative prioritises such groups as frontline volunteers, NHS workers, looked after children and police officers to give them the best possible chance of avoiding the virus and breaking the chain of it spreading from person to person.
Ross Galbraith, founder of Glasgow the Caring City, said: “We’ve been sending SoapAid packages to countries in need across the world, such as war zones, for the last 20 years, but I never thought we would be doing so in Scotland. But coronavirus has changed everything and, as the government has said, washing hands with soap and water is the way to try to break the chain of viral transmission. Soap is the greatest tool we have in the fight against this virus.
“We have a well-developed network in Glasgow and other parts of central Scotland but I contacted CRT to help us get soap to people in other areas who are tackling the virus on the frontline and various groups who really need it and are finding it hard to get.”
Autism assistance dogs provide vital lifeline
The value of assistance dogs for families with autistic children has never been more apparent than during these unprecedented times.
The UK wide charity Dogs for Good provides these highly trained dogs to over 50 families who have children with autism and people with a disability or illness, along with many other services.
During World Autism Awareness Week this week the charity is highlighting how these dogs provide a vital lifeline to their clients, and many of them say they don’t know how they’d cope without them just now.
Peter Gorbing, chief executive of Dogs for Good, said: “Inevitably, we have a number of assistance dog owners with a disability or illness who are in the high-risk category and may be feeling even more socially isolated than before.
“We’re doing all we can to support them by telephone, email and video calls right now and of course their dogs are providing a vital lifeline, not just for practical help but also on an emotional level through unconditional love and companionship.
“Demand for our services remains high and in the coming weeks and months we will continue to do all we can to support clients, their dogs, our staff and volunteers in any way we can.”
For more information or to donate visit www.dogsforgood.org
Scenes for Survival
The National Theatre of Scotland has announced further details of its online activity during the current Covid-19 crisis, including a call-out for writers as part of its Scenes for Survival programme of online work, as well as further artists joining the project.
Scenes for Survival is a new season of digital short artworks from National Theatre of Scotland which will launch new pieces of theatre from creative talents across a series on online platforms and channels over the next few months.
This project is being delivered in association with BBC Scotland, and BBC Arts’ Culture in Quarantine project. The project will see a host of actors, writers, and directors working to create short pieces of digital theatre remotely from their personal spaces of isolation.
For more information, visit the National Theatre’s website.
Fees for Disclosure suspended
Charities that need urgent criminal checks carried out on staff and volunteers will be able to do so free of charge.
The Scottish Government has suspended fees for urgent disclosures until 11 May. Disclosure Scotland will prioritise checks for the workers Scotland needs to deal with the coronavirus.
Full information is available online.
If you are a third sector organisation or you want to help others in the community, check out SCVO's Coronavirus Community Assistance Directory.
