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Caithness and Sutherland Women's Aid gets more than £100,000 in five-year funding package





A local women’s aid group says it is looking forward to developing and growing its service in Caithness and Sutherland after receiving a five-year grant totalling £103,940.

The support for Caithness and Sutherland Women's Aid (CASWA) comes from Bank of Scotland Foundation’s new Invest programme, aimed at helping to ensure financial certainty for charities amid the difficulties of Covid-19.

CASWA is a specialised organisation working with women, children and young people who have experienced domestic abuse. It has been delivering emotional and practical support, as well as information provision and advocacy, since 2005, and provides the only domestic abuse service in the area.

The five-year funding will contribute towards the salaries of staff, who currently provide 275 hours of work a week, supporting individuals referred to the service. It will also enable the charity to increase the hours of a specialist support worker to meet the rising levels of demand for the service.

The support is "person-led and trauma-informed". It will benefit up to 151 women each year on an individual basis.

A specialised programme of group work twice a year will support a further 20 women.

CASWA manager Kate Blowers said: “We are thrilled to receive this grant. It has given us the security to sustain our current level of support and, in addition, confidently develop and grow our service to meet the needs of our local community in uncertain times.

"We look forward to working with Bank of Scotland Foundation to make a real difference in Caithness and Sutherland.”

The Caithness and Sutherland Women's Aid (CASWA) logo.
The Caithness and Sutherland Women's Aid (CASWA) logo.

The Invest programme is part of Supporting Positive Change Across Scotland, Bank of Scotland Foundation’s five-year strategic plan which was launched last year. In all, eight Scottish charities were awarded an Invest grant for terms ranging from two to five years, sharing a total of £859,581.

Philip Grant, chairman of the foundation’s board of trustees and chairman of the Scottish executive committee for Lloyds Banking Group, said: “Scotland’s charities faced enough financial pressure before Covid-19, but with large-scale fundraising events now being cancelled the pressure is even greater.

“We are delighted to have been able to continue as planned with our new Invest programme and award Caithness and Sutherland Women's Aid with longer-term funding to help to ensure financial stability.”


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