How Safe Families Western Isles is Making a Positive Impact in the Community

As the Community Volunteer Manager with Safe Families Western Isles, part of what I do involves travelling around and meeting new people.

Attending school parents’ evenings with a table of information leaflets, our team get to meet parents, children, teachers and other agencies that are there to offer help and support to families. It is similar at Partnership events e.g. hosted by HHP or local communities.  It has been a privilege to meet so many lovely people, and it has been good getting to see how well our community is served by charities, support groups, financial advice services, health services and so the list goes on. Everyone working together can help our island communities feel supported in so many ways.

Another part of what I do is speak to churches and community groups (all invitations welcome!) sharing about how loneliness affects us and how being a friend to a parent/guardian or to a child can help make a difference. We aim to build community, helping establish positive relationships that bring security and connection i.e. belonging; empowering those we support by enabling their potential, confident that everyone has the ability to thrive. All of this is done in love, unconditional and generous! Whilst agencies support families professionally, our volunteers are able to sit and have a coffee where they just don’t have that time. We love to serve together, investing in strong, honest, honouring partnerships.

This year we travelled down to Benbecula in March, to meet with different agencies there, sharing what support we can offer to families that feel isolated and alone. Safe Families Western Isles intends to be just that: offering friendship, support and hosting to families in Lewis, Harris, Berneray, North Uist, Benbecula, South Uist, Eriskay and Barra. Our currency to deliver this support of course relies on volunteers.  We returned in early October where I had the opportunity to share in 5 meetings in one day in Benbecula and North Uist. We as a team were very thankful for Rev Alen McCulloch for arranging many of these meetings and hosting us for lunch. As a result, we had 2 people sign up to volunteer. We also met up with the Head Teachers in Linacleit and Daliburgh Schools, a Social worker, the wonderful staff in Cothrom, and a delicious lunch at Kildonan Café where we met the staff who catered for our event in March!

In November I was scheduled to attend the parents’ evening at Daliburgh school, and meet up with the 2 volunteers to complete their assessments. Unfortunately, my ferry from Leverburgh was cancelled, so I rebooked it all, hotel included, for the following week. Sadly, this meant I missed meeting parents and staff at Daliburgh School, but I was delighted to finally get to know our 2 volunteers. My return ferry from Berneray was cancelled, but thankfully another was put on from Lochmaddy to Tarbert. These trips have made me acutely aware of how we depend on our ferry services just to do day-to-day life. So many people and services rely on these crossings to staff our schools, hospitals, deliver council services, tradesmen and hauliers, as well as people attending hospital appointments and visiting family.

As 2024 draws to a close, we are thankful to our 31 volunteers, that we have been able to support 19 families with befriending, hosting and providing resource like painting and decorating. We are thankful to the many groups and congregations who have donated and supported us financially.

We are delighted to have blessed our families with Christmas hampers and a voucher of their choosing. We are thankful to our funders, and pray that the work may continue into 2025, extending further into our island communities, so that families feel supported and less isolated.