Providing immediate relief to families with children who are suffering extreme hardship.

In its lifetime, the Aberlour Urgent Assistance Fund (AUAF) has awarded more than £3.6 million to children and families in Scotland. Since the outbreak of COVID-19 Aberlour has been providing increased financial support to families across Scotland via its Urgent Assistance Fund.

Key Information

Learn about how our Urgent Assistance Fund grants can help you in this short video.

Our Commitment to Scotland’s Families

Aberlour was gifted the St Clair’s Trust Hardship Fund in 2016 and Aberlour created the Urgent Assistance Fund to help children, young people and families experiencing extreme hardship. The Urgent Assistance Fund remains committed to providing emergency cash grants to help families who are struggling to provide essentials such as food, heating, beds and clothing for their children.

Are you eligible?

To be eligible to apply, the following must be met:

• We can only help families with a child who is 21 or younger (or up to 25 if the child is care experienced).
• The child must be facing hardship.
• Our team makes the final decision on whether we can offer help through the fund.
• A sponsor must submit a fully completed application via our web application portal link below. If applications are incomplete, we may not be able to accept them.

Who can apply?

We only accept applications from sponsors. Sponsors who can complete the application can be support workers, teachers, doctors, social workers, or other individuals who:

• are directly involved with the family and young people in a professional capacity.
• have made a full assessment of the child’s or young person’s needs.

If successful, please remember to keep all your receipts in case you’re asked to produce them in the future.

Who does Aberlour help?

Children and young people must meet the following criteria:

• Aged under 21 OR aged 25 and under if the young person is care experienced.
• Living on a low income and experiencing financial hardship.
• Have experienced a crisis that has recently had a significant and enduring impact on:
• their wellbeing
• their development and education
• The family or young person has recently taken action to improve their situation, are actively engaging with support and are moving on from the crisis.

What does Aberlour fund?

We fund support for children and young people that can include, but are not limited to:

• Food
• Clothing (including school uniforms)
• Beds, mattresses and bedding
• White goods
• Help with utilities costs
• Household items that are not available from other sources and which directly address the children’s needs

Applications must:

• Have consent from the parent or carer, or the young person themselves.
• Be completed with input from the parent/carer and children or young person.
• Carefully evaluate the child/young person/family’s needs.
• Show how the items you want will help with those needs.
• Explain how the help you’re asking for fits with any other support the child or young person already receives.

Who are Aberlour unable to help?

• Children and young people living or normally residing outside of Scotland.
• Children, young people and families who already have the financial means to help themselves.
• Families where there is no child or young person under 21 (or 25 care experienced) in the household.

We do not fund:

• Things or activities that are the government’s responsibility to provide.
• Items for parents or carers.
• Paying for legal help.
• Car insurance or repair bills.
• Organisations asking for money to fund services they would provide themselves for a fee.

Please note:

When you apply, please make sure to provide all the necessary information about the children and young people’s situation according to our criteria. Clear and complete applications help us assess your needs quickly and efficiently.

Our support is designed to complement statutory funding, not replace it. We expect that all available statutory funding options have been explored first.

Please note that our budget is limited, and sometimes we may have to decline applications that meet our criteria. The amount of funding available can vary significantly from year to year.

We appreciate your understanding and encourage you to apply if you think a child or young person could benefit from our assistance.

If you think you are ready to apply please take the Eligibility Quiz