Five local charities, chosen by tenants of Grampian Housing Association, are set to receive donations through the annual distribution of £1,500 from its charitable fund.

Tenants in Aberdeen voted for Mental Health Aberdeen while in Aberdeenshire, tenants voted for the Forget Me Not Club and Aberdeenshire North Foodbank.  In Moray, Logan’s Fund and Moray Food Plus topped the poll.

Sandra MacIntyre, communications lead at Grampian Housing Association, said: “Tenants were really enthusiastic about supporting these charities and we would like to thank them for participating. 

“The importance of mental health and wellbeing has been brought to the fore as a result of Covid-19 so this is an appropriate way to play our part in raising awareness, promoting understanding of mental health and ensuring help is there when people need it.   

“Many of the Association’s tenants benefit from the services provided by foodbanks throughout the year so it is great to be able to support their work in this way.

“It’s the first time we’ve asked tenants to get involved in voting for their favourite charities and we were keen to acknowledge the work of charities which mean something personally to our tenants so this year it’s children’s cancer charity, Logan’s Fund and the Forget Me Not Club which supports people with dementia, their carers and families.”

A spokesperson at Mental Health Aberdeen said: “We would like to thank you for your thoughtfulness as we couldn't provide the service we do without generous donations from kind people like yourself.”

Mental Health Aberdeen provides support services, counselling and advice to children and adults and is dedicated to improving mental wellbeing.

Food poverty is on the increase.  Reasons for this are varied but include changes in personal circumstances, illness, welfare reform, low income and unexpected bills.  Last year alone, Aberdeenshire North Foodbank supported over 3,500 households and offers help beyond emergency food parcels.  Moray Food Plus also provides a variety of services to those experiencing or at risk of food poverty.  In addition, the charity works with partners to reduce the amount of local food waste taking surplus food and redistributing it amongst the community.

These charitable donations form part of Grampian Housing Association’s corporate social responsibility commitment and its wider role as a community anchor organisation to support

the third sector and voluntary activity in the communities it serves.

This commitment compliments the range of tenancy sustainment services which the Association provides itself to help tenants get the most out of living in their homes including projects such as SMART (money advice), ASSIST (housing support) and energy advice.  The work of these projects recently gained national recognition when the Association’s “Supporting Tenants” initiative was shortlisted in the Chartered Institute of Housing Scotland awards in the Excellence in Health and Wellbeing Category.