A CALL for a shake-up in the way charities are funded has come after startling research revealed children in the poorest areas of Scotland are three times as likely to die before the age of 25 than their better-off peers.

The shocking statistic has been released by the charity Aberlour as vital services across the country are being axed because of cuts in funding.

An alarming number of charities have already gone to the wall because of austerity cuts. Local authorities, who have relied on them for years to provide crucial help to those in need, are unable to fill the gap.

Like many of those they support, many charities are living a hand to mouth existence, unable to make any plans for the future because their funding situation is so precarious.

Fife Gingerbread, who have been supporting families in some of the most deprived areas of Scotland for 32 years, were forced to cut 10 jobs from their 41 staff earlier this year. Other staff had their hours reduced or their job descriptions changed because of cuts in funding.

Meanwhile need is escalating, according to chief executive Rhona Cunningham.

“The sector that is supporting the most vulnerable families is the most vulnerable,” she said.

Not only are local authorities making cuts, but grants from organisations like the Big Lottery are also harder to obtain than in the past, said Cunningham.

“My other gripe is that the Scottish Government releases tranches of money every now and again but we can’t get it because we are not delivering across several local authority areas. Yet we are a lifeboat – our work consists of one-to-one support in the home, and we respond to what we see and what we see is usually abject poverty.

“There is a lot of talk about building on what works and that local people know best but this strangles us because we can’t tap into the money. The mantra and the reality don’t quite match up.

“I don’t want to rubbish the Scottish Government and local authorities but what I am saying is that charities like ours are not top of anyone’s list even though we support 200 families every day and referrals are sneaking up again.

“For years we have been on year-on-year funding but my staff are not different to anyone else. They have mortgages and credit card bills to pay and they can’t live in a constant state of nervousness about funding coming in. A constant commitment would be good.”

According the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO) it is the small and medium-sized charities working in local communities that are being hit hardest by the cuts.

HOWEVER recent research found that small charities are actually very effective in raising funds. For every pound of public money they receive they lever in a further £8 through other sources like trust funds and the community itself.

Ella Simpson of Edinburgh Voluntary Organisations’ Council said that the current funding system was too top down and risk averse and was particularly critical of the compulsory tendering system which involves charities bidding for contracts to provide services.

“What ends up happening is that very large organisations win the tender and then the issue is removed from ownership in the community,” she said.

“Competitive tendering is an awful way to procure human services. We need more bottom up working as communities have a better feel for what’s really needed. Small charities that work with people and are run by people in the community are the best way to prevent a crisis.”

Earlier this year the SCVO published findings from a survey of Scottish charities which showed that the majority were anxious about the increased demand for services and lack of secure funding.

All were concerned about overheads while 82% were worried about the challenges created by funding cuts and 81% expected demand to increase in 2019 (up from 72% in 2017).

“Resilient charities still feel optimistic and are willing to innovate, but they cannot overcome the challenges they face alone,” said David McNeill, SCVO director of strategic development.

It is not only the small charities that are feeling the funding pinch. Recently Aberlour were forced to close their popular Dumfries Futures service for children, young people and families.

The charity are now calling for the Scottish Government to set up a transitional fund to assist local authorities to allocate more money upstream so families can be helped earlier.

A spokesperson said for the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (Cosla) said: “Our third sector partners make a vital contribution to tackling poverty at a local level and at the root of the issue raised by Aberlour is the reducing financial settlements councils have had from the Scottish Government in recent years.

“If the Scottish Government continues to reduce investment in local services, it will have an increasingly negative impact on the ability of councils and our third sector partners to address these challenges.”

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “We work closely with many partners to relieve the hardships faced by those living in the deprived areas and fund organisations of varying size. We also invested over £1.4 billion last year to support low income households.

“The new duty on councils and health boards to jointly produce Local Child Poverty Action Reports on action being taken to tackle child poverty recognises the importance of local action and of being responsive to local needs.

‘‘The first of these was published in June and we will use these to share learning and support good practice across the country.”

“Councils are responsible for their decisions on spending.”