About the Charity
Circle Supporting Families in Scotland, based in West Pilton, Edinburgh, has its roots in the Family Service Units that were established in World War 2 to support the resettlement of families from bombed communities. Nowadays though, in Scotland it has evolved into a child protection service offering various services and programmes.
The Funding Process
Circle had successfully applied for 3 small one year grants between 2008 and 2016. In 2017 they approached Cattanach for a 3-year multi-year grant to support salary costs for the post of East & Midlothian Pregnancy Post.
Circle were accepted for a £30,000 grant over three years in February 2017. To find out more about the proposal process, please look here.
How has the funding helped?
Circle’s East and Midlothian Pregnancy Project came about as a result of NHS research that highlighted that drug use during pregnancy in East Lothian is significantly higher than the national average with 64/1000 mothers using compared to 19 nationally. The funded post of Family Support Worker (FSW) worked with women who are pregnant or who have just given birth, putting the parent and child’s wellbeing at the forefront.
Pregnant women with substance misuse require a multiplicity of support, from different sources. Often times, the mothers have had children taken away from them so are reluctant to engage with social work for fear of this happening again. Circle’s FSW worker is there to delicately mediate relations with child protection to help give mothers a chance.
"The last year has been a most successful year for Circle East Lothian. We have been able to consolidate our learning and enjoy the opportunity to place service users experiences and needs at the heart of our service design. The service has skilled and experienced workers as well as a manager with considerable experience in social work practice with children and families. We are an able and committed team and as can be seen from our outcomes and feedback, we are supporting positive change for families. We continue to learn and adapt to the operational challenges and are confident that the next year will see us strengthen further."
