A leading Perthshire charity has been forced to lay off members of staff due to funding cuts as the demand on the organisation continues to rise.
Perthshire Women’s Aid, which helps women and children who have suffered domestic abuse, also faces a growing waiting list and changes to front-line services as the strain from cuts takes its toll.
The organisation lost two members of staff to redundancy late last year and say they are continuously “being asked to do more with less”.
Joan Maclean, manager of Perthshire Women’s Aid, said the charity is now trying to source more funding so it can continue to provide the specialist domestic abuse services it has given the area since 1974.
Ms Maclean said: “As with services across the sector, we have consistently seen rising demand accompanied by general cuts to funding.
“Without a sustainable, nationwide funding model for women’s aid groups delivering front-line services, funding is very often precarious and short-term.
“Unfortunately, we’re seeing the impact of this in the form of two voluntary redundancies due to a gap in funding for our outreach service.
“We will of course continue to try and source funding to allow us to provide the level of service women in outlying areas of Perthshire have received over the last five years through much needed funding from the Big Lottery.
“In the meantime staff are attempting to cover the gap though inevitably it has resulted in a waiting list and a change in how we can deliver services.
“Our reality is that the service is continuously being asked to do more with less.”
The effect of funding cuts being felt by the Perthshire branch are being felt on a national scale with women’s charities across the country also facing financial hardship.
The latest figures from Scottish Women’s Aid from 2018 show 89% of groups were working with a reduced or standstill budget compared to the previous financial year and over half the groups were operating a waiting list for refuge.
A third of the groups reported an overall financial deficit with one in four forced to make redundancies or freeze posts in order to reduce staffing costs.
This comes against a backdrop of 63% of groups reporting an increase in demand for women’s services.
A spokesperson for Scottish Women’s Aid said: “Women’s Aid groups are having to increasingly rely on a diverse range of often precarious funding sources in order to provide essential services to women and children.
“These sources of funding are often short-term, temporary, and project-based.
“It is unsustainable and unethical to ask those providing front-line, essential services to women and children who have experienced domestic abuse to continue to do more with less.”
