Community Resilience in Action: STAR Project's Response to Cost-of-Living Crisis

The STAR Project in Paisley is a community organisation set up in 1999 that delivers long lasting positive social outcomes, focusing on tackling the impacts of poverty and deprivation through a holistic approach to building resilience in their community. They offer a wide range of activities which include food provision, mental health support and family support activities, with support from National Lottery funding.?

With a further award of ￡19,162 from our Cost-of-Living Community Anchors Fund, meant the project was able to provide packs to local families containing items to keep people warm and fed throughout the winter. The contents included things like slow cookers, pantry plus vouchers, cash payments, hot water bottles and warm clothing.?

Seonaid's story

One person to be supported by the STAR Project is Seonaid Park.

"Last year I was so scared because our gas and electric had been capped, we couldn’t put the heating on and my house, which has black mould everywhere and smells of damp, was freezing. I was scared to put my children to bed in case they caught hypothermia.

"The STAR project helped us by giving us Winter Warmer packs, which meant we could all have hot water bottles and warm blankets in our beds."

Seonaid is married with five children and during the birth of her youngest child she lost her peripheral vision. Whilst it didn't immediately impact her life, she had to leave her much-loved job as a lifeguard and swimming coach at a local swimming pool.

Having always worked, she was determined to continue and began working in a shoe shop. It wasn’t her dream job but it kept her family fed. Several years later, her husband was diagnosed with Leukaemia and the family struggled without his wage coming in.

Since engaging with the STAR project, Seonaid and her family have benefitted from their wraparound service, with Seonaid accessing their therapeutic workshops, Andrew engaging with our Men’s Shed, their children becoming involved with activities for younger people, and they are now receiving all the correct financial support they are due. Due to the Cost-Of-Living crisis, the family were supported with our Winter Warmer packs

The Winter Warmer packs meant Seonaid and her family were able to stay warm and worry less about money over the winter.

"I don't know where I'd be without the STAR project. We're good people, we just want to be able to feed our family and heat our home. It feels like STAR are the only people who do what they say and support us.

"When I say that STAR has been a lifeline, I mean for everyone, not just me. If I know someone is struggling, I tell them to go to STAR, they can always do something, everyone becomes part of the STAR family. They save lives!"