A Scots couple, who are living “week to week” themselves, are doing their bit to help struggling families in their area.
Christopher and Bethany Archibald, who live in Loanhead, Midlothian, began helping families get items they needed after spotting a post on social media. Now, Christopher delivers things to homes across the area. They find people who are able to assist with donations or money, and then use that to bring items such as Christmas gifts – or even cleaning products – to those who need them.
Speaking to Edinburgh Live, Christopher said: “What happened was, my wife saw a Facebook post with someone looking for some help. They took it down because they were embarrassed. We messaged and offered to help.
“That’s when we realised so many people in the area need help, and they’re embarrassed to ask for help and don’t know how or where to get it. Someone needs to help them, so why not us?”
They want to continue helping in the new year, and hope that donations won’t dry up.
They’ve said that it’s the “kindness of the community” that helps them be able to carry on. Christopher continued: “There’s all this help at Christmas, but come January that will dry up. We’re helping 20 adults and 18 children just now. People are really struggling.
“It’s so local to us, and it all starts at home. It shouldn’t be a case of people just looking out for themselves.”
The couple feel that modern life lacks a “community spirit”, something they’re looking to bring back in their own way. They added: “There are people who haven’t donated and aren’t looking for help that will comment things on social media about how people should go to charities for help and not us.
“I don’t see the problem. We’re not a huge operation or anything, just trying to help people. People used to take each others bins out. There’s always going to be a Grinch or two though.”
While the Archibalds have gone above and beyond to help the local community, they’ve said they often “struggle” themselves. They said: “We get by week to week, month to month.
“No matter what your situation is, if you can help – even in a small way – you should. We struggle a lot, us and the kids. I think in a way that’s what pushed us, we very much know how it feels.”
Since they’ve started helping others, people in the community know the Archibald’s and will often message them if they have some spare items or are in need of something.
Christopher said: “Sometimes we put a post out and ask for items that others need, other times people will message us. We do a lot of the organisation, but it really is the community that make it possible.”
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