The Mark McCall Home Safety Fund will award £3,000 to a single winning organisation delivering home safety outcomes for children anywhere in Scotland.
The Scottish Community Safety Network, Royal Society for Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) and Fife Council are delighted to announce the Mark McCall Home Safety Fund will open for applications on the 1st December 2023. The fund is open to groups who deliver home safety outcomes for children under the age of 5 within a home setting anywhere in Scotland.
Between April 2022 and March 2023, there were 2,147 unintentional injuries of children under the age of 5 that required hospital admission (922 girls and 1,225 boys).
Research published by the Scottish Community Safety Network (SCSN), as well as data shared by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA), Public Health Scotland (PHS), the World Health Organisation (WHO) and others shows “falls are the second leading cause of deaths worldwide”. Unintentional harm and injuries at home also include a tragic list of poisoning, choking, drowning, cuts, burns, strangulation and others. The young (under-fives) and elderly (over 65s) are most at risk, and 94% of accidental deaths take place in our most deprived communities.
As the cost-of-living crisis cuts deeper through communities, families and services access to essential safety equipment, support and resource is becoming far more limited, or unavailable.
Last year’s winner, Jamie Burgess, Manager of Care and Repair Lanarkshire said:
“We were delighted to be announced as winners for the Mark McCall Fund in 2023. The fund we received allowed ourselves to deliver the ‘Safe as Houses’ initiative for under-fives in Lanarkshire installing home safety equipment in deprived communities. If you are looking for funding for a small project for child home safety, I would highly recommend this fund.”
Speaking about the launch of the fund, Lorraine Gillies, Chief Executive Officer at the Scottish Community Safety Network, said:
“We are delighted to support the Mark McCall Fund for a second year with our partners at RoSPA and Fife Council. We are committed to enhance the legacy of home safety for children by using Mark’s name, a passionate supporter of preventing child injuries in the home. We were delighted with the success of the previous winner, Care and Repair Lanarkshire, who targeted home safety within the most deprived communities in their area. The Mark McCall Home Safety Fund provides groups with an opportunity to apply for support for small projects across Scotland with a focus on home safety and the prevention of accidents in the home for children under the age of 5.”
Liz Lumsden, Community Safety Manager (Scotland), Royal Society Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA), said:
“RoSPA is delighted to support the continuation of this vital fund to help ensure that the risk of young children being involved in accidents in their own homes is reduced. The provision of safety equipment is a much-needed resource along with crucial information for parents on how to keep children safe. RoSPA encourages the uptake of initiatives to ensure the right safety equipment is supplied where it is needed most and would urge a wide range of partnerships to apply.”
Bill Harley, Project Officer, Fife Council said, “We are very pleased that this fund is available again this year continuing the memory and legacy of Mark. It will allow the successful applicant to provide equipment and advice to parents and help them keep their children safe in the home.”
Those interested in applying can find out more and download an application form via the Scottish Community Safety Network website. The deadline for applications is 17.00 on 31st January. Joint bids also considered. Find out more and apply at: