Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Aberdeenshire residents to get £100 as part of council Scotland Loves Local scheme

The Scotland Loves Local Aberdeen Gift Card. Image: Aberdeenshire Council.
The Scotland Loves Local Aberdeen Gift Card. Image: Aberdeenshire Council.

11,300 households in receipt of council tax reduction in Aberdeenshire will receive a £100 pre-paid gift card later this month to help people with the cost of living.

Aberdeenshire Council said £1.33 million was being invested in the Scotland Loves Local Gift Card, to help people make ends meet.

The scheme will support households in Aberdeenshire with the challenges around the cost of living and is being financed by the Scottish Government, through its Local Authority Covid Economic Recovery Fund.

Towns like Inverurie will hope to benefit from the scheme. Image: Chris Sumner / DC Thomson.

It is hoped to provide a much-needed boost for businesses signed up to the scheme, particularly as they recover from the Covid-19 pandemic.

200 businesses are already set up to accept the card.

The card can be used in any of the participating stores and can also be used online at participating retailers, provided that they have a physical presence in Aberdeenshire.

A letter with an activation code will be issued to households from today, which will be followed by a second letter containing the gift cards a week later.

‘We hope it will ease the financial pressures on residents’

Aberdeenshire Council leader, Mark Findlater said: “We know just how challenging a time it is for many households within our communities right now and by frontloading this money onto the gift card we hope it will ease the financial pressures on residents.

Aberdeenshire Council leader, Mark Findlater. Image: Darrell Benns / DC Thomson.

“Not only will this financial support help households, it will also drive significant spending and keep that spend local right here in Aberdeenshire at a time when many of our businesses are still recovering from the pandemic while facing spiralling material costs and utility bills.

He added: “I very much welcome this initiative and would take this opportunity to encourage all businesses across the region to sign up to our Loves Local Gift Card so they can start reaping the benefits of the scheme.”

In December, more than 14,000 gift cards were distributed to to low-income households by Aberdeen City Council.

Conversation