A Highland charity is working to tackle social isolation, build resilience and create better opportunities for those living in rural areas.
Lisa Davidson has been running Fox’s Tales for almost a year to help Highland families struggling after lockdown.
The 42-year-old soon realised that many services for adults were lost due to Covid and a lack of funding. Miss Davidson wanted to help those missing out and launched Fox & Friends.
She still offers Fox’s Tales to children up to six years old, but plans to start offering projects for all generations, such as Fox Cubs for primary school children and Fox Trot for adults.
The mum-of-two from Evanton also plans to offer groups for families with additional support needs (ASN) and anyone else who needs help.
“I really want to just reach out to everybody,” she said. “I want to create loads of services to reach everyone.
“Nobody should feel alone or isolated following lockdown. And now everyone is struggling with the cost-of-living crisis.”
She added: “I also realised some older people, because their services aren’t running anymore, are only ever seeing a postman in a week, and that is tragic.”
Ambitious plans to ‘fill the gaps’
Miss Davidson, who was a family support worker, is running the charity herself and found problems like isolation arise because of the geographic nature of the Highlands.
But, she is hoping to “fill the gaps” after realising how lonely some people are and the lack of opportunities available for families.
She said: “Our aim is basically to bring people together in their community, through classes, clubs, and events to create a positive impact on health and wellbeing.
“But, we’re wanting to have a range of services so people can come out in their communities and bond with each other to build stronger and more resilient communities.
“Because times are not going to get any easier are they? They’re just going to get harder for people.”
Miss Davidson hopes to go around different areas in the Highlands and find out what they can benefit from so she can provide the missing services.
She is also keen to work with services already in the area to add to what they provide.
“It’s a lot of work, but I’m really excited about it all,” she said.
Fox For All
She is hosting free Easter fun days across Alness, Dingwall, Inverness and Tain, for families to enjoy face painting, an Easter egg hunt, and Fox’s Tales.
The tickets were reserved overnight, but, the charity founder is planning to host more events in the future.
But first, she is aiming to get Fox For All – the service aimed at helping ASN families – up and running as soon as possible.
She said: “I’m really keen to get it on the go because a lot of additional needs families are telling me the only thing their child gets is schooling.
“Additional needs adults are wandering around with their carers at the weekend because their carer has taken them out of the house to give their mum and dad a bit of respite – but there’s nowhere to go.
“There are only so many cups of coffee you can drink on a weekend in Tain.”
She has launched a JustGiving page to raise £5,000 to get the project up and running.
Learn more about Fox & Friends or find out more about volunteering here.
Conversation