Comic Relief commits £70,000 to help communities affected by flooding

Roads were swept away and dozens of people were forced to leave their homes in the north-east earlier this month.

A £50,000 fund created to help families in Cumbria following flooding in December was expanded by £200,000 in response.

Scotland will receive the largest share of the money, with victims in Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Angus, the Borders, Dumfries and Galloway and Perth and Kinross set to benefit.

Foundation Scotland, the charitable body in charge of distributing the money, hopes to raise a total of £1m for victims.

Giles Ruck, CEO Foundation Scotland, said: “As the scale of the recent floods becomes clear, we took the decision that the Foundation has a key role to play to help support those communities most affected. We hope the general public and businesses across Scotland will donate to help those in desperate need and help us reach our initial fundraising target of £1m. Working at the request of community led groups, we will get funding to local community volunteer groups doing critical work on the ground, as well as immediate funding to individuals and families who are suffering severe hardship.

“We are aware of the many local fundraising efforts already underway and the Fund will complement those. In some instances, we may be able to relieve the admin burden and responsibility of distributing those funds and would encourage groups to contact us if they feel we can be of help.”

People can apply for funding on the Foundation Scotland website.