Wheatley Foundation, the charitable trust of Wheatley Group, set up its Emergency Response Fund last April to support vulnerable individuals and families across south and central Scotland.

Almost 7,000 tenants and people in care from Dumfries and Galloway to Fife, and from Dumbarton to Leith, have received items ranging from fuel and mobile phone top-ups, furniture and white goods, such as cookers, fridges and microwaves, to pet food and gardening equipment.

The fund also provided children with colouring-in books and tablet computers, and parents with everything from baby milk and nappies to boredom buster activity packs.

More than £500,000 has been spent, including donations from Wheatley subsidiaries, contractors and suppliers and grants from the Scottish Government, Barclays, the Lintel Trust and the supermarket Morrisons.

Irene Brown, from Hyvot Park, Edinburgh, received a new cooker through the Fund.

She said: “It’s brilliant. It’s made life so much easier for me and I’m really grateful for the help.”

Children at Bankhead Primary in Knightswood, Glasgow, received new tablet computers to help their schoolwork.

Head teacher Celine McKinlay said: “The families are very grateful and the tablets will enhance the children’s learning.”

Referrals for help were passed to the Foundation from housing, care and property-management staff across Wheatley Group.

Foundation manager Lynne Mitchell said: “The Emergency Response Fund has been a vital way to support customers when they needed us most.

“It demonstrated how quickly and how comprehensively Wheatley was able to mobilise and then continue to support the people it works for across Scotland.”