A 24-year-old charity has said that every day is an ongoing battle when it comes to getting money through the door. 

The Safety Zone, the only community centre in Bargeddie, told the Glasgow Times that they must constantly raise funds to stay afloat. 

(Image: Ingrid Sigerson, centre administrator for The Safety Zone, pictured by Colin Mearns) Ingrid Sigerson, centre administrator for The Safety Zone, said: “We are always trying to raise funds because the money flow is quite turbulent.

“It affects your sleep when the money is low but then it comes in and it’s such a relief until you need more again. Every day is a continuous and ongoing battle.

“Charities are the good guys but we feel there is always something to fight.” 

(Image: Images by Colin Mearns, Newsquest) The current struggles result from the ongoing cost of living crises and the lasting effects of the pandemic – which Ingrid says the centre has never recovered from. 

She added: “With Covid and the cost of living, we are struggling to have our voices heard and grants have become a competition with other charities.”

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The North Lanarkshire-based charity has spent the last two decades looking after the young and old in Bargeddie. 

Offering a range of toddler groups and youth clubs, as well as organising trips for youngsters over the October break, Ingrid said the charity has watched children attend the service, grow up into adults and send their own children. 

The charity also lets out rooms for locals to use such as for OAP groups like Young At Heart, dance teams, and community meetings.

Ingrid said: “The work we do is incredibly important and we work so hard. 

“This is a busy community and once the kids get here and they are tearing through the place it is hilarious. It is such a joyous place to be.”

(Image: Images by Colin Mearns, Newsquest) But despite the undeniably positive impact that the valued charity has on the community, there is the constant fear of it all coming to an end - especially due to the lack of available funding. 

Ingrid said: “We want to keep going but we know so many other charities have had to close their doors because of lack of funding to keep them afloat. 

“There was a local charity we worked with who were in dire straits and we felt that pressure too. 

“Things suddenly become very anxious and it’s heartbreaking to see those who don’t make it.”

And closing would not just be hard for staff, it would be detrimental to the community – according to Ingrid. 

She said: “If we go then there is nothing. The game is a bogie.”

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The charity has previously received funding from North Lanarkshire Council but Ingrid said that grants feel more and more scarce these days. 

To find out more about The Safety Zone, click HERE 

A spokesperson for North Lanarkshire Council said: "We have provided The Safety Zone with considerable grant funding - in the region of £50,000 - in recent years to support their activities.

 "For example, in 2022/23, we supported them through local development funding of £20,000 to replace the floor in their main hall and to develop a community garden growing and learning space in partnership with a local primary school.

  "A recent review makes the grant awards programme fairer and opens up the opportunity for more community and voluntary sector organisations to receive funding.

 "We can provide advice to community groups on how to access grant funding from a range of sources, so that no organisation is reliant on a single supplier to support their activities and we can support The Safety Zone to do this.”