An organisation that was set up to administer welfare and first aid to those who become vulnerable during the night time hours of the weekend in Edinburgh has launched a fundraiser for a new vehicle.
Neil Logan, who set up Street Assist in 2016 and is its current director, had been involved in helping vulnerable people over the weekends in Edinburgh for years before launching the charity.
Street Assist was granted charity status in 2017 and operates between the hours of 10:00pm and 04:00am during the weekends.
The charity is immensely successful but operates on a small budget of £20,000 a year.
So they are asking for people to donate to a GoFundMe page for a new ‘Patient Transport Vehicle’ that costs £5,000 after their old transport had accrued around 192,000 miles and was requiring some very expensive repairs.
The new vehicle will help the charity to care for vulnerable residents of Edinburgh during the night time economy hours of the weekend.
On the campaign, Neil said: “We provide welfare and first aid to those who become vulnerable during the busy night time economy hours. We deliver our service every Friday and Saturday from 10pm to 4am and we work closely with the council, CCTV, NHS and emergency services.
“As an example, this means that we can reduce the amount of time that police officers would need to spend assisting people who have over consumed. We also aim to help reduce the number of calls to the Scottish Ambulance Service for non-emergency calls and we aim to reduce the number of people attending Accident and Emergency for non life threatening ailments.
“It costs around £500 for officers to babysit someone that is intoxicated and if we can be there then it frees up cost and they can go deal with other issues. We can also take on a duty of care as the cost of an ambulance, its paramedics and a bed in A&E to sleep off a hangover is about £2,500. So if we are able to administer first aid and get them home safely then we are saving the taxpayer money.
“All in all we have saved close to £3.2m for the taxpayer through our services. We found this out after doing a study to break down the cost benefits and savings that our care brings. We do all this on a £20,000 a year budget.
“Our project contributes to a significant saving on time, resources and money to the public purse.”
So far they have raised around £3,000 of their £5,000 total.
Edinburgh Live is writing a short series on Street Assist to try to help the charity raise enough funds to buy a new vehicle that will allow them to transport people that have injured themselves on nights out in Edinburgh to places where they can receive care.
Street Assist is an organisation that provides welfare and first aid to those who become vulnerable during the busy night time economy hours. They deliver a service every Friday and Saturday from 10pm to 4am and support emergency services and the NHS to help reduce unnecessary visits to the Emergency Department.
Their aim is to make sure people they assist receive the correct immediate support and that they return home free from further harm.
If you are able to support their campaign then please visit their GoFundMe page here.
