StartUp Stirling

Yardi Scotland Volunteers

By Katrina McDowell on Jun 22, 2023 in Giving

Let’s travel to Stirling, Scotland and meet StartUp Stirling. This Yardi-supported nonprofit was founded 29 years ago that help vulnerable people escape violence, such as those coming out of prison or becoming homeless, to set up a home in an empty room or house given by the council. StartUp Stirling provides the essentials for living, such as a mattress, sheets, kettle and food basics.

Today, they provide help, such as bed frames, cots, duvets, sheet sets, toasters, dishes, cutlery and nutritious food. StartUp Stirling has just one full-time member and six part-time members but over 100 volunteers, and they get in-need referrals from over 41 agencies. Referrals are required to be allowed at StartUp Stirling, so they know the person is really in need and keep their dignity.

For each referral they receive, they have a pre-screening call with the person or family and get the actual requirements for their individual needs—pets, number of family members living in the accommodation and dietary restrictions. Doing this ensures that StartUp Stirling does not provide anything the individuals or families wouldn’t use and ultimately go to waste. This helps support the person’s actual needs. The ground floor is stacked with food, in trays, according to food type and best-before date. StartUp Stirling uses a strict stock rotation scheme so that no food is wasted.

Yardi Volunteer Day

#TeamYardi of the Stirling office had a volunteer day and were each given a sheet with the requirements for a family of two or four to fill a box. They located the location of each item and chose the correct thing being mindful of the date and family’s needs. They also provided a perishable bag of fruits and vegetables, chilled foods, pet food, toiletries, and a sweet treat or two. They packed the boxes, ensuring they could be closed and stacked for delivery.

They saw from upstairs where more oversized items were, such as pasta, but unfortunately, they did not have any referrals from the day, and all that food would only last two weeks and then would be gone.

StartUp Stirling relies on public food donations and money as they have to buy the things that are not donated or special oversized items needed. They have a mountain of pasta, but they are working with other agencies and will provide hot meals over the summer for children who typically get free school meals and others in need over the holiday.

#TeamYardi finished the day with some lovely sandwich platters and traybakes (donated by Jintz) and played a game of “Play Your Cards Right,” which was fun and full of laughter. Two employees managed to get right through the deck of cards and won a sweetie!

StartUp Stirling is so grateful for Yardi’s support over the years!

Find future non-profit profiles at https://www.yardi.com/blog/category/giving.