Hilda Campbell is the chief executive of Cope, a charity that supports people with mental health problems, those in crisis and others facing challenges in everyday life.

She is one of six nurses who feature in Nursing at the Edge, a campaign that shows how nurses are working to close the gap in health between the best-off and worst-off in Scotland.

Hilda’s charity has been held up as an example of an organisation that removes barriers to healthcare for those who feel overwhelmed by GP surgeries, hospitals and waiting lists.

Hilda said: “The people we see here at Cope are at the end of their tether — maybe it’s to do with suicidal thoughts as a response to a life challenge, grief at the loss of a loved one, feelings of hopelessness, challenges of poverty and inequality, unhelpful coping strategies like drug and alcohol misuse, challenges with relationships, money worries: the list of issues impacting on people’s well-being sadly is very long.

“We turn no-one away, if we can’t help we work with the person to try and find someone who can. We have virtually no waiting times — people are offered an appointment promptly when they phone as we know services need to respond and long waiting lists only compound people’s distress. We are now established as the local community’s self-made safety net.” Hilda, together with other campaigners, last week met MSPs at Holyrood in a bid to convince the government to offer funding to organisations such as Cope, and urged them to do more to improve the health of people living in deprived areas.

copy copy THE Financial Ombudsman Service recently staged a day of workshops for community and advice workers across West Dunbartonshire to help the fight against local consumer poverty.

The Ombudsman is the independent expert at resolving complaints between consumers and businesses that provide financial services. Set up by parliament, the Ombudsman Service is free to use and last year helped more than half a million people resolve their problems.

Hosted by West Dunbartonshire Council’s Trading Standards team, the “Working Together” Workshops at Dumbarton’s Burgh Hall last week brought together customer front line services, advice and community workers from the council, Citizens Advice Bureau, Credit Union and many other organisations.

Liz Hodson from the vouncil’s Trading Standards team said: “While we can deal with many consumer complaints, there are financial issues such as payday loans, mortgages, insurance and irresponsible lending that are best dealt with by the Financial Ombudsman Service. There are Credit Unions in Clydebank, Dumbarton and Alexandria that offer low cost loans and may be able to give you more affordable financial assistance. They are a much better option than using payday loans.” copy copy