A Cupar-based charity, which has come under fire after it was revealed it employs sex offenders, says it safeguards the community.
The Castle Furniture Project, which provides free or low cost household goods to struggling families or individuals in Fife to help relieve poverty, has been inundated with calls and emails from the public since the news broke, with some calling for a demonstration.
But, in an interview this week, its CEO, Sylvia Ingram, said it would be a shame if the charity ‘collapsed’, explaining the lengths the organisation goes to to protect the public.
The charity employs no more than one sex offender at each of its sites, in Glenrothes and Cupar, at any one time.
It does not employ sex offenders, who have been given a custodial sentence, with individual risk assessments carried out each time.
Four members of staff also have qualifications in risk management.
“We want to let the public know we’re not just a grass roots project that has no control over what’s going on,” Ms Ingram said.
“We know who is coming in and out. Safeguarding the community is important to us.”
The organisation has been working with sex offenders for the last eight years, and, one of the reasons it receives £100,000 per year from Fife Council, is for rehabilitation work with the offenders.
Kuddos.