FAITH in human kindness has been restored for a Dunfermline charity after a company stepped in and gifted them a van.

Sarah Keeble, founder of SHIELD, had considered giving up after vandals repeatedly targeted a car they use to deliver food and other help to those who need it.

But now volunteers have been given a much needed lift after Scrap A Car Scotland offered them a generous figure to scrap the damaged motor and also offered them a van completely free of charge!

Sarah said: “The car that was vandalised was about 20 years old so it was just not worth claiming on our insurance to fix the five windows that had been broken.

"I was trying to find a company to scrap it and a number was passed on from a friend.

“After a brief chat they told me they would give me £500 for the car which is amazing because it’s not worth that at all!

“Not only that but they would give me a van with new tyres, an MOT and they’re also putting our logo on for free. I honestly thought it was a wind-up and I could just not believe it!"

She added: “It’s going to make life so much easier, it’s a huge weight lifted off our shoulders and we feel very lucky.”

SHIELD was set up at the start of the pandemic and the self-funded group delivers food parcels, click-and-collect, home-cooked meals, clothing and education bank items to those in need.

Kept going through donations of food and money, the group aim to help pensioners and any working families struggling with furlough life, shielding individuals with no help, anyone who's recently unemployed as well as pregnant women and key workers who need food and other supplies.

One generous donation last year had been a gift of a car to help with transporting items. But the car’s windows have been smashed on four occasions in the last month while parked outside their base in the grounds of Fife College.

“We’re going to have to make sure that the van is not parked at the cottage and it’s ridiculous that we have to do that,” Sarah said. “But it will be very handy to have it for our surplus pop-ups and Halbeath market where we are sometimes loading cars three or four times.

“We have to reject a lot of stuff due to a lack of transport so it will open even more what we can do. It also means that we can get our name out there a bit more with the signage. So it’s not just a gift to SHIELD but our community too.”

Sarah added: “We were so excited to share with people what had happened and it’s just reinforced what we’re doing.

“After the vandalism we felt downhearted and wondered why we bother, but this generosity has given us a second wind.”

Lindsay Craft, from Scrap A Car Scotland, also enlisted the help of A M Phillip Trucktech Ltd to look after the van's maintenance and Sapphire Signs for the logo.

He told the Press: “I had a van just sitting there so when I got the call from Sarah I was happy to help. It’s brilliant what SHIELD do and I’m quite blessed in life so I’m happy to do what I can to help others.

“Sarah is a lovely girl and is so enthusiastic about what she’s doing. I do business with the other companies so I asked if they wouldn’t mind helping out.

“A M Phillip are giving it a service, have put four new tyres on and are going to maintain it going forward. The van is going to change their whole operations so we’re pleased to help.”