MORE THAN 100 families from across the Kingdom have received a festive Christmas hamper from Fife Council.

The gifts contain a full Christmas dinner as well as a £20 Scotland Loves Local Fife Gift Card which can be spent on local businesses to buy items ranging from food and fuel to clothes and coffee.

The local authority say the gift card inclusion will give struggling families "a little extra" this Christmas, while supporting local businesses too.

Fife Council's Dunfermline area anti-poverty and community wealth building project manager, Lindsay Gilfillan, said the hampers were sent out through a referral process.

"The hamper contains everything that a family will need for their Christmas dinner, including starters, meat, vegetables and a pudding. This year, we decided to include a £20 Scotland Loves Local Fife Gift Card too," she explained.

“Families can use their Fife Gift Card on something that they want or something that they need. It offers flexibility to spend as they choose.

"Everyone is struggling right now but for some families, it is incredibly hard. The gift card will give families a little extra this Christmas, whether that’s topping up gas and electricity for Christmas Day, buying a gift or two to put under the tree or even to go towards a family activity.

“Every time a family uses a Fife Gift Card in Dunfermline, it is benefitting our local businesses. Fife businesses went above and beyond to serve the community during the pandemic, and continue to do so now.

"Using the Fife Gift Card as a council is one way for us to say thank you to our businesses. Trading conditions remain challenging for businesses, and every pound spent locally matters.

“There are so many ways that the Fife Gift Card can be used in our area, and the future potential of the card is huge. For any businesses that are not yet signed up to accept the card, I encourage them to do so. It’s free to join, requires no new equipment and is a route to new customers and new sales. There’s no down-side to being involved.”

The Fife Gift Card can be spent like a debit card with more than 140 businesses in the region, including shops, restaurants, leisure venues, salons and service providers, such as Abkozi Natural Pets, Paddleboard Fife and Café Fresh.