Festive opening hours

We will close for the public holidays on Tuesday 24 December 2024 at 2.30pm, and remain closed for the public holidays between Christmas and New Year. 

However, we will open on 27, 30, and 31 December 2024 between 10am – 12pm and 2pm – 4pm. During these times, we will prioritise reviews of crisis grant applications. If you wish to request a review of a community care grant application, you can do so online. Alternatively, you can call us on 3 January 2025, and we will assist you over the phone.

Our normal service will resume on 3 January 2025 at 10am.

Contact us

This page contains contact details for the Scottish Welfare Fund (SWF) team at the SPSO.  If you are looking to speak to the SWF team at your local council, you can find their details by selecting your council on the Scottish Government website

Online:

Make a request for an independent review

Contact the SWF team at the SPSO

Complain about our service

Make an information or data protection request

Call us

Call our Freephone line on 0800 014 7299.

The line is open during the following hours:

Monday: 10am-4pm

Tuesday: 10am-4pm

Wednesday: 10am-4pm

Thursday: 10am-4pm

Friday: 10am-4pm

Please note our telephone line closes outwith these times during public holidays and for occasional staff meetings.

Calls to and from SPSO phone lines may be recorded to check the quality of our service and help us do our job to help you. More details are in the privacy notice. Please ask if you want to confirm if a call is or is not being recorded or if you would like us to pause recording during a call.

British Sign Language (BSL) users can contact us by using contactSCOTLAND-BSL

contactSCOTLAND-BSL

In person

If you would like to visit our office in person, you must arrange an appointment first by phoning 0800 014 7299 or using our online contact form. We will not accept visitors without an appointment.

By post

FREEPOST SPSO  (no stamp required - and this is all you need to write on the envelope)

 

Working with us: respecting each other

We are committed to providing a fair and accessible service. We believe that everyone who contacts us has the right to be treated with respect and dignity.

We will do our best to engage with you positively and use the best method for you.  

Tell us if something is going wrong

  • We want to fix problems and to know if you are unhappy. 
  • Please tell us; we will check what we have done against our standards and make changes if we can.

Remember we are people too

  • Our staff have the same rights to be treated with respect and dignity as our users, and we must provide a safe working environment for them.
  • We must also provide a service to all our customers.

This means we need to handle any situation or actions which could have a negative impact on our staff or our ability to work. We may need to speak with you about this or we may need to change the way we engage with you. If this happens, we will explain what we are doing and why. Details of our policy about this can be found here, or we can send you a copy of this policy on request.

Accessibility

If you require our communications in other languages and formats (such as large print, BSL or Braille), please visit our Accessibility webpage or contact our SWF team directly.

If you are visiting us in person, Bridgeside House is wheelchair accessible.  There is an access ramp from the street to the building doorway and a video intercom which is at an accessible height.  The building also has a lift.

There is metered on-street parking directly outside the front of Bridgeside House and a dropped kerb to the right of the building where McDonald Road meets Papermill Wynd.

Updated: January 26, 2024