EDINBURGH UNITES TO TACKLE POVERTY
The Council Leader and campaigners have come together to call for action to challenge the injustice of poverty in Scotland’s capital.
Staging an anti-poverty event this week (Wednesday 8 October), the End Poverty Edinburgh citizen group highlighted how around 80,000 people are living in relative poverty in Edinburgh.
The conference, held at the Grassmarket Community Project with people with lived experience of poverty, is part of Challenge Poverty Week 2025. Highlighting the need for poverty prevention and the injustice of poverty on marginalised communities, the event followed previous conferences held in 2023 and 2024.
In Edinburgh, a citywide commitment has been made to tackle poverty, which affects one in five children in the city. This includes accelerating the work of the End Poverty Edinburgh Action Plan – also tackling the city’s Housing Emergency and reviewing the way the council supports the third sector in Edinburgh.
A new preventative approach has been adopted with the aim of making it easier for people at risk of poverty to access support, while funding has been provided to Edinburgh’s new Regenerative Futures Fund, which will help local communities to lead poverty prevention and deliver change.
Caroline Cawley, a member of End Poverty Edinburgh, said: “This is our third annual conference, and we wanted to use this day as an opportunity to highlight the injustices facing marginalised groups, who are more likely to experience poverty in Scotland.
“Poverty and uncertainty for these groups is not getting better and many people are starting to lose hope. This is the worst thing to lose as hope is the last thing to go. As a group of Edinburgh residents with lived experience of poverty, we’ll continue to use Challenge Poverty Week to call for change and solutions, including greater poverty prevention in the city.”
Speaking at the event, Council Leader Jane Meagher said: “In Edinburgh around 80,000 residents are struggling to make ends meet, with one in five children living in relative poverty. We must continue to do everything in our power to end poverty in Edinburgh.
“I’m proud of the positive work which is already being done to combat the causes of inequality in the city, and this annual conference highlights the incredible efforts of our third sector, council officers, and city partners to make life better for thousands of people across the city. Without this progress, these statistics would be even more stark.
“We can’t address poverty alone and this Challenge Poverty Week, we’re uniting for change, highlighting the injustice of poverty in our communities.”
Peter Kelly of The Poverty Alliance said: “We’re very pleased that Edinburgh is marking this year’s Challenge Poverty Week. In a rich country like ours, poverty is an injustice that weakens us all as a society.
“But we can solve it. We can redesign our economy to make sure people have incomes that are adequate enough to live a life with freedom and dignity.”
The End Poverty Edinburgh Conference is the first of three major poverty events happening in Edinburgh this month. On 25 October, the Scotland Demands Better rally led by the Scottish Poverty Alliance will take place in Edinburgh.
Then, on 31 October, the Edinburgh Poverty Commission will host a public event to launch the publication of their most recent findings on the actions needed to end poverty in Edinburgh.
Meanwhile, during Challenge Poverty week, poverty stigma training is being rolled out to Council employees to increase awareness of poverty and to help people access the support they need.
A Council pop-up in Gilmerton Library is also offering information on benefits, building skills, money advice and links to the community food pantry in Gilmerton community centre.
Information for residents experiencing or at risk of poverty can also be found on the Council’s cost of living webpages
