Tag: Challenge Poverty Week

Cutting the cost of the school day

Education Secretary praises innovative approach

Pupils and staff at Braes High School in Falkirk have been highlighting their innovate approaches to help cut the cost of the school day for families, as part of Challenge Poverty Week.

Cost-saving initiatives include the creation of ‘Take What You Need’ trolleys with essential school items, toiletries and snacks.  S1 pupils also receive a Braes Backpack which contains a school starter kit.

The school has received more than £369,000 of Scottish Government Pupil Equity Funding (PEF) in recent years, supporting a range of work including these latest initiatives.

Scotland has the most generous universal free school meal offer of any nation in the UK – saving families an average of £400 per eligible child per year – while the School Clothing Grant has been increased so that those who are eligible receive at least £120 per child of primary school age and £150 per secondary pupil.

The 2023-24 Programme for Government set out commitments to further support reductions in the cost of the school day by funding the removal of core curriculum charges, further expanding free school meals and increasing the school clothing grant for the next academic year.

On a visit to the school, the Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth said: “It was hugely encouraging to visit Braes High School during Challenge Poverty Week and to witness the innovative approaches pupils and staff have adopted to deal with the challenges that, sadly, too many of our young people and their families are facing.

“This work has been supported by the Scottish Government’s Pupil Equity Funding scheme – with more than £520 million this parliamentary term empowering headteachers to take creative and innovative approaches to tackle the poverty-related attainment gap.

“We are determined to do everything in our power to support families out of poverty, including investing in the game-changing Scottish Child Payment – part of a package of measures taken by this government which will help lift 90,000 children out of poverty in Scotland this year.

“We know that many families are still struggling, particularly as a result of the cost of living crisis. Tackling the cost of the school day is a key priority for the Scottish Government.”

Sara Spencer, Cost of the School Day Project Manager at Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) in Scotland: “We have been delighted to work with Braes High School and their Cost of the School Day Pupil Group and see all of the meaningful ways young people have involved their school community and designed supports that help to make sure everyone can take part and feel included.

“Cost of the School Day at Braes is an inspiring example of what can happen when young people take the lead on equity in their own schools and a reminder of the impact that a poverty aware school culture and a clear focus on reducing the cost of the school day can have.”

Braes HS Head teacher Iain Livingstone said: “Our young people, staff, parents, carers and the wider community work well together to challenge poverty and support all learners. Pupil Equity Funding has helped us take forward a number of projects and support to help our young people get the most out of their education.

“We enjoyed being able to speak with the Cabinet Secretary, and seeing our young people discuss the  many developments and ideas they lead.”

Braes High School worked with the Child Poverty Action Group to develop these initiatives. They are part of the new Cost of the School Day Voice network of children and young people.

Schools in Falkirk Council have received more than £26 million from the Scottish Government between 2015-16 and 2022-23 to close the poverty related attainment gap.

Challenge Poverty Week: Supporting our most deprived communities to live active healthy lives

EDINBURGH LEISURE £10 GET ACTIVE PASS

As the UK gets ready for Challenge Poverty Week (Monday, 2nd October to Sunday, 8th October), Edinburgh Leisure, the largest provider of sports and leisure facilities across the city, is working in local communities to support more people living in poverty and affected by inequalities to be active and well.

Poverty and poor health are inextricably linked. Despite Edinburgh being one of the wealthiest cities in the UK, Edinburgh faces some of the greatest levels of inequality.  The Edinburgh Poverty Commission estimates that almost 82,000 people are living in poverty. And in terms of life expectancy, a boy born in in the New Town, Edinburgh can expect to live 21 years longer, than a boy born in Niddrie.

Forty-four percent of adults living in the most deprived communities in Scotland do not meet the recommended amount of physical activity compared with twenty-eight percent of adults living in the least deprived areas.

Helen Macfarlane, Director of Wellbeing at Edinburgh Leisure said: “Being active is one of the best things we can do for our health, wellbeing, and quality of life. Yet many people living in poverty can face barriers to being active, such as cost, lack of confidence and knowledge of what support is available. 

“As part of Challenge Poverty Week, we’d love more adults experiencing poverty and inequalities to take out our £10 Get Active Pass and enjoy the life changing benefits of being active with Edinburgh Leisure. The card is not available to buy online but anyone eligible can pop into any Edinburgh Leisure venue and sign up. It really is making a huge difference to people’s lives.”

One participant explained the positive impact it is having on their life: “I don’t often leave the house but since I’ve taken out a £10 Get Active Pass, I’ve been going swimming regularly which makes a huge difference to my mental health.

“I couldn’t afford a membership, so the £10 Get Active pass has been a godsend. It’s helping me both mentally and physically and encouraged me to meet new people.”

The Edinburgh Leisure £10 Get Active Card is aimed at people on a very low income and offers off-peak access to the gym, swim, saunas and steam rooms and group fitness classes, up to 4pm, 7 days a week.  Fitness classes can be booked on the day of use.

Edinburgh Leisure is a charity on a mission to keep people active and well. They run over 50 sport, leisure and school venues across the city and are committed to creating opportunities for everyone to be active and stay active.

Each year Edinburgh Leisure’s’ Active Communities team support more than 10,000 people who face the greatest barriers to being active, including those affected by health conditions, disabilities, inequalities, and poverty to improve their health and wellbeing. They deliver over 20 different programmes city wide, which aim to break down barriers to physical activity and help people to lead healthier, happier, and more active lives.

Each year, they raise over £800,000 from external funders to provide a range of targeted projects and activities which enable people on low incomes and those living with long term health conditions to be active to protect their health, wellbeing, and quality of live.

The funding is an investment into health and wellbeing, providing a significant return by reducing the need for people to access more expensive health and social care services.

https://www.edinburghleisure.co.uk/join/concessions#getactivepass

https://www.edinburghleisure.co.uk/activities/active-communities

Scotland Demands Better!

The Scottish Government has been warned not to ‘abandon’ communities as Scotland’s largest trade union body, equality and anti-poverty organisations launch Scotland’s largest national campaign against the cost-of-living emergency.

Ahead of SNP Conference and as Challenge Poverty Week ends, The Scottish TUC, the Poverty Alliance and groups across the country launched the ‘Scotland Demands Better’ campaign. The campaign outlines the ‘People’s Plan for Action’ demanding nine actions from the Scottish Government to alleviate the crisis.

Demands include increased public sector pay, rent controls, wealth taxes and universal free school meals. The campaign further calls for increased social security payments, doubling the Scottish Child Payment and increasing Carers Allowance payments. The plan follows the STUC and Poverty Alliance joint summit on the cost-of-living crisis earlier this year.

Launching the campaign, STUC General Secretary Roz Foyer and Poverty Alliance Director Peter Kelly have written to the First Minister calling for a joint roundtable meeting to help implement the plan.

Commenting, STUC General Secretary Roz Foyer: “This campaign represents the voices of our communities. Government cannot abandon them in their hour of need and we’re seeking an urgent meeting with the First Minister to directly support workers impacted by this crisis.

“The People’s Plan for Action sets out exactly what we need to see from the Scottish Government. Whilst Westminster remains unwilling and uncaring to help ordinary workers, the Scottish Government must take a different path.

“Increasing public sector pay, accelerating rent controls and implementing wealth taxes gives Scotland’s poorest the lifeline they need to survive this emergency. Poverty and destitution are political choices. Scotland demands better than the devastation and hardship wilfully inflicted upon our most in need.”

Peter Kelly, director of the Poverty Alliance, said: “We want to put justice and compassion back at the heart of public life in Scotland – so we can build support for practical action to tackle poverty.

“With this plan, we can start to rebuild and renew our social security, boost incomes for workers, invest in the public services we all rely on, and give people the urgent help they need with rocketing costs.

“This crisis is a moment for decision for all of us – and especially our politicians. We can create a better Scotland where poverty is a thing of the past.”

To tackle the cost of living for the people of Scotland, we demand the following –

1. A real pay rise for all public service workers

2. A social security system that loosens the grip of poverty

3. Warm homes, through municipal energy companies

4. Sustained action to tackle rent costs

5. Share the wealth, through income, wealth and business taxes

6. Universal free school meals

7. Cheap, publicly controlled public transport

8. More support for childcare

9. Enforcement of Fair Work

‘Transformational’ childcare savings for thousands of families

Families of more than 79,000 children are saving almost £5,000 per child annually, thanks to the Scottish Government’s expanded Early Learning and Childcare (ELC) offer.

Since August, all three and four-year-olds and two-year-olds who need it most have been eligible for 1,140 hours of funded ELC.

Latest figures from the Improvement Service show that 90,890 children were accessing free ELC at the end of August 2021.

Of those, 97% (88,122) of children were accessing more than 600 hours and 87% (79,262) were accessing the full 1,140 hours offer.

All eligible families who applied were offered 1,140 hours.

Children’s Minister Clare Haughey said: “This week marks Challenge Poverty Week, and we know that childcare costs can place a real burden on families, so it is encouraging to see that thousands of families across the country are benefiting from our transformational expanded ELC offer.

“As well as saving families a significant amount of money, the 1,140 offer supports parents’ ability to work, train or study. We also know that high-quality Early Learning and Childcare helps to give children the best start in life, enriching their early years and giving them the confidence and skills they need to prepare them for school.”

COSLA Children and Young People’s Spokesperson Cllr Stephen McCabe said: “I warmly welcome the confirmation today that so many families are accessing the additional funded Early Learning and Childcare hours, which bring so many benefits to children, their parents and carers.

“The delivery of the expansion against the very challenging backdrop of the pandemic is a real testament to the hard work of councils and their partners.”

The Scottish Government has provided local authorities with £476 million over the last four years to refurbish, re-purpose and extend hundreds of existing nursery settings, as well as providing over 150 new facilities across Scotland.

ELC expansion delivery progress report

Church of Scotland supports Challenge Poverty Week

The Church of Scotland will mark this year’s Challenge Poverty Week (4-10 October) with a series of short videos featuring the work of the Priority Areas team and the congregations they support.

In partnership with The Poverty Alliance, the annual event aims to highlight the issue of poverty across Scotland, as well as what can be done by individuals and organisations to campaign for a more equal society.

Starting today (Monday 4 October) the videos will tie in with environmental issues in the run-up to COP26. They will be available for viewing on the Church of Scotland YouTube channel with a new one released each day during the week.

The churches featured are designated as Priority Areas by the Church of Scotland as they are in areas experiencing the greatest impact from poverty according to the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation.

Speaking about Challenge Poverty Week, the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, Lord (Jim) Wallace, said: “We need not be defeatist in the face of poverty.

“With vision and determined commitment, solutions can be identified and pursued.

“Challenge Poverty Week gives us an opportunity to come together, and with a united voice calling for such a commitment.”

Shirley Grieve, who is the Church of Scotland’s Priority Areas secretary, said: “As we enter Challenge Poverty week and join our voices in Priority Areas with others engaged in this campaign, we are mindful of the challenges people already struggling with poverty will face this winter.

“On top of the removal of the £20 weekly supplement on Universal Credit, people are already facing huge increases in fuel costs as a result of the recent surge in gas prices.

“We hope people will be encouraged to take part in Challenge Poverty week in whatever way possible and show that we can take action together to eradicate poverty.”

The Priority Areas team will also be holding a series of webinars throughout the month of October, which will explore the connection between climate change and poverty.

Peter Kelly, director of The Poverty Alliance, said: “Too many people in Scotland are living with the constant pressure of living in poverty.

“As we plan our economic recovery, we must redesign our economy to reflect the values of justice and compassion we all share.

“By boosting people’s incomes and reducing the cost of living we can solve make sure we all have what we need.”

Join in on social media using the hashtags #ChallengePoverty #NowIsTheTime

Find out more about Challenge Poverty Week and join an event.

Sign-up to a ‘Poverty and Climate’ webinar which are taking place on the following dates:

  • Wednesday 6 October 2 – 3.30pm
  • Wednesday 13 October 2 – 3.30pm
  • Wednesday 20 October 2 – 3.30pm
  • Wednesday 27 October 2 – 3.30pm

JRF issues stark warning on child poverty targets in key state of the nation report

“It is time for the Scottish Government to stop walking and start running”

The Scottish Government must take urgent action to avoid missing its own child poverty targets by a significant margin, leaving families across the country locked in poverty. The cut to Universal Credit by the UK Government in just two days’ time makes the task more urgent. 

Kicking off Challenge Poverty Week with its annual state of the nation report, Poverty in Scotland 2021, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) paints a picture of poverty levels in Scotland just before the Covid-19 pandemic.

It highlights a failure to make inroads into the significant levels of poverty among the priority groups for action as identified by the Scottish Government, including families from an ethnic minority background, families where someone is disabled, those with a child under the age of one and single parent households.

Key findings for these groups include: 

  • More than 80% of children in poverty are in one of these groups.  
  • 100,000 children in poverty in live in a household where someone is disabled – a shocking 40% of all children in poverty 
  • Children from minority ethnic backgrounds make up 7% of the population yet make up 16% of all children in poverty 
  • Children in two or more priority groups have a much higher poverty rate (36%) than those in one priority group (25%) and nearly three times that of those in no priority group (13%). 

These figures are pre-Covid 19, and much evidence has highlighted the unequal impact the pandemic has had on many of these groups, meaning their current situations could be much worse. This lays bare scale of the challenge facing the Scottish Government if it is to meet its targets and makes clear the need for targeted action to support these groups.  

The report was produced alongside the End Poverty Scotland Group, an advisory group of people from across Scotland with first-hand experience of living on a low income.  

Alex, a member of the advisory group said: ‘If over 80% of children in poverty are still in one of the priority groups, how much of a priority  are we, really?’ 

The findings also highlight the importance of full-time work in reducing poverty in Scotland. 54% of people who are in families where no one is working are in poverty. People in families where someone is working part-time have a poverty rate of 30% while the poverty rate for people in families where at least one person is in full-time work is 10%.  

The desire and need to work was a strong theme from the advisory group, but the inflexibility of childcare provision was highlighted as a consistent barrier. The group expressed deep frustration that in most cases people were trying to create a better life for them and their families, but success was often despite the system rather than because of it.  

The report urges both the Scottish and UK Governments to increase the adequacy of social security in order to drive down poverty levels. 

JRF recommends that the Scottish Child Payment is doubled as soon as possible and that the upcoming Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan must set out a clear and measurable course towards meeting those targets. It must include a far greater scale and pace of activity to support families in the priority groups who are most at risk of poverty. 

The UK Government’s cut to Universal Credit and Working Tax credit in just two days’ time will cut £1,040 per year from the incomes of 450,000 families in Scotland. This cut will increase poverty in Scotland across all groups, not just families with children.

The UK Government is responsible for 85% of social security spending in Scotland and the responsibility for the impact of this cut lies at their door. As well as reversing the cut, the report recommends reform of rules such as the five-week wait for the first payment of Universal Credit, and the two-child limit, which drive destitution and hardship in Scotland as they do in other parts of the UK. 

Chris Birt, Associate Director of JRF in Scotland said: “The Scottish Government has rightly set a national mission to end child poverty and has put in place steps to move us in the right direction. But we are on course to miss our targets by some distance. Such a political failure would have a profound human cost –  tens of thousands more children will experience childhoods blighted by hardship and anxiety. 

“It is time for the Scottish Government to stop walking and start running, by immediately doubling the Scottish Child Payment and by significantly increasing the scale and pace of its programme to support families in priority groups.  The forthcoming Budget and Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan will be crucial in putting us on a path to meeting our targets. 

“All tiers of government must look at the design and cultures that underpin public services. The group of people on low incomes who co-authored the report are clear in the need for a more constructive approach underpinned by kindness and ease of use as well as more accountability to the people who use the systems. 

“The responsibility for the cut to Universal Credit falls squarely at the UK Government’s door.  It is a failure of both compassion and of policy.  Its decision to impose the biggest overnight cut to social security in the history of our welfare state will cause immediate and widespread hardship in Scotland. With reserved powers, comes reserved responsibility.  

“Our social security system should protect people from poverty, but the UK Government is instead choosing to condemn them to it.” 

poverty_in_scotland_2021Download

Poverty Alliance events in October

With Challenge Poverty Week fast approaching we wanted to let you know about a couple of events the Poverty Alliance are organising during the week …

Challenge Poverty Lecture: Baroness Ruth Lister

5th October, 6.30pm

Across a distinguished career as a campaigner and academic Baroness Professor Ruth Lister has explored how we understand and conceive poverty, and how these understandings impact both the experience of poverty and our responses to it. Recurring themes in her work include the connection between poverty and human rights; the differential experiences of poverty; discourses of poverty, in particular the experience of ‘othering’.

For the Challenge Poverty Lecture 2021 Professor Lister will explore these themes and what they mean for addressing poverty in Scotland during and after the pandemic.

This year’s lecture will take place online. For more information and to register please click here

Rights in Recovery: Protecting Rights and Tackling Poverty After Covid

Poverty Alliance Annual Conference

8 October 2021, 9.45am-2pm

As we now look forward towards a period of recovery from the pandemic, this conference will consider how we can both tackle poverty and ensure that the human rights of those who have been most affected can be protected and extended. The discussions at the conference will be used to feed into the development of the Scottish Government’s Child Poverty Delivery Plan, as well as the informing the new Human Rights Bill.

Speakers include John Swinney MSP, Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Covid Recovery Plans, Professor Olivier de Schutter, UN Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights,  Judith Robertson, Chair of the Scottish Human Rights Commission, Bruce Adamson, Children and Young People’s Commissioner for Scotland, and Moira Tasker, CEO of Inclusion Scotland.

For full details and to register please click here

Scotland needs ‘game-changer’ policies to meet child poverty targets, says JRF

Scotland needs new “game-changer” social policies if it is to meet the government’s child poverty targets, according to new research published by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation during Challenge Poverty Week. Continue reading Scotland needs ‘game-changer’ policies to meet child poverty targets, says JRF