Pilton Community Health Project, Granton Community Gardeners, Dr Bell’s Family Centre and Pilmeny Development Project are among twenty-one projects to benefit from a share of a £900,000 fund to tackle food poverty. Continue reading North Edinburgh projects to benefit from Fair Food Fund
Cyrenians launch TELL YOUR STORY campaign
More than a quarter of Scots believe poverty is a result of laziness according to a new poll published by a Scottish charity seeking to challenge public perceptions of those in need.
The poll, commissioned by Cyrenians as part of their newly-launched “Tell Your Story” campaign aimed at changing public perceptions of those living in poverty, found that 28% believed poverty was a result of laziness on the part of those living in poverty. 24% believed a lack of willpower was another contributory factor to people living in poverty
The study found that the majority of Scots think that unemployment (76%), addiction (59%) and family circumstances (56%) are main causes of poverty.
Scottish people believe early intervention and working with those most at risk, along with providing more jobs, are the best ways to reduce poverty, with only a tiny minority backing reductions in benefits.
The poll found that Scots believed providing jobs (59%), working with families at risk of poverty (58%), early intervention (53%) and providing education (51%) were the best ways the Government should help those living in poverty in Scotland; with only a tiny minority (6%) believing cutting benefits would do so.
In order to tackle poverty, Cyrenians aim over the next five years to increase the number of people they support annually from 4400 to 6000 people in a major expansion of their work in Scotland as they respond to a rise in demand from those who feel excluded from family, home, work or community. These interventions include:
The leaders of Scotland’s five main political parties, along with major celebrities such as Irvine Welsh, Mark Greenaway, Brian Cox, Grant Stott, Bill Paterson and Mark Cousins have backed Cyrenians call for people to tell their own personal story to remind us that everyone has a past, a present and a future. Cyrenians aim is to shine a light on the different ways anyone can find themselves in poverty in order to change public perceptions of those in need.
To encourage others to tell their story, Cyrenians has published a series of case studies of people they have worked with and who, for a variety of reasons, have been excluded and fallen in to different types of poverty, only to turn their lives around with help from the innovative work of the charity.
Announcing the expansion at an event with award-winning TV chef, Mark Greenaway, at Cyrenians Good Food depot in Edinburgh, Cyrenians Chief Executive Ewan Aitken, said: “The Scottish public clearly believe that the type of support provided by Cyrenians, such as working with people in danger of becoming excluded from their family or home at an early stage and working with those most at risk, are the best ways to reduce poverty rather than blunt financial instruments or stigmatising language. We want to build on that and challenge any perception amongst the public that those in poverty are only there through laziness or lack of willpower.
“Politicians, along with the rest of society, must stand-up and tackle the causes of poverty and change public perceptions. To do that we must work to prevent people from feeling excluded from family, home, work or the wider community. Through our own stories and those of people we support, as well as they services we provide, we can achieve that change.
“We should remember that we all have a past, a present and a future, so we are urging people to come forward and, please: TELL YOUR STORY.”
Cyrenians, the charity committed to supporting those excluded from family, home, work or community, has been awarded living wage status.
The charity has 110 staff who deliver services in seven local authority areas as well as providing training across the country through their Scottish Centre for Conflict Resolution. Cyrenians were able to finally achieve Living Wage status by moving a Community Job Scotland trainee and a Youth Employment Scotland trainee into employment directly with Cyrenians.
CEO Ewan Aitken said: “We are delighted to have achieved Living Wage accreditation and to put our shoulder to this vital anti-poverty campaign. As part of our employability work, we have helped over 500 people into jobs this year so we know the difficulties that low wage economy causes. This achievement is a sign of our commitment to live out what we want our many partner employers to do also.”
He went on: “We know that austerity politics is going to bite even harder and those in poverty will continue to get the blame. The Living Wage is one way of helping people out of poverty whilst challenging the many myths perpetrated by those who want to deny the reality that poverty is a symptom of a broken system and not a lifestyle choice as some would have us believe.”
The Living Wage is an hourly rate set independently and updated annually, currently set at £7.85 per hour. It is calculated according to the basic cost of living in the UK. Living Wage accreditation enables employers to be recognised for paying their staff a fair, decent wage.
Peter Hunter, Director of the Poverty Alliance, congratulated Cyrenians on becoming an accredited Living Wage Employer. “Cyrenians have shown fantastic leadership in becoming a Living Wage Employer,” he said. “The continual rise of in-work poverty in Scotland is an issue that needs to be addressed as a priority. The response requires cooperation from private, public and third sector employers. The fastest way to tackle in-work poverty is to curtail the acceptance of the minimum wage and put an onus on paying the Living Wage.”
No more squabbles over the remote control?
Avoiding family arguments over the remote control or mobile phone use could become a reality with the launch today of a new resource to help people learn more about the science of their brain and the role it plays in household conflict.
Science Festival audiences will be the first to try out a new way to learn how to better manage family arguments this evening, as leading professionals join forces to promote a newly designed online resource to ‘mainstream’ conflict resolution and mediation tools.
The new resource challenges people to learn more about the way their brain works and how deeply-engrained early experiences can shape the way they deal with conflict at home.
The new ‘Monkey v Lizard’ quiz – which can be found at http://bit.ly/TestMyBrain – has received the backing of doctor and medical advisor, Dr Sara Watkin.
It was designed by Scotland’s first-ever national mediation resource centre, the Cyrenians Scottish Centre for Conflict Resolution (SCCR), which marks its first year in operation this month.
A SCCR spokesperson explained: “The development of the resource comes off the back of successful training sessions run by the SCCR to help parents, young people and professionals across Scotland to better manage conflict.
“In its first year, the charity has run 53 sessions, with 730 attendees, and 83 per cent of those say they felt more confident in dealing with family conflict resolution.
“And the initiative it is part of the SCCR’s national campaign to raise awareness of conflict at home and the impact on young people and their families. Every year in Scotland, 5,000 young people become homeless because of family relationship breakdown.”
The new resource will be launched at the Science Festival event – Because You Know…It’s All About That Brain – which will look at the causes and effects of conflict and the role the brain plays in it.
Users will be led on a journey to discover what part of their brain they use when arguing, before being provided with more serious tools and tips on how to better resolve differences and access new ways of thinking.
Key areas of our brains are The Old Brain (lizard) and The New Brian (monkey). The Old Brain, determines our reactions and protects us from danger (our ‘fight or flight’), while our New Brain is what allows us to reflect, be aware and assess our reactions.
The new online quiz shows that, while important to keep us safe in certain circumstance, too much lizard (Old Brain) can lead to conflict escalating. By learning to access our monkey (New Brain) we are more able to do things to reduce conflict, for example, listen, reflect, empathise and communicate.
Diane Marr, network development manager at the SCCR, explained the thinking behind the resource: “We all have a drugs cabinet in our brains.
“Conflict releases the fight or flight hormones, adrenaline and cortisol. That’s great if we’re a solider at war, or a football player going for the winning goal. But not when we’re trying to decide which programmes to watch on TV, for example.
“We can try to change the way we deal with arguments. We can learn to cuddle our inner monkey and care for our lizard better. We can reduce the stress and anxiety we feel when experiencing conflict and do things in a new and different way.”
She added: “Every year thousands of young people become homeless because their relationship with their family breaks down – but they are just the tip of the iceberg of those struggling to deal with conflict.
“Through this resource, website and our national campaign we want to find ways to engage young people and families to take a look at how they can stop, talk and listen to each other better.”
“Professional and those working in conflict resolution have known about phrases and tools like de-escalation but what that’s about is learning how to breathe, take a break, go for a walk and learn to listen. We want to try to mainstream these tools to help families. By leaning ways to be more Monkey, we can learn more about ourselves, our emotions, responses and relationships.”
Medical advisor, Dr Sara Watkin, has given her backing to the SCCR’s newest resource. At tonight’s Science Festival event she will be joining SCCR onstage to talk through the physical and emotional impact of conflict and how it connects to the brain.
Dr Watkin said: “Most of us want to live amongst calm people, not hot heads. But to produce generations of sorted-out individuals, the people caring for infants must be able to open up to those babies and infants.
“Parents and babies share rhythms. The delight heard in the giggles that emerge at around three months corresponds to structural brain developments. This ‘you delight in me’ conversation nurtures confidence. It is the basis for forming relationships that matter.
“Get this wrong (or don’t get it at all) and you are on a path to producing people who don’t feel safe. It may seem as though there is no quick fix for resolving conflict. But we need to try.”
The ‘Monkey v Lizard’ initiative is part of the SCCR’s wider ‘Stop. Talk. Listen’ campaign, which aims to get people thinking about how they can stop, talk and listen to avoid longer term resentments and fall-outs.
The campaign aims to put conflict resolution and mediation on the agenda, similar to the changes in attitudes to mental health, and give families and practitioners working with young people the tools to help deal with arguments in the home.
‘Everybody matters, everybody makes a difference’ – Ewan Aitken, Chief Executive Cyrenians
A unique and innovative approach to supporting vulnerable young people who have been homeless was showcased in a short film at The Scottish Storytelling Centre on Wednesday.
Devised and produced by the residents and volunteers at Edinburgh’s two Cyrenians Communities, the film portrays what it is like to live, volunteer and work in the communities, and highlights why this approach works for both residents and volunteers.
Cyrenians has two residential Communities. The City Community in Leith and the Farm Community to the west of Edinburgh. Over the course of a year the Communities will provide support to around 29 individuals aged 16-30.
Each Community has up to eight residents at any one time, who live there as a result of being homeless, usually following a family relationship breakdown, drug or alcohol issues or a mental health problem. Both Communities also have around six volunteers who live with the residents helping to provide a safe, stable environment and ultimately resulting in residents moving on into the wider community.
Dani Jones, aged 26, one of the residents who took part in the film, describes the impact living in the Community has had on him: “Cyrenians is a chance to get back on your feet if you are homeless or in need of help. It’s given me a second chance, not only in life but in giving me the motivation to do well.”
With funding from The Agnes Hunter Trust, the Cyrenians’ residents worked with Media Education, volunteers and staff for six weeks to create the short powerful film which captures what it is like to live in a shared living environment and how this supports individuals to grow and develop, increasing their social and emotional skills.
The nine-minute film, which was funded by The Agnes Hunter Trust and produced in partnership with Media Education, can be seen at http://vimeo.com/99831443
The challenging and exciting project provided an industry-based training experience giving both residents and volunteers an opportunity to learn new skills, build confidence and self esteem. Of the six residents and nine volunteers who participated in the project, all agreed they felt a real sense of pride and achievement with the final film.
Cyrenians Community resident Annie, aged 26, described the filming making process as a positive experience and said: “Sometimes I find team work and communication difficult but through this project I think we worked very well together and showed what it is like to live in the Cyrenians communities.”
Ewan Aitken, Chief Executive, Cyrenians, said: “We hope this film will be a in inspiration for those who feel they don’t matter or that no-one cares. Cyrenians communities are places of change for everyone involved; whatever the reason they are there. There are no labels; there are only people together on a journey of transformation and hope. No-one is beyond change. Some may stumble but others are there for them. And everybody matters, everybody makes a difference.”
Iain Shaw, Director, Media Education, who worked with residents on the project, said: “We have been delighted with the levels of engagement and the commitment to the project from all involved. This is reflected in the quality of the final film.
“I hope that residents and volunteers use their involvement to seek out new opportunities and use the project as a basis for demonstrating their abilities in terms of creativity, teamwork and technical skills. We have found this project to be very worthwhile and look forward to working with Cyrenians again in the future.”
The film premiere at the Scottish Storytelling Centre gave residents’ friends and families an opportunity to share their experience. The film will now be used to help prospective residents and volunteers gain a better understanding of life in the Communities and to help recruit future volunteers.
Cyrenians film: go to http://vimeo.com/99831443
Website: www.cyrenians.org.uk
Around eighty people attended North Edinburgh’s first ever Dosh Day at North Edinburgh Arts Centre this afternoon, taking the opportunity to find out how they can cut their costs and maximise their household income.
The event was organised by the Lottery-funded Money Matters project. Castle Rock Edinvar’s Head of Neighbourhood Regeneration Heather McNaughton explained: “A group of Housing Associations in Edinburgh work together with the Citizens Advice Edinburgh to help tenants to access debt advice and to encourage people to use support to maximise their income and remain out of unsustainable debt. As part of the project we had previously co-ordinated a “Dosh Day” in Craigmillar which was very successful and we are now bringing the concept to North Edinburgh with the kind support of local organisations and agencies.”
Citizens Advice Bureaux, Granton Information Centre, Community Renewal, JobCentre Plus, Cyrenians and Volunteer Centre Edinburgh were among the organisations attending on the day, so there was no shortage of sound financial advice.
