Tag: Poverty

Children First urges families living in poverty in Edinburgh to contact them for help

This winter, Children First is urging families in Edinburgh struggling to make ends meet to call its national support line. 

The charity’s experienced team can give confidential assistance with money worries, and thanks to extra funding from the Scottish Government, can provide emergency support to families living in poverty.   

As well as immediate help, every family that contacts the charity’s support line will be offered expert debt management advice, support to access benefits, and guidance to help families build a more secure financial future. 

Thanks to partners British Gas Energy Trust, the charity is also able to offer eligible families new white goods ranging from fridges to washing machines – but only until the end of February. 

In 2025, the charity’s support line helped nearly 1,500 families with money worries. The team put £1.8 million back into household budgets and supported families to manage over £1 million pounds in debts.  

Simon McGowan, Assistant Director at Children First, said: “We know it can feel hard to talk about money worries, but getting help early can make an enormous difference. Our friendly team listens without judgement and helps parents and carers get the support they need to make life better for their children. 

“As well as immediate financial help to alleviate a crisis, we can offer practical, down-to-earth help with budgeting, benefits, debt and energy bills. And thanks to British Gas Energy Trust, until the end of February we can provide white goods like washing machines and fridges to families living without these essentials. 

“We want parents and carers to know they don’t need to face their money worries alone. If you’re struggling, please get in touch. We can help you straight away. 

“Call the support line team free on 08000 28 22 33 from 9am – 9pm, Monday to Friday or 9am – 12 noon Saturday and Sunday or start a webchat with the team on our website at www.childrenfirst.org.uk/supportline.” 

When Amy* first called Children First’s support line, she was at breaking point. Trapped in a damp flat with two young children, suffering from postnatal depression and £190 short every month, she felt invisible and hopeless. 

Children First’s support line arranged immediate food and heating support so Amy’s children could stay warm and fed. They secured £1,500 from the Home Heating Fund and negotiated lower bills, cutting Amy’s broadband by £38 per month. The team also secured £180 per month in child maintenance and connected Amy to housing, mental health and local family support services. 

Amy’s financial situation improved by more than £4,500, lifting a weight off her shoulders and helping give her and her children a brighter, more secure future. 

Amy said: “I felt invisible before I called. Now I feel like someone is on my side. My kids are happy, and I can breathe again.” 

*Names have been changed to protect the identity of the family. 

In January 2026, Children First was awarded £1.5m in funding from the Scottish Government to provide extra emergency support to families in crisis as part of the national mission to eradicate child poverty.

Find out more here: £10m emergency support for families – gov.scot 

Poverty Alliance: Politicians can avoid division and build better future for all

WITH welfare and benefits in danger of becoming a political football in the Holyrood election campaign (see today’s FMQs for starters – Ed.), Scotland’s Poverty Alliance has spoken out:

Poverty Alliance Policy & Campaigns Manager Gary Christie said: “When it comes to ending the injustice of poverty and investing in a better future, the Poverty Alliance works constructively with leaders from all political parties.

“One of the things we ask of all is that they avoid creating false division between people. Very few politicians would criticise someone for using our NHS or claiming Pension Credit. So, it’s morally wrong to point at others who use our shared social security system.

“Nearly 40% of the people on Universal Credit are in work. Nearly 1 in 3 people referred to Trussell Trust foodbanks are in working households.

“We all pay into our shared public services, and we all benefit. People who don’t pay income tax contribute every time they buy something that has VAT on it. And many people on the lowest incomes in Scotland have higher tax rates than the wealthiest in society. We are all in it together.

“Instead of risking stigmatising and hurting our friends, neighbours and fellow citizens, it would be good for politicians to look at their own responsibilities first. They have the power to move towards a Minimum Income Guarantee based on fair work, strong services, and a just social security system for all of us. These must be pursued together, not traded off against one another to score political points.

“The Scottish Child Payment is a vital building block of that future. It helps give a decent start in life to more than 300,000 of Scotland’s children.

“Rather than talking about unjustly cutting some children off from that vital help, politicians can boost the value of the payment as one important stepping stone towards the Minimum Income Guarantee.”

‘Nothing’s Changed? Everything’s Changed. It’s Worse’

UK Poverty 2026: The essential guide to understanding poverty in the UK

This report sets out the nature of poverty in the UK, and evaluates changes under the last Conservative-led Government.

It also sets out the scale of action necessary for the current Government to deliver the change it has promised.

Today, we’ve launched our annual state of the nation report, UK Poverty 2026. The report, which accounts for the time just before the current government took power and clearly shows the depth of the problem and the scale of the challenge.

Some of the key findings of the report include:

  • More than one in five people in the UK, around 14.2 million, were living in poverty.
    Britain’s poorest are getting poorer: 6.8 million people are now living in very deep poverty, almost half of everyone in poverty, the highest level on record.
  • Poverty has hardened, not eased: the average person in poverty now lives 29% below the poverty line, compared with 23% in the mid-1990s.
  • Child poverty has climbed again: 4.5 million children are in poverty, rising for the third year in a row.
  • Hunger is spreading fast: 1.1 million more people in poverty cannot afford enough food than two years ago bringing the total to 3.5 million, while 2.8 million more people overall are now food insecure bringing the total to 7.5 million.
  • Work doesn’t guarantee security: around two-thirds of working-age adults in poverty, 5.4 million people, live in households where someone is in work.
  • New JRF analysis shows that, under central Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) projections, the headline poverty rate will remain broadly unchanged (21.3% to 21.1%) between 2026 and 2029.
  • Current policies will see little progress towards meeting the government’s manifesto commitment to end the mass dependence on food banks.

People in very deep poverty now make up the biggest group of people in poverty, at 6.8 million people.

This is unacceptable for the fifth richest country in the world, and it has consequences.

Overall poverty rates have flatlined since 2005/06 at just over a fifth. The longer a family spends in poverty, the worse the effects on that family.

The longer we tolerate unacceptably high levels of poverty, the worse it is for our country.

THE TIME FOR ACTION IS NOW.

We found that Britain’s poorest people are getting poorer. And poverty is hardening, not easing.

  • Almost 1/2 of all people in poverty in very deep poverty
  • More than 1/4 disabled people living in poverty
  • Around 2/3 of working-age adults in poverty live in a household where someone is in work

Feelings of frustration – and the need for urgent action – were evident

The lives behind the numbers — unacceptably tough, and getting harder

With a foreward from our Grassroots Poverty Action Group (GPAG), this report speaks to some of the policies that would lift hundreds of thousands of children, disabled people and other families out of poverty.

It can be done, and it has been done before. The alternative is a reality that feels harder to thrive in.

UK Poverty 2026 – the essential guide to understanding poverty in the UKDownload

Impact Arts launches Holyrood Elections Manifesto

🗳️ For the first time ever, Impact Arts is launching a manifesto ahead of the 2026 Scottish elections.

Our vision: A Scotland where people and communities benefit from life-transforming creativity that tackles inequalities and addresses poverty. 🎨

CEO Fiona Doring says: “For decades, Impact Arts has seen first hand how arts-based approaches transform their lives through improving wellbeing, strengthening communities, and developing life chances.

“Ahead of the 2026 Scottish elections, we urge decision makers to recognise the arts as a vital part of building a fairer, healthier, and more connected Scotland.”

OUR MANIFESTO ASKS

📣 Scotland’s leaders, we urge you to:

1. Recognise Creative Engagement as a Public Health Approach

2. Improve Access to Creative Preventative Mental Health Approaches

3. Ensure Access to Arts-Based Therapies for Children Facing Trauma and Poverty

4. Embed Creative, Flexible and Person-Centred Approaches into Whole Family Wellbeing

5. Support Creative Ageing to Bring Joy to Later Years

6. Increase Access to Quality Arts-Based Education & Employment Programmes

7. Support Neurodiverse Young People Through Quality Arts & Creativity Projects

8. Promote Creative Home-Making as Key to Sustaining Tenancies & Preventing Homelessness

9. Celebrate Creative Placemaking

Impact Arts urges Scotland’s leaders to embed creativity across public policy. By investing in arts-based and creative approaches, we can build a more inclusive, stronger, and imaginative society.

📖 Explore our extended manifesto featuring references to research and commentary from Culture Counts, Arts Culture Health and Wellbeing Scotland, Voluntary Health Scotland, Social Biobehavioural Research Group, National Academy for Social Prescribing, Scotland’s Mental Health Partnership, The Scottish Government, Skills Development Scotland, Children’s and Youth Arts Advocacy (CYAA), Scottish Autism, Homeless Network Scotland, and SURF – Scotland’s Regeneration Forum.

Read the full manifesto ➡️https://www.impactarts.co.uk/impact-arts-launches…/

#manifesto

#scottishelections

#artscharity

Luminate: Scotland’s creative ageing organisation

Scottish Federation of Housing Associations – SFHAYouthLink Scotland

Greens highlight potential funding cuts to community organisations

At yesterday’s meeting of the city council’s Finance and Resource Committee (Thursday 15 January) the Scottish Greens presented an amendment which drew attention to a £15m Scottish government budget cut to community organisations and the end of Investment in Communities.

The shock proposed cut by the Scottish government risks a long list of local community groups being left high and dry as core funding for charities continues to be a pressing issue in the city (see list below).

Finance spokesperson Alex Staniforth said, “We’re glad our amendment passed at committee and officers will investigate the impact of these proposed cuts, but every time we think we’ve got a handle on cuts to the third sector some other proposal comes forward to squeeze it still further.

“The Scottish government should reflect on whether this is the best way to save £15 million given the vital work community organisations do in the city.”

List of Edinburgh organisations potentially affected:

  • About Youth, Calder Youth Action Project (part of Wester Hailes Together), City of Edinburgh, £105,822
  • Community Renewal Trust, Our Neighbourhood: A new hyperlocal Community Wealth Building partnership, City of Edinburgh, £300,732
  • Dr. Bell’s Family Centre, Start Well, Live Well: Wellbeing Support for Families in Leith, City of Edinburgh, £348,067
  • Edinburgh Food Social Cic, Changing Craigmillar Food Culture, City of Edinburgh, £325,847
  • Fresh Start, Fresh Connections, City of Edinburgh, £280,201
  • North Edinburgh Arts, North Edinburgh Arts Link Up, City of Edinburgh, £331,400
  • Space @ The Broomhouse Hub, Together We Can, City of Edinburgh, £350,000
  • The Venchie Children And Young People’s Project, Family Support Service, City of Edinburgh, £208,732
  • Transition Edinburgh South (Scotland) Ltd, Investing in Gracemount, City of Edinburgh, £302,196
  • Whale, The Arts Agency, Creativity, Place and Enterprise in Wester Hailes (part of Wester Hailes Together), City of Edinburgh, £332,494

Link to relevant part of Scot Government budget:

https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-budget-2026-2027/documents

Scotland Demands Better briefing on the Scottish Budget 2026/27

Budgets reflect the choices and priorities of our Governments. Our political leaders have a responsibility to use them to build an economy and society in which all people the income necessary to live in decency and dignity.

In October 2025, thousands of people from across Scotland took to the streets of Edinburgh in the Scotland Demands Better campaign march and rally, the largest anti-poverty demonstration our country has seen in decades.

They stood together to demand that politicians build a Scotland free from poverty, creating the conditions for better jobs, better investment in life’s essentials and vitally, better social security.

In this briefing, we set out how MSPs can build a better future for Scotland’s children:

Scotland-Demands-Better-Briefing-on-Scottish-Child-Payment-for-Scottish-Budget-January-2026Download

download it here.

Cyrenians: Community Pantries

Our Community Pantries offer a unique, low cost way to access a variety of foods, including Chilled and fresh produce, and ambient cupboard staples.

We’re working so that no one suffers from food insecurity – it’s part of our work tackling the causes and consequences of homelessness.

Find our pantries at St Brides Centre, Goodtrees Community Centre, The Neighbourhood Centre, The Ripple, Hibernian Community Foundation, Valley Park Community Centre and Southside Community Centre.

Find out more about our pantries here: https://buff.ly/oVCt71D

£10m emergency support for families

Two-child limit mitigation funding for 2025-26 reinvested to tackle child poverty

More support will be available to families and households to help cover the cost of life’s essentials and to deal with emergencies.

First Minister John Swinney has confirmed that £10 million originally earmarked in 2025-26 to support the two-child limit mitigation payment in Scotland will be reallocated to tackling child poverty.

The majority of the funding will be split between charities and government programmes that provide emergency financial support, including:

  • £5.5 million additional funding for the Scottish Welfare Fund. The fund is administered by local authorities and provides people on low incomes with emergency grants if they are facing crisis, homelessness or other housing or caring challenges
  • An additional £0.55 million for Aberlour Children’s Charity and £1.5 million for Children First to provide extra emergency support to families in crisis
  • £1.5 million for the Corra Foundation to distribute additional emergency funds via local organisations

A further £1 million will support various strands of the Scottish Government’s national Child Poverty Delivery Plan 2022-2026, including parental employability schemes, funding to support women back into the workforce, additional investment into the King’s Trust’s NHS employability programmes, and targeted support for households experiencing homelessness.

Visiting children’s charity Children First, First Minister John Swinney said: “When I became First Minister, I said that I will pursue priorities that will make Scotland the best our country can be, and the most important priority that I have pursued in government has been that of eradicating child poverty.

“We have made progress. Scotland is the only part of the UK where relative child poverty rates fell in the last year. Our investment in a more dignified and generous social security system, funded childcare, free school meals and free bus travel for under-22s is putting more money in families’ pockets.

“However, as we start 2026, there are still far too many children in Scotland growing up hungry, or cold, and unable to reach their full potential. That is unacceptable.

“Today’s announcement will provide some immediate short-term relief for individuals and families facing the most challenging of circumstances. Our local authorities and charities have well-established means of getting support out quickly to people in need.

“Next week we will set out in more detail our intention to put tackling child poverty at the heart of the next Scottish Budget and I look forward to unveiling landmark interventions to drive this work forward.”

Chief Executive of Children First, Scotland’s national children’s charity, Mary Glasgow said: “These funds from the Scottish Government will allow Children First to offer life changing and immediate support to thousands of children as part of the national mission to eradicate child poverty.

“Through our national support line we will be able to reach more children and families to offer the financial, practical and emotional support they need to improve their circumstances and tackle the hardships they face in the short and longer term.

“Any family in Scotland in need of help can contact Children First’s friendly, specialist support line team  365 days a year by calling 08000 28 22 33 or starting a web chat at www.childrenfirst.org.uk/supportline.”

Chief Executive of Aberlour Justina Murray said: “Aberlour is delighted to receive this funding boost from the Scottish Government for our Urgent Assistance Fund.

“We know that families living in poverty particularly struggle with the cost of living during the winter months, with the post-Christmas period particularly challenging and often very bleak.

“This additional funding will be used to provide emergency cash grants via our UAF to families in desperate need for essentials like heating, food, warm clothing and bedding.

“This generous contribution by the Scottish Government will ensure that around 1,660 families living in poverty will have the basic essentials they need this winter such as food on the table, adequate clothing for their children and a warm home at night.”

The Scottish Welfare Fund is made up of two different grants (Crisis Grant and Community Care Grant) which can be applied for through your local authority and do not need to be paid back.

To apply for a grant from the Scottish Welfare Fund you must be 16 or older and on a low income or getting certain benefits.