Tag: Poverty

Forth 1 Cash for Kids launches Mission Christmas

1 in 4 local children are living in poverty

Please help us make their Christmas Day special this year, in partnership with B&M

In 2016 with your amazing support we raised £1 million in gifts and cash and made Christmas special for over 18,000 local children, and we want to do even more this year.

We’re asking you to buy an extra present that we can give to a disadvantaged local child to make their Christmas morning special. We need new and unwrapped gifts suitable for children and young people aged 0-18 years, and you can donate at our drop off points across the region. See the map below to find your nearest location.

We’re also looking for local organisations and schools to sign up and collect gifts during the appeal as well as anyone who’d like to fundraise, take part in our Jumper Day on 8th December, receive gifts and support from the appeal or just make a donation – go to https://planetradio.co.uk/forth/charity/events/forth-mission-christmas/ to get involved!

Together we can make a difference to local children this Christmas.

Get a fundraising pack

Health Project launches Hungry for Change report

“Our experience is rich and valuable and we want to be part of the solution” – Sean Fitzharris

Pilton Community Health Project has launched its new report, ‘Hungry for Change’. The report, the result of conversations with local people experiencing food insecurity, was launched at the Old Kirk and Muirhouse Parish Church yesterday. PCHP want the report to be a catalyst for action to alleviate food insecurity for North Edinburgh residents and to tackle the root causes of poverty. Continue reading Health Project launches Hungry for Change report

Public health leaders call for action to tackle inequaly

“From children growing up in poverty to families struggling to heat their house in the winter because their benefits have been cut, inequality affects every aspect of people’s lives – and that has a direct impact on their health and wellbeing”

The Faculty of Public Health (FPH)  today call on the Scottish Government to increase action to tackle the ‘bleak reality’ of health inequalities facing local communities across Scotland and invite the people of Scotland to support a stronger national focus on people’s health. 

‘Healthy Lives, Fairer Futures’, published by the Faculty of Public Health in Scotland sets out eight priorities for the Scottish Government to act on so that everyone has an equal chance of a long and healthy life, including:

  • Making sure that new laws impact positively on the health of Scottish people
  • Lessen the impact of UK-wide welfare reform
  • Set ambitious, binding targets to reduce child poverty

This call to action was written following an extensive consultation with the 350 FPH members who are public health experts living and working in Scotland to improve the health and wellbeing of local populations.

FPH members in Scotland, who work in a variety of roles advising, leading and coordinating public health work in the NHS, local councils and charities at a local, regional and national level  were invited  to identify threats to public health where more action could lead to a significant improvement.  Inequalities in health were identified as a very significant threat to health; a stark example of this is in Glasgow where people in the most deprived areas have a life expectancy 15 years less than those living in the wealthiest areas.

FPH Advocacy Lead in Scotland, Josie Murray, said: “Every day I speak to public health professionals who are challenged to improve health in the face of the significant health inequalities in Scotland.

“From children growing up in poverty to families struggling to heat their house in the winter because their benefits have been cut, inequality affects every aspect of people’s lives – and that has a direct impact on their health and wellbeing.

“We’re looking forward to working in closer partnership with other charities and organisations and together, fight for a fairer Scotland because we believe that every person deserves the best chance of a healthy life.  That’s why we’re calling on the Scottish Government to make sure that any new laws impact positively on people’s health or wellbeing, and to deliver on their manifesto commitment to make a greater impact in tackling health inequalities.”

Convenor of FPH in Scotland, Dr Julie Cavanagh, said: “Inequalities in health are not inevitable; changes are required across many areas of society and we are asking the Scottish people to support government action to take these changes.”

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Healthy Lives Fairer Futures

Drug deaths: blame Thatcher?

Trainspotting

Rising inequality during the 1980s and an ‘erosion of hope’ in Scotland’s poorest housing schemes increased the risk of drug-related deaths among members of ‘Generation X’ in Scotland, according to new research. A study by NHS Health Scotland and Glasgow University has found that poorer men born between 1960 and 1980 were at greater risk because of the economic and social conditions during that period.

The study also found links to gender and deprivation: young men in poor neighbourhoods were found to be 10 times as likely to die from drugs as women of the same age from a more affluent area.

Researchers discovered the link while investigating the reasons why drug-related deaths have continued to rise. According to the most recent figures drug-related deaths reached an all-time high in 2015, when 706 people died.

Report author Dr Jon Minton from the University of Glasgow said his analysis was ‘consistent with the hypothesis that economic and other policy decisions during the 1980s created rising income inequality, the erosion of hope amongst those who were least resilient and able to adjust, and resulted in a delayed negative health impact.’

He said: “The same kind of pattern we have observed and reported on previously regarding the risk of suicide in vulnerable cohorts in deprived areas in Scotland is repeated, and even more clearly visible, when looking at trends in drug-related death risk.

“For people born in 1960s and 70s, the risk of drug-related deaths throughout the life course was much increased, and gender and area inequalities in these risks increased even more. The similarity in trends in both suicide and drug-related deaths suggests a common underlying cause.”

NHS Health Se in drug-related deaths was ‘likely to be the result of a cohort of people who are at higher risk’.

Dr Fraser said: “The full impact of excess mortality in these cohorts with high drug-related deaths is unlikely to be known for some time. It already represents the deaths of hundreds of people prematurely.

“We are hopeful that the findings will be useful in informing current and future policy to help prevent the creation of further cohorts at greater risk of drug-related deaths in Scotland.”

AileenCampbell

Public Health Minister Aileen Campbell has announced a refresh of Scotland’s drug strategy, to respond to the changing nature of Scotland’s drug problem.

The Road to Recovery strategy was launched in 2008 and since then has been backed by more than £630 million of investment to ensure treatment is a person-centred and sustained offer.

Ms Campbell (above) also announced work is being progressed to develop a “Seek, Keep and Treat” framework. This joint initiative between the Scottish Government and the Scottish Drugs Forum will examine the operational implications of engaging with older drug users, how to encourage them into services and how to keep them in treatment.

Public Health Minister Aileen Campbell said:

“I’m proud of what the Road to Recovery strategy has achieved. In Scotland, drug taking in the general adult population is falling and drug taking levels among young people remain low.

“However the nature of Scotland’s drug problem is changing and we need to adapt services to meet the needs of those most at risk, who we know face complex and wide ranging social and medical issues.

“In setting out our plans to refresh the existing strategy, I’m encouraging everyone involved in treatment services to think about how they can make changes at a local level. There is also a collective need to challenge the stigma of addition and build services based on respect and dignity, as well as clinical need.

“I look forward to hearing views from across the sector in the coming months as we work together to tackle the evolving and complex needs of those who suffer from problem drug misuse.”

Teachers’ report on effects of poverty makes ‘shocking reading’

Teaching union the EIS has today  formally launched a summary report of a member survey on the impact of poverty in education. The survey was designed to gauge members’ perceptions of how poverty arising from cuts to social security benefits, poor wages and insecurity of employment, is impacting in the classroom.   Continue reading Teachers’ report on effects of poverty makes ‘shocking reading’

Poverty making children sick, say doctors

Paediatricians reveal health impact on millions of UK children living in poverty

 Poverty and low income is seriously affecting the health of UK children according to paediatricians – and any new Government must tackle health inequalities or risk storing up health problems for future generations, according to a new report from the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) and Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG). Continue reading Poverty making children sick, say doctors

Two-child limit for Universal Credit will consign 200,000 more children to poverty

New cuts limiting universal credit to the first two children in a family will push another 200,000 children below the official poverty line, new analysis from the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) and the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) has shown. Continue reading Two-child limit for Universal Credit will consign 200,000 more children to poverty