Blog: Week 6 Communications Officer’s log

My Poverty Alliance colleagues have been very busy this week.

Our TARP Aberdeenshire development officer Annie is from the north of Ireland originally, and she us organized for a group from the Northern Ireland Anti-Poverty Network to come to Scotland for a learning visit (pictured above). She took responsibility for it, but - as with nearly all of our work - it wouldn't have happened without the support of our Finance & Admin team. They came to our office to meet staff, and heard from some of our community researchers, as well as representatives from CPAG and Glasgow Disability Alliance. Then they went to Paisley to meet some of the anti-poverty groups working in Renfrewshire. I gave them a quick introduction to the way we frame our communications about poverty, and an overview of our Policy & Campaigns team, what each of us does, and what we hope to achieve by doing it. Becca from NIAPN has agreed to write a blog for us - or organize for someone else to write one - and I'm looking forward to reading about what they took away from the visit. I learned a new bit of Irish English too - 'all lured'.

We had a stall at the SCVO Gathering alongside our friends from CPAG. Thanks to everyone who came along to say hello to us. I wasn't there, but my colleagues who were said they made lots of new connections with interesting people.

I said last week that I was working with Annie on a blog she wrote after a roundtable event held at HM Prison Grampian, organized by Families Outside. We published it this week, and it's really interesting, showing the close links between poverty and imprisonment, and how having someone in the family behind bars makes things even harder for households who are already struggling.

I represented the Poverty Alliance at a meeting convened by Michael Orton of and Nicky Hawkins of Heard. A group of people from organisations across the UK have been talking about how best we frame communications around social security. We worked with Nicky to create what we called a 'drumbeat' of positive messaging. But now we're deepening our shared connections in a new grouping that we've decided to call Together for Social Security. There was a good discussion around what we can do together - especially when we plan responses to the forthcoming Green Paper on support for sick and disabled people, with the prospect of cuts that are already spreading fear, anxiety, and anger across the country.

My manager Ruth is a great advocate for a Scotland free from poverty, and takes that role very seriously. She secured a place on the respected spokesperson course by NEON, and this week they offered her to BBC Radio Scotland to talk about council tax. I prepared some basic talking points.

She was very clear - if we want a just and compassionate Scotland, we must replace the regressive council tax with a progressive alternative. She pointed out that ideas are already available - like those put forward by Tax Justice Scotland. We can no longer afford to see the further neglect and destruction of the local services that are the foundation of a just Scotland for all. You can listen to her full interview here.

I mentioned last week that I'd been working on plans to better align our website with our refreshed strategy, and this week I shared my thoughts with colleagues to get feedback. It's been positive so far, and there were great suggestions around accessible design and making it more of a place where our members can share their work.

We've got loads of events coming up in the following weeks, and I worked to share them all on our social media channels through the week. I've embedded some of them below.

As always, if you'd like to get in touch with me about my work, drop me a line at david.eyre@povertyalliance.org.