Blogs from The Poverty Alliance and guests.
Sustrans Scotland has launched a support service to help third sector organisations encourage walking, wheeling and cycling in marginalised communities The benefits of walking and cycling for more everyday journeys are well documented – a 2017 study showed that regularly cycling to work reduced the incidence of cancer by 45% and heart disease by 46%. However, … Read more
Scotland Policy and Public Affairs Manager at Independent Age, Debbie Horne, sets out why tackling pensioner poverty must be a priority. For months now we’ve seen headlines about the spiraling cost of living, which is having a devastating impact on people’s ability to get by. But as many of us know, struggling to afford essentials … Read more
At the Poverty Alliance, we have long favoured taking a human rights approach to our anti-poverty work. Fundamentally, human rights are about ensuring that we are all able to lead dignified lives. Poverty can strip people of their dignity and is a human rights failure, stopping people from being able to access their human rights. … Read more
The Poverty Alliance is delighted to be collaborating with Strathclyde Centre for Health Policy, Edinburgh Health and Social Care Partnership, The UK Mental Health Foundation and New York University Silver School of Social Work on this PhD opportunity. Poverty and Mental Health The PhD at Strathclyde will examine the role that community based organisations can … Read more
Tackling poverty is a national mission with its very heart in our local communities. The Scottish Government shares the same objectives as The Poverty Alliance as we prepare for Challenge Poverty Week 2021. We want to improve the life chances of people living in poverty and we want to be part of the discussion about … Read more
Challenge Poverty Week has come at a grimly apt time this year, with the shameful cut to Universal Credit kicking in later this week and the most severe cost of living crisis in years looming. This is a stark reminder of how much work there is to do – but it must also be a … Read more
Challenge Poverty week comes at a time when far too many people are experiencing a perfect storm of austerity and cuts. Fuel prices are surging at the same time as National Insurance costs are increasing, and furlough support is ending. To make matters worse, the UK government is choosing this moment to cut Universal Credit payments by over £1000 a year. Almost every day I hear from constituents who are feeling stretched. They can see … Read more
Sarah Stocks, of Northern Star Associates, was commissioned by the Poverty Alliance – as part of the Get Heard Scotland initiative – to collate learning and practical approaches to include people with lived experience of poverty in local policy development. Here, she writes on the key insights contained in the resultant report: The people who … Read more
On a visit to a practice in Muirhouse last year, I was asked if I could estimate how many dementia patients they had on the books. Muirhouse Medical serves over 17,000 patients it’s striking to learn that those with dementia number fewer than 100. The reason for this comes down to poverty. The harsh reality is that people there are … Read more
Dr Laura Robertson is a Research Officer at the Poverty Alliance, and co-authored a new report – commissioned by Transport Scotland – on people living on low incomes’ experiences of public transport in Scotland. Across Scotland families and young people on low incomes are being priced out of using public transport due to high costs and lack of reliable, accessible transport. That’s the key … Read more
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