End Poverty Edinburgh – a group of campaigners and activists people with lived experience of poverty – held their second citizen led conference at the Grassmarket Community Project.
The event focused on issues around child poverty in the morning, and health, wellbeing, and leisure in the afternoon.
Scottish Social Justice Secretary Shirley Anne Somerville met with members of the Poverty Alliance, including our chair Marie Ward, CEO of the Cranhill Development Trust.
After the meeting, Marie said: "It was good to get the chance to speak directly with the Cabinet Secretary, and we really hope that she listens and acts on our discussion.
"One of the key issues raised around the table was funding for community and voluntary organisations. These are the people that the government turned to at the height of the pandemic, to makes sure people were getting supported during an emergency.
"Well, we are now in the grip of another emergency caused by falling incomes and rising costs. But there are increasing concerns about potential cuts to vital sources of support like the Scottish Government's Investing in Communities Fund. For organisations like the Cranhill Development Trust, that could lead to job losses and the loss of lifeline services for people in our community.
"That simply can't be allowed to happen. We look forward to the day when organisations like ours with strong track records are able to secure long-term funding so they can help people build a decent life for themselves and their communities."
The Child Poverty Action Group have been doing great work with school pupils, helping remove stigma around poverty and raising awareness of the help that’s available at school.
They've created four brand-new Talking about Poverty activities for Challenge Poverty Week and beyond.
"I am one of many who fall into the growing gap between basic income and basic needs. The UK’s welfare system, once designed to provide a safety net, has failed..."
We published a fantastic Challenge Poverty Week guest blog from anti-poverty activist Zahada Safdar.
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