A voice for change: How Aberlour campaigns for a fairer Scotland

Poverty is the thread running through corrosive social issues undermining the lives and life chances of children and young people in Scotland, according to Aberlour Children’s Charity.

One in four children are growing up in poverty in Scotland as the leading Third Sector organisation works to ease the immediate impact on young lives while campaigning for effective long-term action.

David Grant, Aberlour Director of Growth and Marketing, said:

Helping children and their families in the here and now is our priority but there must be a wider mission too.

“We must help lift families out of poverty permanently.”

“Poverty underpins so many social issues affecting children and one will be connected to another.

“Hungry children living in damp housing, sleeping on broken beds, and wearing inadequate clothes, are more likely to be ill and less likely to do as well as they should at school. 

“Potential is untapped and opportunities are lost. Families will be more stressed, more anxious, more likely to have problems with substance use, more likely to endure domestic abuse, and more likely to break down.

He added:

This isn’t theoretical knowledge for us. We have a practical, working knowledge of poverty and how it exacerbates so many other issues.

“Poverty is definitely, without doubt, the root cause of multiple challenges facing many families.

The charity has described how a single, unexpected bill that better off families can manage could be potentially catastrophic to those on the brink of crisis.

In recent years, Aberlour has worked to build knowledge and understanding of how poverty can sabotage families among politicians and policy-makers while promoting practical steps to ease the toll on children.

An ongoing campaign highlighting how the collection of public debt, like council tax, is trapping families in poverty is only a recent example of the charity offering expert insight and strong leadership to help shape policy. 

Grant said:

There is no magic bullet but there are things that can be done, effective reforms that can be made to make a practical difference to families.

“Our day to day work is helping families overcome immediate challenges but we must aim to do more than that.

“We are expert, credible and insightful on these issues and have a responsibility to raise the voice of the children and families we work with.

“It’s not only about changing things in the short term but about sustaining that change and that quickly leads to things like education, training, employment opportunities, and better housing.

“It’s about the next step, about what happens after we have helped a family through an immediate crisis to prevent another then another.”

“What's the next step?

The charity’s campaigning zeal, supported by landmark research led by Morag Treanor, professor of social policy and inequality at the University of Glasgow, has led to significant measures with ministers’ cancellation of £2.8million of school meal debt last year being an obvious and recent example.

She said:

The charity has expertise at every level and there is an obvious commitment and enthusiasm for making change happen.

“It could easily keep its head below the parapet and avoid saying anything that might upset politicians and policy-makers but that is not Aberlour’s way.

“It is brave and clearly committed to commissioning research that can provide the detail and rigour needed to properly make the case for reform.

“It wants hard evidence of what is happening to families living in poverty and why with a clear purpose to change thinking and influence policy.

“For someone like me, that kind of support and engagement is hugely encouraging. For families, it can be life-changing.

This article was written as part of the 'We are family' special edition supplement with the Sunday Post.