[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"$f10b3rz2z388kj":3,"$f2fhqm9hvhh7zy":17},{"id":4,"blog_author_id":5,"blog_category_id":6,"is_featured":7,"title":8,"slug":9,"content":10,"content_overview":11,"published_at":12,"seo_title":8,"seo_description":13,"image":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":16},"01m5fanaffkxrzkrpj1x4keag4","9cdbdd6d-4900-4646-a012-d3e67a5ee788","01j303dmcc6n6900v73fs88bc7",false,"Right to Food Commission supports Aberlour's Call to End School Meal Debt","right-to-food-commission-supports-aberlours-call","\u003Cp>School meal debt.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Three words that should never be uttered in the same sentence\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Children bearing the burden and stigma of debt should shame any society.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And yet, here in Scotland that is what we saw happening for thousands of children and their families around the country.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For many high school children having a negative balance on their parent pay account would mean being unable to access a meal at school.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>School meal debt and hidden school hunger.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Two sides of the same coin.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No matter what side that coin lands on it would still show how badly we have failed many of Scotland’s most disadvantaged children.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That is why at Aberlour we were compelled to do something about it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To make sure we stood beside those children and their families and to call for something to change – urgently.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>We wanted to make sure we saw an \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.aberlour.org.uk\u002Fabout-us\u002Fpolicy-and-influencing\u002Fpublic-debt\u002Fschool-meal-debt\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">end to school meal debt and hidden school hunger for good\u003C\u002Fa>.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In 2023 we urged the then First Minister, Humza Yusaf, to act.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To bring an end to the shameful practice of children and their families being chased by debt collectors for school meal debt.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>School meal debt is a symptom of families not having enough money to provide the very basics for their children.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fundamentally, it is about a lack of income.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>We welcomed the introduction of a one-off School Meal Debt Fund to write off outstanding debt for one year.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But we were clear that was not enough.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Our evidence shows that the majority of children with school meal debt are from low-income working families who do not qualify for free school meals.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So, along with writing off the debt for struggling families, we called for the expansion of Free School Meals to all low-income families across Scotland to help prevent school meal debt in the first place.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Again, we welcomed John Swinney’s subsequent commitment to continuing the School Meal Debt Fund for a further year to write off nearly £3 million of school meal debt.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Figures show that this benefitted 70,000 children and their families across Scotland over the last two years.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A welcome relief for many, but still a limited intervention without a long-term solution.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Our campaign to end school meal debt has continued up to and during the recent Scottish Parliament elections.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Last year we also published evidence that pointed to the extent of school meal debt for children and their families in England.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What our research suggested was that around 1 in 4 children not eligible for free school meals in England had regular or persistent school meal debt.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And so we called on the UK Government to act and follow Scotland’s lead by taking action to end school meal debt for children across the rest of the UK.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This week saw the launch of the independent UK Right to Food Commission report and findings following their work to evidence the scale of food insecurity across the UK.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Commission’s report provides a roadmap and clear actions all governments across the UK must take to end food insecurity for all.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This includes ending school meal debt for good for all children the length of the country, from Aberdeen to Aberystwyth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In Scotland, the SNP made a commitment during the Scottish Parliamentary election campaign to end school meal debt once and for all.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That manifesto pledge was then followed by the First Minister announcing that families struggling with school meal debt would continue to be helped by committing the same level of investment again this year to write that debt off.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This time this will happen alongside the further expansion of Free School Meals in primary schools.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The urgent measure and a preventative solution.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There is much more the First Minister must do to make real progress on his ambition to “eradicate child poverty”.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But this is one example that the rest of the UK can follow.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Making sure no child ever again is burdened with debt or goes hungry at school would be a quick win for Andy Burnham, to show his commitment to tackling food insecurity by ending school meal debt in every postcode.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp> \u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>Martin Canavan\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>Head of Policy & Influencing \u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fp>",null,"2026-10-21T00:00:00.000000Z","Aberlour Children's Charity's Head of Policy & Influencing, Martin Canavan, shares what must be done to end school meal debt and hidden hunger in schools for good. He shares what has been done in Scotland and what must be done in England.","media\u002Fshared image.jpg","2026-10-21T13:33:25.000000Z","2026-10-22T08:11:54.000000Z",{"id":18,"blog_author_id":19,"blog_category_id":20,"is_featured":7,"title":21,"slug":22,"content":23,"content_overview":11,"published_at":24,"seo_title":25,"seo_description":26,"image":27,"created_at":28,"updated_at":29,"next":30,"prev":41},"01k4ykt2h4y7aw5m2304ncp0tf","9cdbdd25-1564-45ec-84de-602c5009ebe1","1","Aberlour marks its 150th Anniversary","aberlour-marks-its-150th-anniversary","\u003Cp class=\"MsoNormal\">\u003Cstrong>\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif;\">'We have done so much but so much needs to be done'\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp class=\"MsoNormal\">\u003Cstrong>\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif;\"> \u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif;\">Aberlour, celebrated its 150\u003Csup>th\u003C\u002Fsup> milestone anniversary at\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif;\"> a special event at the National Museum of Scotland, in Edinburgh, last night [THURSDAY 11 SEPTEMBER], said its lifeline support for young people is needed now as much as ever.\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp class=\"MsoNormal\">\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif;\">Guests, including first minister John Swinney, hailed the organisation which has grown from a tiny orphanage in Morayshire to deliver care and support to children and families across Scotland.\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp class=\"MsoNormal\">\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif;\">Chief executive SallyAnn Kelly OBE said the anniversary was an opportunity to look back on how far the charity has come and ahead to what remains to be done. \u003C\u002Fspan>\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif;\">She said: \u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cblockquote>\n\u003Cp class=\"MsoNormal\">\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif;\">It is a milestone but a staging post too because, even after a century and a half, our journey is far from over.\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp class=\"MsoNormal\">\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif;\">How we offer care, support and love to children in need has been transformed over the years but why we do it, and why we need to, has not changed at all.\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003C\u002Fblockquote>\n\u003Cp class=\"MsoNormal\">\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif;\">The charity’s roots stretch back to 1875 when Canon Charles Jupp opened an orphanage for just four boys in Burnside Cottage, Aberlour. That small house expanded to become a far bigger orphanage nearby before it closed in 1967.\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp class=\"MsoNormal\">\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif;\">Since then the charity, named after the village where it began, has become one of Scotland’s most enduring and impactful organisations in the Third Sector and across Scotland’s public life, offering life-changing residential care and frontline support services for children across the country.\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp class=\"MsoNormal\">\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif;\">Kelly, who will stand down this year after 11 years as chief executive, said: \u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cblockquote>\n\u003Cp class=\"MsoNormal\">\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif;\">Much of our history should be celebrated and all of it should be remembered.\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp class=\"MsoNormal\">\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif;\">Our ultimate ambition is that Scotland’s children will no longer need us but we are, sadly, a long way from there.\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp class=\"MsoNormal\">\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif;\">Far too many of our young people still have childhoods and futures curtailed by poverty and our country still squanders far too much talent and potential.\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp class=\"MsoNormal\">\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif;\">Children growing up in Scotland today face the same challenges as they did 150 years ago and we must do more to lift their families out of poverty and keep them there.\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp class=\"MsoNormal\">\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif;\">That is our challenge and it could not be more urgent or important.\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003C\u002Fblockquote>\n\u003Cp class=\"MsoNormal\">\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif;\">The charity, with around 700 staff and 400 volunteers, delivers support across Scotland and has become one of the strongest, most campaigning voices for children and their families.\u003Cspan style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\">  \u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp class=\"MsoNormal\">\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif;\">Aberlour chair David Robb hailed the charity’s team and said the organisation’s skills, commitment, and innovation had delivered many landmark achievements and services. \u003C\u002Fspan>\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif;\">He said: \u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cblockquote>\n\u003Cp class=\"MsoNormal\">\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif;\">Fittingly, from our staff and board members to our volunteers and donors, Aberlour has the strength of a family. \u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp class=\"MsoNormal\">\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif;\">We are family, have been for 150 years, and will be for many more to come. There will be challenges but we will overcome. Our work is too important not to.\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003C\u002Fblockquote>\n\u003Cp class=\"MsoNormal\">\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif;\">First minister John Swinney opened the event when he said the eradication of child poverty is the priority of the Scottish Government and hailed Aberlour as key partners. \u003C\u002Fspan>\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif;\">He said: \u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cblockquote>\n\u003Cp class=\"MsoNormal\">\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif;\">Fundamentally, every child has “the right to grow up and flourish in society, notwithstanding the origins of their birth\".  It is not only Aberlour’s mission – it is a national mission for us all.\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp class=\"MsoNormal\">\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif;\">I have made the eradication of child poverty the foremost priority of my administration This is the duty we owe to the next generation. It is also the greatest possible economic and social investment we as a nation can make in our shared future.\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp class=\"MsoNormal\">\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif;\">Aberlour has always been a key contributor to our work, and I am immeasurably grateful to them for longstanding partnership and collaboration.\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003C\u002Fblockquote>\n\u003Cp class=\"MsoNormal\">\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif;\">Scotland Office Minister Kirsty McNeill, who also spoke at the event, is a member of the UK Child Poverty Taskforce and shares the ambition of Aberlour to ease and improve the lives of children.\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp class=\"MsoNormal\">\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif;\">She said the UK Government is also committed to improving the lives and life chances of children growing up in poverty through the work of the Child Poverty Taskforce. \u003C\u002Fspan>\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif;\">She said: \u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cblockquote>\n\u003Cp class=\"MsoNormal\">\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif;\">I look forward to continuing to work with Aberlour and others in Scotland's magnificent Third Sector as we improve the lives of families, giving every child a fairer start and enabling them to realise their potential.\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003C\u002Fblockquote>\n\u003Cp class=\"MsoNormal\">\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Calibri',sans-serif;\"> \u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp class=\"MsoNormal\"> \u003C\u002Fp>","2025-09-12T00:00:00.000000Z","Aberlour marks 150th Anniversary","Aberlour celebrated its milestone 150th anniversary at a special event at the National Museum of Scotland, in Edinburgh, last night.","media\u002F0R3A6431-REVISIT-news.jpg","2025-09-12T09:23:54.000000Z","2025-09-12T10:07:23.000000Z",{"id":31,"blog_author_id":5,"blog_category_id":6,"is_featured":7,"title":32,"slug":33,"content":34,"content_overview":11,"published_at":35,"seo_title":36,"seo_description":37,"image":38,"created_at":39,"updated_at":40},"01k6z46ywd424gx6cjj61k0hjh","New Research Confirms Issue of School Meal Debt in England","new-research-confirms-issue-of-school-meal-debt-in-england","\u003Cp>New research from Aberlour Children's Charity has confirmed that school meal debt is an issue for many children and families across schools in England. As a \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.aberlour.org.uk\u002Fpublications\u002Fschool-meal-debt-in-england\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">result of this research\u003C\u002Fa>, the influential charity is calling on the UK Government to recognise school meal debt as an indication of financial hardship for families and include clear actions in the upcoming child poverty strategy to end school meal debt and hidden school hunger.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The research conducted across three council areas asked schools about the number of pupils and families in debt, the value of debt, school debt recovery practices, support for families and critically if children were still able to eat at school if in debt. Many schools and councils reported that they did not know the level of debt and how many children and families were impacted. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of those schools who did reply and provided information, showing how many children and their families were in debt, the research found that 23.1% of pupils from these schools, minus those eligible for free school meals, were in debt.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Most schools were supportive of families, but many schools made pupils bring in packed lunches if in debt, which, alongside so-called cashless pre-paid payment systems, raises concerns about the potential for hidden hunger in schools. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A tiny number of schools also reported that they were also prepared to take punitive measures to recover debt, including using debt collection agencies.  \u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Many schools simply did not know about debt and\u002For did not collect the information, with many stating that it was the responsibility of the third party catering provider to do so, which raises concerns that debt is much more widespread than some schools reported in this research.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The total value of debt, based on figures provided by 47 schools, was £66,000. An average of £1400 per school. If this average was replicated across England the total debt across state schools in England would be £28 million.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Aberlour have made a series of recommendations to the UK Government, including the creation of a fund, just like the one recently introduced in Scotland, that schools can draw upon to underwrite school meal debt.  \u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>Chief Executive of Aberlour Children's Charity, SallyAnn Kelly OBE said:\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cblockquote>\n\u003Cp>This research builds on the work we have done in Scotland in relation to school meal debt. In establishing, just as we did in Scotland, that school meal debt is an issue in England we believe necessitates action by the UK Government to support pupils, families and schools.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"School meal debt places pressure on children and families, which ultimately has the very real potential to impact their well-being and life chances. In conducting this research we have found that too many schools and councils simply do not know about school meal debt or the effect it is having.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"The research also found that there is no overarching set of guidelines available to schools to help how they support children and families who find themselves in debt and how debt is recovered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"At Aberlour we believe that no child should be punished for finding themselves in debt and because of the economic circumstances of their parents.  They should always be fed when at school and we must always, as a society, ensure our children are properly fed to help children get the best possible chance to successfully pursue their education.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"We hope that the government pays close attention to this research, includes clear actions in the upcoming child poverty strategy to end school meal debt and hidden school hunger and introduces all the recommendations we have made that would help all those children and their families currently struggling with school meal debt.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003C\u002Fblockquote>\n\u003Cp>\u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.aberlour.org.uk\u002Fpublications\u002Fschool-meal-debt-in-england\">Read the research. \u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fp>","2025-10-07T00:00:00.000000Z","New Research from Aberlour Children's Charity Confirms Issue of School Meal Debt in England","Latest research from Aberlour Children's Charity into the public debt crisis confirms that 1 in 4 children in England, not in receipt of free school meals, has school meal debt. The Uk Government must do more to tackle the crisis and tackle child poverty.","media\u002FiStock-1454162141.jpg","2025-10-07T10:41:57.000000Z","2025-10-07T11:58:00.000000Z",{"id":42,"blog_author_id":5,"blog_category_id":20,"is_featured":7,"title":43,"slug":44,"content":45,"content_overview":11,"published_at":46,"seo_title":43,"seo_description":47,"image":48,"created_at":49,"updated_at":50},"01k4my34fzsgxadng4s3mnncsf","Blog: Our poorest children cannot wait another 150 years for change","blog-our-poorest-children-cannot-wait-another-150-years-for-change","\u003Cp>Exactly 150 years ago, The Scotsman’s letter pages were ablaze with ferocious but terribly genteel debate.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The courteous ding-dong spanned most of 1875, as gentlemen correspondents – and they were all gentlemen – debated the morality and merit of giving free broth and bread to 800 “poor neglected children” at an emergency shelter in Canongate.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>An appeal to Edinburgh’s “charitable spirits and kindly hearts” for donations had provoked some readers to question the wisdom of such charity.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>One reader suggested: \u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cblockquote>\n\u003Cp>A poor neglected ill-fed child getting a dinner daily is getting a daily lesson in easy pauperism.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003C\u002Fblockquote>\n\u003Cp>Even the testimony of a senior police officer enlisted to investigate the children’s background - “I can truly say their homes are a melancholy sight. The misery and wretchedness is beyond description.” - failed to convince the sceptics. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>Finally, James Gowans, of Randolph Crescent, a reader of independent spirit, had enough and looked for himself: \u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cblockquote>\n\u003Cp>Having a few minutes to spare today, I went over and saw a crowd of these children.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“In their presence it is of no use theorising. From their starved appearance the first duty is to feed them. There they are, the sight of them at once suggesting action.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003C\u002Fblockquote>\n\u003Cp>Well, we’re with Mr Gowans, then and now, and, after 150 years of theorising, the sight of our poorest children is still suggesting action, the most urgent and effective action possible.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sadly, shamefully, there could easily be 800 young people still going hungry in the capital tonight, as Aberlour Children’s Charity prepares to mark our 150th anniversary at the National Museum of Scotland.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Personally, it is likely to be a night of mixed emotions with my pride in our charity’s achievements tempered with frustration that so much will remain to be done when I stand down as chief executive later this year.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The lives of our poorest children might be a little better after 150 years but, surely, by now, they should have been transformed? Certainly, since I began working to support families 35 years ago, the change has been incremental, the advances painstaking.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That begs an obvious but difficult and necessary question for all of us working to ease the impact of poverty on young lives. If, after 150 years, we have failed to significantly ease, never mind end, child poverty perhaps it is time to ask if we are doing it wrong? \u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Given the growth in our public sector over eight decades and the growth of services aimed at easing poverty, we would have expected some significant inroads, real measurable improvement in the number of families affected, in education, in health. That has not happened.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Real, lasting change, change that sticks and persists through generations, is about closing the attainment gap, about children engaging in education, securing better outcomes in school and wider opportunities when they leave.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That does not begin in school, however, but at home, in helping families live off an adequate income and reducing stress and uncertainty in their homes and the chaos it often provokes. That is when education and health outcomes start to improve. That is when the change becomes systematic, built on stone not sand, and the lines on the graph tilt, irrevocably, upwards.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>We should be aiming to steer families on the brink of crisis to that safe haven, a place beyond poverty, but what must change if, despite all the resource, strategies, and support, children are not already being helped there and helped to stay there?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The easy answer is more resource or more benefits but a better, more useful answer is about stress testing the money already being spent to tackle what is, beyond all doubt, a national emergency. Every pound must be spent with most intent and maximum impact, with a relentless, clear-eyed focus on what really helps families most, right now and in the future. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Too much time, energy and resource is spent managing not ending poverty, on keeping crisis from the door of one family today and tomorrow but not preventing its return next week, next year or the year after that, or for the next generation or the generation after that.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>All of us involved in this work must be more flexible and cooperative and less precious and territorial even if that means people are doing different jobs with different priorities. Across the public sector, trade unions must be front, centre and fully engaged in that process and convinced by its ambition and potential.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It will mean more collaboration, less competition, and the breaking down of barriers between local and national government, charities and health boards. It will mean encouraging the swapping of skills, experience, resource, and personnel back and forth, from public sector to third sector and back again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It will mean fundamental change in what we do and how we do it. It will mean decision-makers in our public sector shaking off the psychological legacy of austerity and focussing not on lines on a budget but their potential impact on communities for generations to come, on making good investments and not easy short-term cuts that will cost much, much more down the line.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>We need to get the right people around the table and begin an honest conversation about what we have been doing and why? What services are achieving the best outcomes for families and children? What are we doing that does not just ease the threat of imminent crisis but lifts families out of poverty and keeps them there? And, above all else, how can we do more of it?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That conversation will depend, most of all, on good faith assessment of our work, of being led by the evidence and steered by what we know can deliver enduring change for families and their communities. We can build on that but must build swiftly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It is the same urgent ambition that James Gowans appealed for in his call for action on the pages of the Scotsman 150 years ago. It is beyond time for Scotland to show it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>SallyAnn Kelly OBE \u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>Chief executive of Aberlour Children’s Charity\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\u003Cem>This article was written for the Scotsman and published on Thursday 11th September 2025.\u003C\u002Fem>\u003C\u002Fp>","2025-09-11T00:00:00.000000Z","As Aberlour Children's Charity prepares to mark it's 150th anniversary. CEO , Sally Ann Kelly OBE, discusses how children are still trapped in poverty and what must be done to End Child Poverty in Scotland.","media\u002FSallyAnn-Final-scaled-serious.jpg","2025-09-08T15:11:12.000000Z","2025-09-11T08:31:24.000000Z"]