[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"$f10b3rz2z388kj":3,"$f2xgsp86u06p33":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":5,"blog_category_id":19,"is_featured":7,"title":20,"slug":21,"content":22,"content_overview":11,"published_at":23,"seo_title":20,"seo_description":24,"image":25,"created_at":26,"updated_at":27,"next":28,"prev":36},"01k0vresbdm3exvwyxm9xaybpp","1","Professor hails happy childhood in orphanage: ‘I had nothing and no one. Suddenly, I did’ ","professor-hails-happy-childhood-in-orphanage","\u003Cp>David Divine remembers his days at Aberlour orphanage with a keen, detailed memory but none so vividly as his last.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>David said:\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cblockquote>\n\u003Cp>You never knew, you see, no notice at all. You were told if you needed to know and no one needed to know they were leaving. We would just vanish.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You got a small suitcase. It didn’t hold much but we didn’t have much. A clean set of clothes, shorts, a shirt, pants, and that was it. I had my piggy bank too. I loved putting pennies in and counting them in bed at night.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It seemed like such treasure but was really nothing at all.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003C\u002Fblockquote>\n\u003Cp>A photograph of the same, battered, brown case features on the cover of Aberlour Narratives of Success, a book written by Divine almost half a century after leaving the Highlands in 1964, aged 11, for less happy years with a foster family in Midlothian.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Part memoir, social history, and a moving, powerful testament to the resilience of children, the book recounts the history of the orphanage before charting the lives of some of the boys and girls after they left Speyside.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Divine, who went onto university before successful careers in social work and academia on both sides of the Atlantic, said he has never cried so much as when researching the book and understanding how Aberlour had given others, like him, the tools to build a life and find happiness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>He said: \u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cblockquote>\n\u003Cp>We were very damaged but many of us went on to have successful lives, whatever that meant for each of us.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“One of the men I spoke to measured success in his garden, not in degrees and books and big jobs but in caring for plants and watching them grow.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“That struck me. It was a lesson for me. It’s about what is in your heart, what makes you feel good about yourself and, speaking only for myself, I left Aberlour with the capabilities to identify that and drive towards it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003C\u002Fblockquote>\n\u003Cp>Divine, who arrived at the orphanage at 18 months and spent almost ten years there, one of 6850 children to live there from 1875 until it closed in 1967. He says he found a family there.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was placed in care after being born in 1953 in Edinburgh. His mother white, his father a black American airman once stationed nearby.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cblockquote>\n\u003Cp>“I was a scandal, a horror for my mother’s family. They ousted her and they ousted me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I literally had nothing, I literally had no one, and Aberlour gave me something and somebody.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It gave me food, shelter and affection. It gave me a family and I was happy there. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I felt loved there, nurtured, and I’d never, ever had that before. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“In some ways, they were the happiest days of my life.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003C\u002Fblockquote>\n\u003Cp>Divine believes his recollection of life at the orphanage are clear-eyed not rose-tinted and acknowledges other children may not share the same, largely happy, memories.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cblockquote>\n\u003Cp>There is no doubt there could be sadness and bleakness and, we now know, incidents of abuse but that was not my experience.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“All I can say is that was not my experience and that’s not what I found at Aberlour.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What I found there was the only place in the first 20 years of my life where I actually felt nurtured, loved, cared for and valued.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“For me it bordered on paradise because of the staff, who clearly cared for me, like my house mother, Auntie Phyllis, the other children, the surroundings.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003C\u002Fblockquote>\n\u003Cp>After studying at Edinburgh University, Divine launched a successful career in social work becoming Britain's first Black social services director in 1987, in the London borough of Brent before joining The Central Council for Education and Training in Social Work.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He left Britain for a professorship at a Canadian university years ago, and now lives in Nova Scotia, but has lost none of his reforming zeal or passion to improve the life chances of children in need.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Aberlour orphanage closed in 1967 as residential care homes became smaller, less institutional, and, whenever possible, children were kept with their families.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Divine said the change in direction improved care for many children but their fundamental needs remained unchanged.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>He said: \u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cblockquote>\n\u003Cp>The idea that closing these big homes and moving care to smaller units would somehow remove all the challenges was wishful thinking.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The same challenges remain, and good, caring staff are still the key.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The positive stories told by people once cared for in these big homes, people like me, have undoubtedly been overshadowed by the stereotypical idea of them as these Dickensian institutions mired in abuse and misery. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The danger is that we don’t look back with clear eyes and lose the chance to learn some very valuable lessons on how to build new, loving families for children in care.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Many of those lessons could be learned in the orphanage.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003C\u002Fblockquote>\n\u003Cp>Divine understands why such large institutions were closed but insists size matters less than quality of staff and insists a nurturing, ad hoc family in care is better than none or parents incapable of delivering love and support.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>He said: \u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cblockquote>\n\u003Cp>I would absolutely say that I found family at Aberlour, I found a home where I had none.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“In many of the most important ways, it still feels like home.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The size and condition of any residential home matters but it does not matter as much as having staff who are on a mission to offer the children there every possible support.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It does not matter as much as having care providers who are driven by helping those children to identify what a successful life might look like for them and help get them ready for it.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“We need to be having those conversations to find out what children value, what they want to achieve and how.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“There must be a partnership, between the child and adult carer, and that demands well paid, well trained, well led, skilled and committed staff.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003C\u002Fblockquote>\n\u003Cp>He admits, however, those were conversations that did not happen at the orphanage.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>He said: \u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cblockquote>\n\u003Cp>No, we were essentially told what our futures would be. We had no part to play and did as we were told. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“However, we were chronologically young but, because of our experience, ancient with wisdom and knowledge.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“We needed all that wisdom to navigate through life because we had nothing. Without that ability to navigate and the knowledge of where we needed to be, we would have got nowhere. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It’s about survival but people don’t like that kind of language. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“There must be more to life than survival, they’ll say, but when you have nothing and no one, survival skills are what matter. How will I, with no one, navigate through life?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Things like education and good jobs are part of that, but are these the things that have value for children? What do they believe would be a valuable life?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“We need to talk to the children, discuss their ideas of a successful, productive life and, most importantly, help convince them it can be achieved.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003C\u002Fblockquote>\n\u003Cp>Divine visited Scotland, and Aberlour, regularly before Covid and plans to return for events marking the 150th anniversary of the charity, named after the town, where he spent a happy childhood.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>Speaking from his home in Canada, he said: \u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cblockquote>\n\u003Cp>At 71, I have nine grandchildren, three loving adult children and a partner, and we all love each other and help each other, care for one another.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I know how fortunate I am to have someone who cares for me, and children who love me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I am very grateful.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003C\u002Fblockquote>\n\u003Cp> \u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This article was written as part of the \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.aberlour.org.uk\u002Fassets\u002Fpdf\u002Fwe-are-family-150th-celebration.pdf\">'We are family' special edition supplement with the Sunday Post\u003C\u002Fa>.\u003C\u002Fp>","2025-05-18T00:00:00.000000Z","Professor David Divine remembers his last days at the Aberlour orphanage to commemorate 150 years of Aberlour Children's Charity. ","media\u002FDD today.jpg","2025-07-23T13:44:36.000000Z","2025-07-23T14:06:09.000000Z",{"id":29,"blog_author_id":5,"blog_category_id":19,"is_featured":7,"title":30,"slug":31,"content":32,"content_overview":11,"published_at":23,"seo_title":30,"seo_description":33,"image":34,"created_at":35,"updated_at":35},"01k0y62e39dhn70513tdeb50e9","Blog: ‘Children share the same money worries as their parents’","blog-children-share-the-same-money-worries-as-their-parents","\u003Cp>The pressure on many of the children is constant and relentless. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I’m right there, based in their primary school, and there to help any pupils and their families who might need some extra support.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Their homes may be overcrowded and they will often have far more knowledge about their households’ finances than other children and carry that awareness around day after day.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It is a constant strain and they don’t have anything to look forward to or things to enjoy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Their families cannot afford the same days out and treats that other children can expect and the pressure just builds and builds.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Poverty takes a toll on the physical and mental health of children and their parents and then there are the other social issues, linked to poverty, like domestic abuse and issues with drink or drugs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pupils will arrive at school cold, wet, tired and hungry. Their clothes and shoes might be inadequate for the weather. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I have a rail of clothes in my office to offer children if they need a jumper or a winter jacket or whatever.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Their home lives may be cramped or more chaotic and are often sharing the same anxieties caused by a lack of money affecting the mental health and wellbeing of parents.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The priority is to offer them any practical help available but also to relieve the pressure a little, to give them the space to talk.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They might want to chat about what is going on with them but often simply enjoy the chance to talk and think about something else, about the everyday stuff other children can take for granted.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just that simple opportunity to talk about themselves and the things they enjoy doing, or are good at, can help.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>School is often a safe space, away from what can be difficulties at home, and that is why it can be so important for children.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The impact of lockdown, for example, when schools were closed was particularly felt by pupils who rely on the routine, safety and support.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>Louise*\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003Cbr>\u003Cstrong>Aberlour pupil support worker\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>*Name changed\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp> \u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This article was written as part of the \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.aberlour.org.uk\u002Fassets\u002Fpdf\u002Fwe-are-family-150th-celebration.pdf\">'We are family' special edition supplement with the Sunday Post\u003C\u002Fa>.\u003C\u002Fp>","In Aberlour Children's Charity's latest blog, our pupil support worker Louise explains the constant pressure children are under due to poverty.","media\u002FiStock-541117484.jpg","2025-07-24T12:21:01.000000Z",{"id":37,"blog_author_id":5,"blog_category_id":6,"is_featured":7,"title":38,"slug":39,"content":40,"content_overview":11,"published_at":41,"seo_title":38,"seo_description":42,"image":43,"created_at":44,"updated_at":45},"01jv7kr4s5e7vy6y2fnqyr5sjn","Public bodies 'perpetuate harm' on families left in debts to abusive partners","public-bodies-perpetuate-harm-on-families-left-in-debts-to-abusive-partners","\u003Cp>Aberlour Children's Charity will give parliamentary evidence on the urgent need for compassionate reforms and protections against \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.aberlour.org.uk\u002Fpublications\u002Faberlours-joint-briefing-to-msps-on-coerced-debt\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">‘coerced debt’\u003C\u002Fa> owed to public bodies, preventing further harm to domestic abuse survivors and their children.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Aberlour, one of Scotland’s leading children’s charities, will today [Thursday 15 May 2025] outline how survivors of domestic abuse and their families are being further harmed by inflexible debt-recovery practices, particularly council tax and rent arrears, imposed by public bodies, at an evidence session of the Social Justice & Social Security Committee of the Scottish Parliament.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Key points that Aberlour’s Chief Officer of Children & Families, Lynne O’Brien, will raise include:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cul>\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>Systems are failing vulnerable families:\u003C\u002Fstrong> Public bodies’ rigid approaches to debt collection fail to consider the coercive or fraudulent nature of debts accrued under domestic abuse, forcing survivors into destitution in order to leave abusive relationships.\u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>Urgent, compassionate reform needed:\u003C\u002Fstrong> Just as FCA standards bind private creditors to treat vulnerable customers fairly, Aberlour calls on Scottish Government and public bodies to adopt trauma-informed, flexible debt management policies that recognise coerced debt as a distinct category.\u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>Children’s rights at risk:\u003C\u002Fstrong> The current approach breaches UNCRC duties by perpetuating child poverty and homelessness when families leave abusive relationships, deepening existing inequalities.\u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003C\u002Ful>\n\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>Speaking ahead of the evidence session, Aberlour’s Chief Officer of Children & Families, Lynne O’Brien said:\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cblockquote>\n\u003Cp>Women and their children who are victims of domestic abuse and financial abuse are currently being failed. The inflexibility of the systems and processes they have to navigate too often entrench existing inequalities, perpetuating harm on our most vulnerable families. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Many are forced to make difficult decisions in order to leave abusive relationships resulting in financial hardship and destitution and burdened with debts built up by perpetrators of the abuse they have suffered. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Urgent and compassionate reforms to public debt management and recovery are vital not only to tackle child poverty, but specifically to support women with experience of domestic abuse who face barriers to moving on from homeless accommodation into settled housing due to debt and rent arrears owed to public bodies. Right now, Scotland is failing to uphold the rights of children in families affected by domestic abuse forced into homelessness and destitution, and pushed into poverty due to financial abuse, coerced debt and aggressive public debt recovery.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003C\u002Fblockquote>","2025-05-15T00:00:00.000000Z","Aberlour Children's Charity will give parliamentary evidence on the urgent need for compassionate reforms and protections against ‘coerced debt’ owed to public bodies, preventing retraumatisation of domestic abuse survivors and their children.","media\u002Flynne obrien web.jpg","2025-05-14T14:39:02.000000Z","2025-05-14T16:16:04.000000Z"]