[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"$f10b3rz2z388kj":3,"$f2z5a5jn49h0m7":16},{"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":15},"01m45vtvk0pdb1y7c1cqv76edp","9cdbdd6d-4900-4646-a012-d3e67a5ee788","1",false,"Panic and Promises Won't End Child Poverty","panic-and-promises-wont-end-child-poverty","\u003Cp>We live in a world that seems to spin faster every day, where all the dials are turned to 11 all the time.  \u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The headlines crash from one calamity to another as our political leaders rush to promise emergency action while their opponents demand even more urgency. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It is noisy, tiring and a few hours later, when the news cycle spins to another red alert, the last one, whatever it was, is most often forgotten. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For years now, child poverty in Scotland has been routinely described as a national emergency demanding emergency action. It is and it does but, with more than one in five children still growing up in poverty in Scotland today, is it time to ask if the language of emergency and crisis is helping?  \u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Perhaps it only encourages more haste but less speed, a birling carousel of taskforces and committees, policy papers and special reports, but too little measured and impactful action? Are we even checking if the blizzard of promises and commitments is being delivered before starting the snow machine again? \u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What if the endless planning and process is actually slowing us down? What if somehow all the talk is delaying implementation of practical, tested, and effective measures to improve the lives and secure the life chances of the 210,000 children growing up poor in one of the wealthiest countries in the world? \u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because we already know what works. We have known for years.  \u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, there are no magic bullets, no simple solutions to the complex social issues that have blighted our poorest communities for decades. Child poverty, like Scotland’s drugs crisis, another national emergency, is embedded in longstanding economic trends that have stripped far too many of our neighbourhoods of jobs and hope. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Those trends will not be reversed overnight but, in the meantime, we should not let perfect be the enemy of good. As Challenge Poverty Week begins today, the biggest challenge is to see the wood not the trees, to recognise and appreciate what is already working and build on it. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There are things that we know ease the impact of poverty on young lives; that have been trialled, tested and measured; that inch their families from peril to safety; that give them new strength, confidence and a path to a more secure future. So why not have more of them? \u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>These are services that our charity and others are delivering every day, hand in glove with our partners in social work, health care and education. These are services delivering real, measurable success, making children safer, healthier and happier today and improving their chances tomorrow. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Intensive family support, for example. The clue is in the name. It is the opposite of easy. Any family’s journey back from the very edge of crisis is one of hard yards and no shortcuts. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Our teams arrive to work, shoulder to shoulder, with families on the point of collapse, with children often on the edge of care. Ensuring those babies and young people are safe is always the priority but, after that, keeping them with their families is the driving force because that, all research suggests, is the best way to stabilise childhoods and secure futures. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Intensive family support means doing whatever it takes to keep children safe and families together. It can rebuild broken relationships; improve parents’ confidence in themselves; create new connections in communities; and help build firmer financial foundations with advice on welfare rights, maximising incomes and problem debt. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Any investment in intensive family support and other specialist services, for pregnant women and new mums, for example, is more than returned in thriving families, stronger communities and money saved. Resource is better spent on intensive support keeping families safely together, than managing their separation through a lifetime of crisis-led state intervention.  \u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Our two Mother and Child Recovery Houses, in Falkirk and Dundee, for example, offer recovery spaces for pregnant and new mums with a history of substance use, allowing them to recover while staying safely with their babies. This helps keep families together and children at home, improves their futures and saves millions of pounds in avoided care costs. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This is true child protection and the big question is not whether we can afford to roll out these services across Scotland but if we can afford not to?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>Justina Murray \u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003Cbr>\u003Cstrong>Chief executive of Aberlour Children’s Charity \u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp> \u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\u003Cem>This article was written for the Daily Record and published on Monday 5th October 2026.\u003C\u002Fem>\u003C\u002Fp>",null,"2026-10-05T00:00:00.000000Z","Aberlour Children's Charity CEO, Justina Murray, explains what must be done to end child poverty in Scotland. We know what works and we've known for years. ","media\u002FRS873_0E5A9135.jpg","2026-10-05T11:05:26.000000Z",{"id":17,"blog_author_id":18,"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":39},"01j9txmwvysw3g2tm4pe9gwz58","9c8b0191-fcca-48df-af06-d7308bbd8d7b","01j303dmcc6n6900v73fs88bc7","Public sector debt collectors urged to ease child poverty","public-sector-debt-collectors-urged-to-ease-child-poverty","\u003Cp>Scotland’s public authorities are helping trap families in poverty by collecting debt without compassion, experts warn.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Aberlour, the country’s biggest children’s charity, fears the way organisations, including local authorities and benefit agencies, claw back arrears is making it harder for families to escape poverty.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The charity, speaking during Challenge Poverty Week, hailed a landmark debt support service for showing how money owed for rent, council tax and school meals can be collected without inflicting more hardship on families.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the first three years, the pilot programme has eased the pressure of public debt on families across Tayside, Angus and Perth & Kinross while councils reviewed and adapted collection systems.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Heather Kelly, Aberlour assistant director, said the \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.aberlour.org.uk\u002Fnews-item\u002Fgroundbreaking-anti-poverty-approach-sees-debts-reduced-for-disadvantaged-families\">Family Financial Wellbeing service\u003C\u002Fa> has been built on partnership with public sector organisations; a better understanding of how families are trapped by debt; and changing how arrears are collected.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The service offers expert advice and direct financial assistance through a hardship fund where the average award was £2700 for each family struggling to clear public debt.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cblockquote>\n\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>Kelly said: \u003C\u002Fstrong>“Almost nine out of ten of the families referred to the service are vulnerable and already trapped in debt. They need support and £2700 is not a lot of money to help them escape poverty.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It makes a huge difference and the improvement to mental and physical health and family life is immeasurable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Poverty is gruelling and can strip the hope from families. They can’t get on top of it and can’t see a way out. They feel like bad parents, that their children are missing out. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“This service shows that can change, that direct assistance, financial help and family support can turn things around.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“People began to see the possibility of a different future for themselves and their families.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003C\u002Fblockquote>\n\u003Cp>All three councils supporting the service, backed by The Robertson Trust, have looked at how debt recovery can be adapted to help keep families afloat while repaying their debts.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dundee City Council, for example, has introduced a debt collection charter ensuring debtors, possibly owing money to several different departments, now have one point of contact and a single priority payment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The new approach is built on early intervention to help stop struggling debtors becoming homeless, postpone legal action, and allow Aberlour to help them stabilise finances and build repayment plans.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cblockquote>\n\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>Kelly said:\u003C\u002Fstrong> “We’d like to see that charter adopted by other local authorities along with mandatory training for frontline staff. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“We’d like to see a family’s financial wellbeing become everyone’s concern in the same way that child welfare has become everyone’s concern.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“How we collect public debt can reduce the impact of poverty on children and their families. The two go hand in hand. It is public debt but it has personal impact.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003C\u002Fblockquote>\n\u003Cp>The ground-breaking work of the pilot poverty project will be highlighted at an event in Perth today (Wednesday 9th October), attended by Shona Robison, finance secretary and Dundee MSP, and officers from Scotland’s local authorities.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Martin Canavan, head of policy and participation at Aberlour, said the work of the service to help families find financial stability and escape poverty should be a template for public debt relief across Scotland.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He said the pilot scheme has confirmed how helping change the pursuit and collection of public debt can ease child poverty.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cblockquote>\n\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>Canavan said:\u003C\u002Fstrong> “In Tayside, we have shown how councils can change and improve how debt can be recovered without the immediate need for national legislation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The public sector can recover debt differently, in a more compassionate way that will help them escape poverty and not risk making their financial situation even worse.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It means families prevented from becoming homeless, children prevented from being taken into care, and families being supported back into work. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“These are tangible, practical outcomes that benefit families and their communities.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003C\u002Fblockquote>","2024-10-09T00:00:00.000000Z","To mark Challenge Poverty Week 2024 Aberlour Children's Charity and partners held an event in Perth to raise awareness that public debt is trapping families in poverty and what must be done to help.","media\u002F01J9TXMWVVZ3FKQJ12DZEYPCXF.jfif","2024-10-10T09:55:03.000000Z","2024-10-10T09:56:10.000000Z",{"id":29,"blog_author_id":18,"blog_category_id":30,"is_featured":7,"title":31,"slug":32,"content":33,"content_overview":11,"published_at":34,"seo_title":31,"seo_description":35,"image":36,"created_at":37,"updated_at":38},"01jb9eaed6250yayvrvbxmnhkw","01j303bq3gts1f1rws42kqh950","Child Poverty and housing emergency ‘inextricably linked’ leading charities claim","child-poverty-and-housing-emergency-inextricably-linked-leading-charities-claim","\u003Cp>Scotland’s housing emergency and child poverty are inextricably linked according to a \u003Ca title=\"Child Poverty and the Housing Emergency Report\" href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.aberlour.org.uk\u002Fpublications\u002Fchild-poverty-and-the-housing-emergency\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">new briefing\u003C\u002Fa> by two leading charities.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Produced jointly by \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fscotland.shelter.org.uk\u002F\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Shelter Scotland\u003C\u002Fa> and Aberlour Children's Charity, the report examines the evidence linking child poverty and the housing emergency, and highlights delivering social homes as a key intervention.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>First Minister John Swinney has said eradicating child poverty is at the heart of his governments mission, however this report warns that cannot be achieved without adequately addressing the housing emergency.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>High housing costs are driving 50,000 children in Scotland into poverty, while the latest homelessness figures show that more than 10,000 children are currently trapped in temporary accommodation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>Shelter Scotland Director, Alison Watson, said:\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cblockquote>\n\u003Cp>There’s an undeniable link between child poverty and Scotland’s housing emergency; this briefing sets that out in clear terms.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It should be a source of great national shame that tens of thousands of children are being driven into poverty by soaring housing costs, and that more than 10,000 children in Scotland are living in temporary accommodation, trapped in the homelessness system.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The Scottish Child Payment is a positive and welcome intervention, but the evidence shows it’s just not enough; the First Minister simply can’t achieve his aim of eradicating child poverty if he doesn’t first end the housing emergency.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003C\u002Fblockquote>\n\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>Aberlour Chief Executive, SallyAnn Kelly OBE, said:\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cblockquote>\n\u003Cp>Children have a right to grow up free from poverty. Government has a duty to realise that right and this includes providing safe and secure housing for children and their families.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Unsafe, cramped and temporary housing undermines the lives and life chances of far too many of our children.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Poverty damages the lives of children today and sabotages their futures tomorrow. The First Minister has said ending child poverty is his number one priority.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“But that commitment must be matched by clear actions and investment, ensuring the best interests of all our children drive policy not financial imperatives.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It is clear that ending child poverty can only happen by tackling the housing emergency.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003C\u002Fblockquote>\n\u003Cp>\u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.aberlour.org.uk\u002Fpublications\u002Fchild-poverty-and-the-housing-emergency\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read the report 'Child Poverty and the Housing Emergency.'\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fp>","2024-10-28T00:00:00.000000Z","Today (Monday 28th October 2024), Shelter Scotland and Aberlour's Children's Charity jointly issue report examining the evidence linking child poverty and the housing emergency,","media\u002F01JB9EAED34K4AET2WZ4C5JGC6.jpg","2024-10-28T11:31:30.000000Z","2024-10-28T11:35:21.000000Z",{"id":40,"blog_author_id":18,"blog_category_id":41,"is_featured":42,"title":43,"slug":44,"content":45,"content_overview":11,"published_at":46,"seo_title":47,"seo_description":48,"image":49,"created_at":50,"updated_at":51},"01j997ghbnrsapd1ep7jd28yvb","2",true,"Blog: Challenge Poverty Week 2024","blog-challenge-poverty-week-2024","\u003Cp>This week is \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.povertyalliance.org\u002Fcpw\u002F\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Challenge Poverty Week\u003C\u002Fa>.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Every year at this time we shine a light on the incredible efforts of all those organisations and individuals doing all they can to challenge poverty across Scotland.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Despite these efforts we’ve witnessed another year where child poverty has failed to reduce.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In fact, by some measures child poverty in Scotland is rising.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At Aberlour, we stand at the forefront of supporting Scotland's most disadvantaged children and families, and we do all we can do to tackle child poverty.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Too often it feels like we are applying a sticking plaster to a gaping wound.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That’s because ending child poverty is a political choice.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Children do not choose to grow up in poverty, but governments make choices that either improve people’s lives or don’t.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So far, neither the Scottish Government nor UK Government have chosen to end child poverty.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>We’ve now had three first ministers pledging to make child poverty their absolute priority.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The time is long overdue for us to move beyond incremental shifts at best, and sound bites at worst.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Resources haven’t followed key promises, and to our eternal shame, promises have been made and broken to some children who have only known uncertainty and broken promises.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lifting our people out of poverty and destitution benefits us all.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The evidence could not be clearer.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At Aberlour, what we see every day are parents absolutely trying to do the best they possibly can.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But they find themselves in intolerable situations – situations which anyone would find equally intolerable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When you cannot feed your children or have to choose between them eating or you, or sending them to school in uniforms that are too small, or ill-fitting shoes, the level of stress that creates in families is really significant.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The richness of childhood is under threat because of the way society is being fractured and changed by the relentless devastation of poverty.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The most recent child poverty figures tell us that despite Scottish Government’s efforts to reduce child poverty, including through delivering the Scottish Child Payment, progress has stalled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But ending child poverty does not start and end in with decisions made in Scotland.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>We have two governments now – one in Holyrood and one in Westminster – who claim to be committed to ending child poverty.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The First Minister has been clear that his number one priority is to end child poverty.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Prime Minister has commissioned a Child Poverty Taskforce.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Both are welcome.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But those commitments must be matched by clear actions and investment – such as ending the heinous, poverty creating two child limit policy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Otherwise, they are simply warm words and good intentions.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>We need a different politics now across the UK, one of collaboration.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Each government must commit to working together to achieve the shared ambition to end child poverty.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then we would begin to see some progress that would make a real and meaningful difference in the lives of our poorest children and families.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One area where I believe both governments must take action to help and support struggling families is by tackling public debt.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Low-income families across the UK are in the midst of a debt crisis.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Overwhelmingly our evidence shows that public debt, such as council tax arrears, rent, and even school meal debt, is trapping families in an unbreakable cycle of poverty.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Our research has made clear that public debt is a key contributor to levels of child poverty, with one study showing that \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.aberlour.org.uk\u002Fnews-item\u002Fnew-report-debt-to-public-bodies\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">75% of debt owed by low-income families is public debt.\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Families already disadvantaged because they’re on the breadline are doubly disadvantaged because they’re getting automatic removals from their income before it hits the bank.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Families whose income already fails to meet their needs or allows them to provide the essentials for their children.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>These debts then trap families in poverty.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If we’re serious about tackling child poverty, then we must be equally committed to tackling public debt.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>We need a plan to tackle the debt crisis that means not reducing household budgets, but instead keeps money in families’ pockets for the things that they need for their children to thrive.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This Challenge Poverty Week that is what I urge John Swinney and Keir Starmer to do.\u003Cbr>\u003Cbr>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>SallyAnn Kelly OBE, \u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>Aberlour Chief Executive\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\u003Cem>This article was written for The Scottish Sun and published on Tuesday 8th October 2024.\u003C\u002Fem>\u003C\u002Fp>","2024-10-07T00:00:00.000000Z","Latest blog from Aberlour CEO SallyAnn Kelly, Challenge Poverty Week 2024","Read the latest blog from Aberlour CEO, SallyAnn Kelly OBE. Monday 7th October 2024 is the start of Challenge Poverty Week. SallyAnn explains what families living in poverty need now from the Scottish and UK Governments.","media\u002F01J997GHBJ5Z1VF9D0S25TJJSJ.jpg","2024-10-03T13:01:06.000000Z","2024-10-08T10:46:10.000000Z"]