[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"$f2qg6dmszywo92":3,"$f10b3rz2z388kj":29},{"id":4,"blog_author_id":5,"blog_category_id":5,"is_featured":6,"title":7,"slug":8,"content":9,"content_overview":10,"published_at":11,"seo_title":12,"seo_description":13,"image":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":16,"next":17,"prev":18},"01j6cdm9emg9wq8r3b0gcvee3r","1",false,"response to the scottish government ending the need for foodbanks","response-to-the-scottish-government-ending-the-need-for-foodbanks","\u003Cp>We welcome and share the Scottish Government’s ambition to end poverty and the need for foodbanks. At Aberlour, we see that food insecurity is one of the most common symptoms of child poverty and we support families across Scotland every day who struggle to provide food for their children.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This week we responded to Scottish Government’s consultation on ending the need for foodbanks. You can read our response \u003Cstrong>\u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.aberlour.org.uk\u002Fpublications\u002Fresponse-to-the-scottish-government-ending-the-need-for-foodbanks\u002F\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">here\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fstrong>.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\u003Cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-14511\" src=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.aberlour.org.uk\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2021\u002F06\u002Fscottish-parliament-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"scottish parliament end child poverty\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\u002F\u002Fweb-backend.aberlour.org.uk\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2021\u002F06\u002Fscottish-parliament-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\u002F\u002Fweb-backend.aberlour.org.uk\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2021\u002F06\u002Fscottish-parliament-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\u002F\u002Fweb-backend.aberlour.org.uk\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2021\u002F06\u002Fscottish-parliament-250x250.jpg 250w, https:\u002F\u002Fweb-backend.aberlour.org.uk\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2021\u002F06\u002Fscottish-parliament-500x500.jpg 500w, https:\u002F\u002Fweb-backend.aberlour.org.uk\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2021\u002F06\u002Fscottish-parliament-600x600.jpg 600w, https:\u002F\u002Fweb-backend.aberlour.org.uk\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2021\u002F06\u002Fscottish-parliament-100x100.jpg 100w, https:\u002F\u002Fweb-backend.aberlour.org.uk\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2021\u002F06\u002Fscottish-parliament.jpg 640w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \u002F>\u003C\u002Fp>\n","\u003Cp>We welcome and share the Scottish Government’s ambition to end poverty and the need for foodbanks. At Aberlour, we see that food insecurity is one of the most common symptoms of child poverty and we support families across Scotland every day who struggle to provide food for their children. This week we responded to Scottish … \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fweb-backend.aberlour.org.uk\u002Fresponse-to-the-scottish-government-ending-the-need-for-foodbanks\u002F\">Continued\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fp>\n","2022-01-28T00:00:00.000000Z","response to the scottish government ending the need for foodbanks - Aberlour - Web Backend","This week we responded to Scottish Government's consultation on ending the need for foodbanks. You can read our response here.","media\u002Fscottish-parliament.jpg","2024-08-28T11:58:39.000000Z","2024-11-25T07:22:26.000000Z",{"id":4,"blog_author_id":5,"blog_category_id":5,"is_featured":6,"title":7,"slug":8,"content":9,"content_overview":10,"published_at":11,"seo_title":12,"seo_description":13,"image":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":16},{"id":19,"blog_author_id":5,"blog_category_id":5,"is_featured":6,"title":20,"slug":21,"content":22,"content_overview":23,"published_at":24,"seo_title":25,"seo_description":26,"image":27,"created_at":15,"updated_at":28},"01j6cdm9erkwjgj8b2k4tse7n3","Not Socks Again?! Donate your unwanted Christmas socks to People who need them most this festive season","not-socks-again","\u003Cp>Aldi Scotland has launched its ‘Not Socks Again?!’ campaign for the second year running, following its widespread success in 2021, which saw more than 2000 pairs of socks donated to good causes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\u003Cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-16304 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.aberlour.org.uk\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2022\u002F01\u002FAldi-Socks-Donation-box-2022_image.jpg\" alt=\"Aldi Now Socks Again Donation Box 2022\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" srcset=\"https:\u002F\u002Fweb-backend.aberlour.org.uk\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2022\u002F01\u002FAldi-Socks-Donation-box-2022_image.jpg 1024w, https:\u002F\u002Fweb-backend.aberlour.org.uk\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2022\u002F01\u002FAldi-Socks-Donation-box-2022_image-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\u002F\u002Fweb-backend.aberlour.org.uk\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2022\u002F01\u002FAldi-Socks-Donation-box-2022_image-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\u002F\u002Fweb-backend.aberlour.org.uk\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2022\u002F01\u002FAldi-Socks-Donation-box-2022_image-320x240.jpg 320w, https:\u002F\u002Fweb-backend.aberlour.org.uk\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2022\u002F01\u002FAldi-Socks-Donation-box-2022_image-250x188.jpg 250w, https:\u002F\u002Fweb-backend.aberlour.org.uk\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2022\u002F01\u002FAldi-Socks-Donation-box-2022_image-600x450.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \u002F>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The initiative encourages customers to donate any unwanted or extra unused socks they may have received as Christmas gifts to charities supporting people in need across Scotland.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Every year, millions of people receive socks for Christmas that they often don’t want or need, charities across Scotland do, and Aldi’s ‘Not Socks Again?!’ campaign aims to put these gifts to better use by donating new and unused socks to those who need them most.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Aldi’s Sock Amnesty’ boxes will be in stores across Scotland from the 3rd of January until the end of the month, where people can drop off their unused socks to help keep vulnerable people warm this winter.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Aldi has linked up with three Scottish charities for this year’s initiative: Aberlour Children’s Charity, Simon Community Scotland, and Bethany Christian Trust.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Aberlour Children’s Charity helps to improve the lives of Scotland’s struggling children, young people, and their families by providing support to so many who are affected by a variety of overwhelming hardships including poverty, disadvantage, and discrimination.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>SallyAnn Kelly, CEO of Aberlour Children’s Charity, said:\u003C\u002Fstrong> “We are so pleased to be participating in the Aldi Socks Donation campaign. Right now, thousands of families across Scotland are trapped in poverty, struggling to pay their bills and keep their children and young people warm. The socks donated will make a real difference to the families Aberlour works with, and on behalf of them, I would like to thank Aldi and their customers for their kind donations”.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>Richard Holloway, Regional Managing Director for Scotland, said:\u003C\u002Fstrong> “Following an immensely challenging year, the team at Aldi Scotland were eager to support charities which are working tirelessly to help those in need. In winter, charities are always looking for essential items to be donated, and so we thought, why not encourage our customers to donate any unwanted gifts of socks to people who truly need them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Aldi will also contribute a £250 donation to each charity in the hope of helping the most vulnerable in our communities.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Aldi’s Sock Amnesty boxes will be in store from 3rd January and customers are invited to drop off any unwanted, new and unused, socks which will be donated to the charity in their local area.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This initiative builds on Aldi’s commitment to supporting communities across Scotland. Since 2016, Aldi’s Scottish Sports Fund has supported over 500 local clubs with more than £290,000 worth of donations. In addition, Aldi has helped to provide over 10 million meals to vulnerable people across the UK through its partnership with community engagement platform, Neighbourly. Aldi also helped 12 local foodbanks this year after it relaunched its popular Supermarket Sweep programme this year.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To find your nearest Aldi store please visit their website \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.aldi.co.uk\u002Fstore-finder\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003Cstrong>HERE\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fa> and donate your unwanted socks this Christmas.\u003C\u002Fp>\n","\u003Cp>Aldi Scotland has launched its ‘Not Socks Again?!’ campaign for the second year running, following its widespread success in 2021, which saw more than 2000 pairs of socks donated to good causes. The initiative encourages customers to donate any unwanted or extra unused socks they may have received as Christmas gifts to charities supporting people … \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fweb-backend.aberlour.org.uk\u002Fnot-socks-again\u002F\">Continued\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fp>\n","2021-12-23T00:00:00.000000Z","Not Socks Again?! Donate your unwanted Christmas socks to People who need them most this festive season - Aberlour - Web Backend","Aldi Scotland has launched its ‘Not Socks Again?!’ campaign for the second year running, which saw more than 2000 pairs of socks donated to good causes.","media\u002FAldi_Not-Socks-Again_Web.png","2024-11-25T07:22:27.000000Z",{"id":30,"blog_author_id":31,"blog_category_id":5,"is_featured":6,"title":32,"slug":33,"content":34,"content_overview":35,"published_at":36,"seo_title":32,"seo_description":37,"image":38,"created_at":39,"updated_at":39},"01m45vtvk0pdb1y7c1cqv76edp","9cdbdd6d-4900-4646-a012-d3e67a5ee788","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"]