Brenda Shankey visits Downing Street to highlight need for action
Save the Children's new 'champion' - Brenda Shankey - has made a pre-budget trip to Downing Street to highlight the need for more financial support for children living in poverty.
Monday 10 March 2008
Brenda visited Downing Street - off Belfast's Shankill Road - and talked to workers from the Women's Centre there who told her about the difficulties families in the area face in trying to make ends meet, particularly during winter.
In contrast to its famous namesake in London, Downing Street in Belfast is situated in the most deprived ward in Northern Ireland.
Save the Children is calling on the Chancellor to make the necessary money available in the new budget to meet the government's promise to halve child poverty by 2010, on the way to eradicating it by 2020.
With nearly 3 million children in poverty across the UK and 122,000 in Northern Ireland - the child poverty rates in recent years have increased. Save the Children says that this budget is a critical point in the struggle to end child poverty.
Research shows that over the next two budgets, the government needs to allocate an additional £4bn towards improving families' incomes - through targeted tax credits and seasonal grants in order to meet the 2010 target.
The additional investment in income will help to pay for the costs associated with a healthy diet, education, warm homes and childcare. It will help families avoid debt as well as the chronic stress and mental health problems that accompany income poverty. It will also lift hundred of thousands out of poverty across the UK.
East Belfast businesswoman Brenda Shankey is to work alongside Save the Children in Northern Ireland and will take a particular interest in what is being done to help children living in poverty here.
Her interest in campaigning on child poverty was sparked by the BBC's Spotlight programme when she 'swapped' her comfortable life in Belfast with a single mother, struggling to make ends meet in Armagh.
Commenting on her association with the organisation, Brenda said: "I got the shock of my life when I took part in the programme and realised the poverty level which exists in Northern Ireland today.
"As a mum, I was particularly struck by the way this affects children and young people who have no choice in the matter. I pledged afterwards that I would do all I could to highlight their plight and raise awareness as they have no real voice - so I am delighted to be working with Save the Children."
Save the Children's Alex Tennant said: "Child poverty rates are unacceptably high in Northern Ireland. In comparison with Great Britain, we have double the proportion of children living in persistent poverty.
"This means that, rather than being a temporary situation, children here are more likely to be affected by poverty year after year. We need to see action - both at Assembly level and at Westminster.
"£4 billion might look like a lot of money - and it is. However, in reality it is equivalent to the amount of money spent each year in the UK on champagne, or the value of Christmas presents returned to the shops each year. Given the difference it would make to children living in poverty, we think that this is an essential investment. We are very pleased that Brenda Shankey will be working with us. Her role as an advocate will be invaluable and will help us highlight the depth of poverty in Northern Ireland."
Betty Carlisle, Manager of the Shankill Women's Centre said: "The Chancellor's budget is a vital way of tackling child poverty but we also need the Stormont government to support more quality childcare, training and employment opportunities in the most disadvantaged areas."
Local political representatives Nigel Dodds, Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Investment, MPand MLA and Fred Cobain, MLA, also attended to lend their support to the child poverty campaign.
Photo: Nigel Dodds, Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Investment, MPand MLA and Fred Cobain MLA, with Brenda Shankey campaigning on Belfast's Downing Street with help from Kenzie Seatan and Sophie Hindes (from the Shankill Women's Centre creche).
