United Kingdom
In the UK, 3.9 million children live in poverty. Many don't have access to warm winter clothing, nutritious food, decent housing or education. Since 1919, Save the Children's UK Programme work has impacted the lives of over 25 million children.
What we’re doing
- We're working with children, young people and families in poverty
- We’re holding the Government to account on their promise to end child poverty by 2020
- We’re calling for the Government to break the link between poverty and educational achievement
- We’re working with children and young people living in poverty to identify solutions to local problems within their community
- We’re engaging with families and schools to encourage parental interaction in their children’s education
We’re working with children, young people and families in poverty
Save the Children is delivering a number of core programmes across the UK to provide direct support to children and their families.
FAST
We’ve already run 5 hugely successful FAST programmes in London, Manchester, Belfast, West Dunbartonshire and Caerphilly. Over 80% of families who started FAST went on to finish the programme. We’re already seeing improvements in children's educational skills, participation in the classroom and families' relationships with their child's school.
Wales - "Save the Children and FAST have enabled us to strengthen our commitment to children and families. The benefits have been immediate and we look forward to seeing them grow." Headteacher.
Manchester - “I will now be much happier to come into the school to take an active role in my daughter’s education." Parent
Belfast - "Morally I could not say no to this programme." Headteacher
West Dunbartonshire - "Any programme that improves a child’s academic performance is welcome in all our schools.” Local Authority
London – “It’s brilliant. I feel so much more confident and respected after being part of this. I know from speaking with the families that they love the programme. Before FAST, some parents told me that they were too shy to speak to other families in the playground.” Parent
By 2014, we’ll establish over 400 groups across the UK, improving the life chances of 50,000 children and training more than 8,000 new practitioners. We’ll prove to UK governments that it’s possible to break the cycle of poverty for good.
Find out more about FAST groups in the UK and about the international FAST programme or contact Gemma Bull, FAST Programme Strategic Manager g.bull@savethechildren.org.uk 00 44 (0) 20 7012 6461
Inspiring Change
We’ve now got 26 groups up and running or completed across the UK. Save the Children is supporting children, young people and their families run 6 month change projects on a range of issues that impact children in poverty.
The project is making a real impact on the young people themselves, and their communities.
"The fact that people like me don't often get opportunities like this is so important for people to realise. In so many ways I am very grateful to Save the Children for the opportunities to do things that otherwise I wouldn't have had. Other children and young people in similar situations to me could end up on the streets or even dead because they haven't been given the chances that I have had” - Inspiring Change group member Cardiff
“All of us in the school feel that as a result of the partnership the children realise that they do not have to be passive victims in life but can be active participants and agents for change within their community and society as a whole.” – Primary School Headteacher, London
We are also preparing for our Regional End Child Poverty Breakthrough Summits in November, where children and young people will be leading events to promote their solutions to tackling poverty in their communities. Events will be held in Manchester, London, Belfast, Glasgow and Cardiff on Friday 12th and Saturday 13th November.
To find out more about Inspiring Change and our Breakthrough Summits in the UK contact Justin Watson, Inspiring Change Coordinator j.watson@savethechildren.org.uk 00 44 (0) 161 249 5142
What we are calling for
We are calling for the Government to:
- Tackle severe child poverty
- Remove barriers to employment for parents living in poverty
- Make the tax and benefits system work better for the poorest families
- Make sure our poorest families don’t pay the price for the economic crisis
- Take action so families in poverty no longer pay more for basic good and services
Read more about our policy calls on removing the barriers to work for parents in poverty
Close the education attainment gap between poor pupils and their better off peers
- Help the poorest parents to support their children’s learning
- Make sure schools are held to account for helping the poorest pupils maximise their achievements
- Target funding towards the poorest pupils
Read more about our policy calls on education
We’re lobbing the Government for change
End child poverty
Despite the Government’s promises, nearly 1.7 million children in the UK are living in severe poverty. We’re working to ensure that by the time of the next election in 2015 no children in the UK are living in severe poverty.
Find out more about what Save the Children is doing to end child poverty in the UK
Read more about our severe child poverty research
Child Poverty Act
In March 2010 the Child Poverty Act was passed into UK law. We strongly welcome this legislation which will make tackling child poverty a priority for all governments. We played a key role in ensuring the Act gives a voice for children and young people in the development of government strategies to end child poverty. Our next key task is to ensure the first child poverty strategies which the UK and devolved government are now obliged to produce deliver in terms of radical and immediate action which will lift children out of poverty.
Read Child Poverty Act 2010: How local authorities can involve children and young people
Child rights
In addition to working on the breaches to children's fundamental rights relating to child poverty and education, Save the Children also works to ensure that the right structures and mechanisms are in place in the public sphere to ensure that the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child is fully implemented in the UK.
Save the Children has received financial support from the European Union’s Fundamental Rights and Citizenship Programme to carry out a research project to assess how far the ‘general measures of implementation’ of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) have been realised at European, national and community level. The general measures concern the structures and mechanisms which need to be in place if the whole of the UNCRC is to be implemented effectively.
Save the Children is also a member of the ROCK (Rights of the Child UK) Coalition which is campaigning for the UNCRC to become part of UK law. Nearly 20 years after the UNCRC was ratified by the UK, it remains far from being fully implemented. ROCK believes that bringing the UNCRC into national law would mean that new laws and policies would be ‘children’s rights’ proofed and public authorities would be fully accountable to children for upholding their human rights. In short, making the convention part of UK law would mean that the government would be obliged to act to boost support and protection for children, placing their interests at the heart of government decision making.
For more information about Save the Children's work on implementing the UNCRC in the UK contact Louise King, UK Child Rights Policy Advisor l.king@savethechildren.org.uk 00 44 (0) 20 7012 6762
Find out more about children’s rights and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child
New UK government
In the run up to the general election, Save the Children launched our election manifesto, ‘Poverty Kills Childhood’. 30,000 members of the public up and down the country backed our campaign and many hosted events and invited their local parliamentary candidates to attend. Others wrote letters and visited their candidates getting across the message that ending child poverty at home and abroad should be a priority in the new Parliament.
We are now busy campaigning for the new government to tackle severe child poverty and close the educational attainment gap. Find out more here
