Wales

Wales has one of the worst rates of child poverty in the industrialised world. More than 192,000 children - at least one in four - live in poverty and almost one in ten lives in severe poverty.

We work across Wales to eradicate child poverty, improve education, strengthen children's rights and encourage participation.

  • We work with the Welsh Assembly Government to make sure it does everything it can to help children and families in poverty
  • We promote and raise awareness of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) 
  • We develop resources and provide training to help local authorities across Wales work effectively to improve the lives of children living in poverty
  • We help find solutions to the barriers facing poor children in education in Wales to reduce inequality in education

Our work in the UK began in Wales, helping families living in poor mining areas in the South Wales valleys. Now, we’re working to help the one in three children growing up in families struggling to afford even the basics, like heating and decent meals.

Poverty

Poverty harms children and affects their life chances. Poor children can expect fewer qualifications, lower-paid jobs, more health problems and shorter lives than other children.

We developed our bilingual Child Poverty Solutions Wales website with the Welsh Local Government Association. It's the first of its kind in Wales and designed to help local practitioners, policy makers, managers and strategists to develop local responses for reducing child poverty in Wales.

Education

Our education work in Wales will continue to engage with children, young people, parents, teachers and schools to find ways to support children from disadvantaged backgrounds to increase their educational attainment and enjoyment.

We've produced research on the barriers facing poor children in education in Wales, providing key information on raising children’s level of attainment for Local Education Authorities and schools.

Our new joint programme: 'Families and Schools Together'

We’ll be working partnership with Families and Schools Together (FAST), an award-winning parental engagement and community-strengthening project to help parents improve their children’s learning and development so they can reach their full potential. FAST has changed children’s lives for over 20 years in eight countries and 2, 000 schools by enabling them:

  • to succeed in school and have stronger life chances
  • to live in supported and strengthened families with better bonds, communication, confidence and self-esteem
  • to live in stronger communities with increased trust, participation and social inclusion.

We’re using a similar approach to run Philosophy for Children and Communitites, a scheme of group discussions shown to improve children’s thinking, reasoning and communication skills.

By 2014, we’ll establish more than 430 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.

Participation

By involving children in our research, policy and campaigning work, we can ensure that our activities truly reflect the day-to-day reality of their lives and make a difference.

We host a Participation Unit on behalf of the Children and Young People's Participation Consortium for Wales. The unit aims to increase and promote the full and active participation of children in the decisions that shape their lives.

Reach the Heights is the Participation Unit's project supported by the European Convergence Fund. This project aims to raise the achievements and aspirations and skills of young people - in particular those who are most disadvantaged and to help adults and organisations engage with them.

Participation resources

Child Rights

We're committed to making sure that the rights of children and young people are not ignored. We produce resources and provide training to raise the level of awareness about children's rights among children and young people, their families and professionals working with children across Wales.

We convene and service the UNCRC Monitoring Group for Wales, which holds the government to account on children’s rights issues, and provides strategic coordination for work on the UNCRC in Wales.

Child rights resources

  • 'Your Health,Your Rights' leaflet (PDF 400KB)
  • Righting the wrongs: the reality of children's rights in Wales - Summary (PDF 497KB)
  • Righting the wrongs: the reality of children's rights in Wales - Full report (PDF 3MB)
  • Stop, look, listen: the road to realising children's rights in Wales - Full report (PDF 1MB)
  • Stop, look, listen: the road to realising children's rights in Wales - Summary for young people (PDF 5MB)
  • United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child - Briefing (PDF 163KB)

More resources

Contact us

Wales Programme
Phoenix House,
3rd Floor,
8 Cathedral Road,
CARDIFF
CF11 9LJ
Tel: 029 2039 6838
Fax: 029 2022 7797
Email: walesinfo@savethechildren.org.uk

Community Fundraising
Phoenix House,
3rd  Floor,
8 Cathedral Road,
CARDIFF
CF11 9LJ
Tel: 029 20 345224
Fax: 029 2022 7797
Email: s.donald@savethechildren.org.uk

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