Northern Ireland
While great progress has been made as a result of the peace process, the legacies of conflict – deep social divisions and poverty – remain.
It’s completely changed my child’s life, and mine.
Aisling Gray
A member of our Families and Schools Together (FAST) group in Ballymurphy
“It’s brilliant to see the difference in the relationship between me and my Rosalind,” says Aisling Gray, mother of two.
“It makes a complete and utter difference to our entire family.”
Aisling was part of our Families and Schools Together (FAST) project in Belfast’s Ballymurphy, in the most deprived ward in Northern Ireland.
Her words are a sign of the success we’re having in turning lives around for both children and their families.
It gives us hope that, with political will from those in power as well as change on the ground, we can end child poverty.
- 110,000 children — more than 1 in 4 — live in poverty
- Nearly 1 in 10 live in severe poverty
- In 2010 we spent £933,000 helping children and families
- We’re determined to hold the government to its pledge to end child poverty by 2020.
The challenges
We know that children’s lives are shaped from their earliest days by their circumstances.
You can see the difference from the age of two. From there on, the gap between the wealthy and poor — in educational attainment, health and earnings — grows.
In Ballymurphy the outlook for children is bleak.
More than 80% of people have no or low educational qualifications. Long-term unemployment is 45%.
The areas that experienced the worst of the conflict in Northern Ireland are also those with the highest levels of deprivation and poverty.
Consequently, more than 1 in 4 children are living in severe poverty, more than twice the average in Britain.
What we’ve achieved
Fast track
In 2010 we launched a new way to help give children a good start in life — the FAST programme.
We began with two FAST projects in St Bernadette’s primary school in Ballymurphy followed by one in nearby Black Mountain primary.
“In just eight weeks,” reported Black Mountain principal Billy Macauley, “FAST achieved what the formal education system had failed to deliver for our parents in their school life — a feeling of self-worth and recognition that they can be masters of their own destiny.”
Find out what families from Northern Ireland thought about our groundbreaking Families and Schools Together (FAST) project.
Speaking out
We’re making sure that policy makers listen to young people through events such as our End Child Poverty Summit led by young ambassadors from our Speaking Out Against Poverty (SOAP) programme.
The summit was attended by junior ministers from the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister, Members of the Legislative Assembly and the NI Commissioner for Children and Young People.
SOAP has helped young people and families living in communities affected by poverty change their own lives and the lives of others through six-month projects in Belfast, Derry and Dungannon.
They’ve highlighted the hidden costs of education, the expense of leisure services and community safety.
Inspiring political change
In January and February 2011 our reports on the poverty premium and severe poverty received extensive media coverage leading to questions in the Assembly.
Ahead of the Assembly elections all five of the main parties committed themselves to ending child poverty and to improving the educational attainment of children from the poorest backgrounds.
What’s urgent now
In 2009-10 child poverty actually rose 2% in Northern Ireland, while falling across the rest of the UK.
That’s 110,000 children, or just over 40,000 families, who need to be lifted out of poverty.
Many of these families are struggling with some of the most expensive childcare in the world.
You can help
Affordable childcare for Britain's poorest families is crucial if they're to work themselves out of poverty.
Ask your MP to call on the Chancellor to make childcare affordable for all