Stories are great – some stories have happy endings and make us feel good, others tell of ordinary people doing supposedly great things. Some stories challenge our core belief systems, make us stop and think. Some help us escape for a wee while as we imagine a different life for ourselves. Most of us will have a favourite story, or two or three.
At Save the Children in Scotland, we listen to stories all the time. Real life stories of remarkable people, lovingly raising their families against a backdrop of low income, poverty and, on many occasions, powerlessness.
We have heard over the last six months a story of rising fear of what is to come as the cost-of-living crisis quickly becomes a catastrophe for the families that we work with.
We have witnessed families struggling to feed their children, heat their homes and provide them with the very basics of life. Real life stories of families unable to afford to run a bath, put the lights on and send their children to school with everything they need.
We listen while they tell us of how systems designed to support can often hinder; systems designed for them, but without them, and without a thorough understanding of their lives.
At Save the Children we know listening is not enough. We know that these things can, and must, change.
How we challenge poverty and work towards a poverty free Scotland must be rooted in the lived experience of families, children and young people. We must design solutions with them and anchor our policy calls with their experience front and centre. We must handle their stories with care and support them to have their voices heard by decision makers at the very highest levels, holding them to account by what they have heard.
At Save the Children in Scotland we strive to honour the stories that we hear with action.
We have established a parents network giving voice and agency to parents, co-producing a forum where all parents are welcome to share with us and each other. Giving parents real opportunities share and have their voices heard but, importantly, given real weight.
This group has great ambitions to be a real force for change in Scotland. They have already been involved in speaking to the media to raise awareness of the reality of life in Scotland for those living on low incomes.
Our most recent research with the JRF ‘Delivering for Families’ heard from over 50 parents. Their voice was given real weight with this work, both in the report and accompanying animations, which are a powerful interpretation of all of this stories that we heard.
We support parents to have conversations with those in power who can take action on their behalf and will be holding them to account for families everywhere. Most recently we hosted a meeting with Shona Robinson, Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Housing and Local Government, and 13 parents to talk about the Child Poverty Delivery Plan and how it was affecting their lives – good and bad.
We know that it is not just parents that are affected by poverty. Children and young people living in families on low incomes are often not heard. We also know that children and young people need to be part of the solution and often can articulate what needs to happen to make their lives better. They are best placed to let us and those who make decisions on their behalf know what they need to thrive. We are co-producing work in Scotland to enable children and young people to come together and be change makers and to drive this work for a more equitable Scotland.
One thing that is abundantly clear to us as we have listened to parents is that families haven’t chosen their paths. Parents haven’t decided to live on low income or in poverty. Children and young people haven’t chosen to have less opportunity than their more affluent peers. No one chooses not to be able to heat or feed their families.
Poverty isn’t a choice made by families, it is something that happens to them and can happen to anyone at any time. We can change the story for these families and put them in control of their own stories. We can all play a part in this change.
So, this challenge poverty week and every other week we have a responsibility to act on the stories that we hear and to continue to really listen and give what we are hearing the place it deserves so that no child in Scotland continues to grow up in poverty.
Want to get involved in our participation and communities work? Contact p.graham@savethechildren.org.uk.
