Welcome to the UK Programme

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Poverty in the UK today

We’re outraged that 1 in 3 children in the UK live in poverty; that’s just under 4m children. The UK has one of the worst rates of child poverty in the EU;ranked 21st out of 27 countries – equal to Greece and Poland

It’s not fair that: •children in the UK have to eat the food supermarkets throw away or are bullied at school because they can’t afford a new uniform or shoes.

•parents have to choose between giving their children a hot bath or a hot meal.

•children pay the price for an economic climate they didn’t cause.

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Child poverty in the UK today

Lucy won’t let her children play outsideas she does not feel safe in the communityShe is isolated and does not know anyother local parents. She does not go to her son’s school to meet other parentsas she had a bad school experience herself.

This is a stairwell in one of the high rise blocks of flats on the Aylesbury Estate in London where many families live below the poverty line.

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What is child poverty?

Gordon brown said “Poverty is a scar on the soul of Britain”.

The government defines child poverty as families living on less than 60% ofmedian income.

This means that after housing costs, electricity, gas and other fixed costs – a family of four – has just £20/week for food.

There is no money for childhood fun like swimming lessons, roller-skating or having a family day out together.

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Let’s end Child Poverty by 2020

The UK government is committed to eliminating child poverty by 2020. But they have fallen off course.

To ensure child poverty is reduced, a Child Poverty Bill was passed in Parliament March 2010.

The Bill demands that governments report annually what they have done to end child poverty.

Save the Children wants to play a key role in making this happen.

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What sets our work on UK poverty apart from others?

Our vision in the UK is to end child poverty by 2020

Our mission is to inspire breakthroughs in the way the world treats children, and achieve immediate and lasting change in their lives.

Our values: Accountability: Ambition:] Collaboration:

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Building on past successes

Since 1919, Save the Children’s UK programme has had a fantastic history of achieving breakthroughs for children.

In 1933, during the Second World War we set up ‘Hopscotch’ – the first play group in the UK and the start of a major area of our work.

In the 1940s, we successfully campaigned for free school meals and milk for every child and introduced the UK’s first playgroups and after- school clubs.

In 1963, the first UK hospital playgroup was opened by Save the Children in the Brook Hospital

In 2001, we facilitated the first ever, formal consultation by the Government with children and young people in England. We gained the support of the Department for Education and Skills to consult young people on changes to education policy and to include pupil feedback as a routine part of Ofsted inspections

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Inspiring Change – giving the poorest children a voice, opportunities and skills to tackle poverty themselves

The outcomes for the Inspiring Change programme are: Community change - children and young people taking action in

their own communities Children and young people having a voice on the issues that

affect them

Direct outcomes for participants - children and young people: Have increased confidence, skills and aspirations Influence on the UK Programme’s advocacy work - the voices of

children and young people are heard on a national level, bringing powerful stories to our UK policy and campaigns work

Each Inspiring Change group: Works with 15 children, young people and/or their families Will impact on an estimated 150 members of their wider

community Runs for approximately six months

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Inspiring Change

National Change

Disseminate

Demonstrate

InspireA community map exploring the challenges facing children living in poverty developed by children during a consultation to feed into the government’s Child Poverty Bill.

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Inspiring Change ‘Munch and Crunch’ group

‘Munch and Crunch’ The group looked at income

and its link to nutrition.

With our support they successfully: Ran weekly sessions with local

families supporting them to make

a meal on a low income Supported parents to raise their

own issues Turned the recipes used during the

sessions into a cook book

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Inspiring Change ‘Munch and Crunch’ group

‘Munch and Crunch’ and also with our support they:

Took part in Save the Children’s Election Manifesto launch at the House of Lords on 2nd March 2010.

Members spoke about child

poverty in their neighbourhoods and the importance of education in mitigating child poverty

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Inspiring Change ‘Wilberforce school’ group

The group focused on safety in their streets and the local environment.They:Carried out peer research to identify the problems in their area.

Developed an action plan

Ran a series of activities in the school to raise awareness

Met with local community leaders (including a local police officer, Helen Goodman- Minister for DWP and Karen Buck local- MP).

Developed a website for their peers on street safety.

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Inspiring Change ‘Wilberforce school’ group

“All of us at 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.”

Angela Piddock, Head TeacherWilberforce School

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Families and Schools Together (FAST)

FAST family in

BelfastFAST family in

Manchester

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What happens during FAST sessions?

Each FAST group is made up of 40 parents and 80 children. At least one of the children per family is between the age of 3-5.

FAST sessions run for 8 weeks. Parents in the groups will continue to meet after the 8 weeks for 22 months.

During the sessions families: Sit down to eat a meal together, cooked by one of the families

each week. Play and learn together. Win a resource hamper which includes learning resources such as books and toys.

“FAST helped me know that I am not a bad father and that I can help my sons do well at school. FAST helped me to feel like I could make a difference to what was going on and be positive about the future”.

Craig, a young parent in Glasgow

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Case Study of a FAST family

Shawn, pictured left with his mother Abbie, is three. Abbie has low literacy skills. Until she attended FAST, she was unsure about how she could best support Shawn to learn to read and write during such a critical phase of his ongoing growth and development.

Thanks to FAST, Abbie was supported to identify

new ways to interact with Shawn to make sure

that he was developing to his full potential and

that he would be ready to learn when he started

primary school. After gaining confidence, Abbie

has since enrolled in an adult education course

within the local community.

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The five unique selling points of FAST

Save the Children is bringing the FAST programme to the UK for the first time for children aged 3–5.

FAST trains parents and community members such as teachers, social workers and health workers, leaving a lasting skills base in the community.

FAST has a 94% retention rate in the UK (other parenting programmes have an average of 40% retention).

FAST works with whole families.

FAST has a proven impact on children’s education attainment in both the short and long-term.

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Where are our programmesworking in the UK?

London (Newham, Westminster & Islington)

Manchester (Gorton and Oldham)

Scotland (East end of Glasgow, West Dunbartonshire)

Wales (Cardiff, Caerphilly)

Northern Ireland (Belfast)

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What to remember from today?

We aim to end child poverty in the UK by 2020

Inspiring Change gives a voice to children and their families to inspire change in their

local communities

FAST increases the education opportunities for the poorest children in the UK

Thank you for listening

For information on how you can support us please go to:

www.savethechildren.org.uk