Child poverty: making a difference in your community; Friday 15 September 2017

Abstract

This report provides an overview of the salient issues which emerged through presentations by speakers and discussions led by delegates. It is hoped that this report will inform councillors and community stakeholders of the challenges children and families living in poverty face, and encourage action on both practical and policy levels. The roundtable event was chaired and hosted by Dr Rick Wylie, Samuel Lindow Academic Director, University of Central Lancashire, who hosted this event. Cath Howard, Chief Operations Officer at Cumbria Community Foundation provided some key statistics around the status of poverty in West Cumbria. Suzanne Wilson, Research Fellow in Social Exclusion and Community Development at University of Central Lancashire gave an overview of the ‘Connected Communities’ research being undertaken in West Cumbria, with the aim to promote community capital. Lesley Sanczuk, Senior Manager for Children’s Services Allerdale & Copeland at Cumbria
County Council spoke about their new service ‘Pause’ which aims to support families with repeat child removals. Andrea Hardie-Knight, Chief Executive at Howgill Family Centre described some typical referrals surrounding parent mental health and debt, and what their services are doing to support families. Vicki Hepburn-Fish, Head at Victoria Infant and Nursery School spoke about their work to improve language and communication at pre-school by working with families and promoting learning at home. Finally, Rachel Head, Children’s Services Manager at Barnardo’s Allerdale reflected on the challenges encountered in early intervention projects and strategies to overcome these, chiefly offering perinatal support for families.