RSS Press releases

Dumfries and Galloway Council alongside the regionwide Dumfries & Galloway Poverty and Inequalities Partnership are once again supporting Challenge Poverty Week 2023 – the annual national awareness raising week led by Poverty Alliance Scotland.

Challenge Poverty Week begins on Monday 2 October and concludes on Sunday 8 October 2023.

The aims of the week are:

• To raise a unified voice against poverty and show that we all want to live in a more just and equal Scotland.
• To build awareness of and support for solutions to poverty.
• To change the conversation around poverty and help end the stigma of living on a low income.

Together with the Poverty Alliance, Dumfries and Galloway Council and the Dumfries & Galloway Poverty and Inequalities Partnership are all coming together to produce a week-long programme of videos, downloadable information and events around this year’s Key Themes:

• Monday 2 October – Communities and Volunteers
• Tuesday 3 October – Housing
• Wednesday 4 October – Adequate Incomes
• Thursday 5 October – Transport
• Friday 6 October – Food
• Saturday 7 and Sunday 8 October – Reflection

Councillor Ian Blake, Chair of Communities Committee said: “Our Council continues to reinforce our commitment to tackling poverty and inequalities throughout our region by once again delivering a range of support mechanisms to support Challenge Poverty Week 2023. On each day during Challenge Poverty Week, we will focus on a different theme and these themes each have accompanying key messages which will be made available online and we encourage everyone to log onto our new Challenge Poverty Week website each day to find out about all the help and assistance available to those experiencing poverty. All of the solutions offered are designed to help people to increase their incomes and reduce their costs, which we know is the quickest way to escape from poverty.

“In March of this year, our Council committed £1,075,527 of Policy Development Funding to tackle poverty and Inequalities within our region. This funding is being used to support a wide range of projects that focus on tackling poverty and inequalities across our region. We allocated funding towards Holiday Food Fund payments to children in nurseries and for families during the School Holiday Periods, funding to increase the annual School Clothing Grant to the sum of £134 per primary aged pupil and £150 per secondary school pupil, support for community transport throughout the region and funding towards the Taxi-Card Scheme, which offers dedicated transport to our most vulnerable residents who have no other method of transport to ensure that they can attend essential medical appointments. In addition, we also allocated funding for the continuation of our invaluable Welfare and Housing Options Support Team who help some of the most vulnerable residents within our region to retain their tenancies in the face of various crisis which they have encountered through no fault of their own”.

Councillor Jackie McCamon, Vice Chair of Communities Committee said: "Our Council has continued with our allocation of funding to support the Solway Credit Union and the Stranraer Credit Union who both offer low-cost affordable credit and we again covered the costs of the membership and delivery fees for the projects within our region who receive surplus food supplies from FareShare. All these supplies are then delivered or collected by those most in need from the various food banks supported throughout our region. We have continued with dedicated support to young people through our Youth Work Team to help them with the essentials they need to increase their life chances as well as dedicated help and support to families who are currently being looked after by our Social Work Services Team to enhance their lives and offer opportunities which would otherwise be unavailable to them.”

Nick Hopkins, Chair of the Dumfries and Galloway Poverty and Inequalities Partnership said: “The Poverty and Inequalities Partnership brings together people, communities and organisations from across the region to develop and deliver work which will make a real difference to the lives of people living in poverty locally. That work is about getting support to people in the most severe and lasting poverty, making sure that people claim the benefits they are due and get the help they need with the money and debt issues they face, and reducing the cost of living, particularly for those living in our rural communities. It's about making sure that every organisation in Dumfries and Galloway plays its full part in tackling poverty, that every new policy takes account of the needs of people in poverty, and that communities and people facing poverty are at the heart of our work. 

“Challenge Poverty Week is about conversations. It gives us the chance to talk with people about the work that’s being done, whether they are experiencing poverty or working with people in poverty. And it’s a chance for people to give us feedback and share their ideas about how we might do things better in the future.”

To access all of the support and information available during Challenge Poverty Week, visit www.dumgal.gov.uk/CPW2023

For more information on the Poverty Alliance and the national Challenge Poverty Week Events and activities, visit https://www.povertyalliance.org/cpw

For more information on tackling poverty and inequalities in Dumfries and Galloway, please email challenge.poverty@dumgal.gov.uk



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