Throughout 2009, the Poverty Truth Commission has brought together two groups of people: those who know and understand the struggle against poverty in their lives and those who have the power and influence to change Scotland for the better.
On 21st March 2009 in front of an invited audience of 400, people who have grown up in poverty testified to the realities they have faced and still face. Using dance, drama, poetry, rap, dialogue and monologue the testifiers moved beyond the hurdles they have faced to describe their hopes for the future and their resolve to work to overcome poverty. The daily struggle with poverty has equipped the testifiers to bring an expertise and perspective that is otherwise missing around the table where policy is made. At the same event the Commissioners, from politics, the media, academia and faith communities, listened and responded to what they heard, saying that henceforth they would want to work together as a single group in order that policy changes might be informed by the combined wisdom of both groups. Please watch the videos below which are from this first event.
The Commission will meet regularly until December 2010 when it will report back about the progress that has been made.
The Commission specifically is looking at the areas of Kinship Carers, Violence Reduction and the Media.

Wednesday, 8 July 2009

Kinship Carers

Over the last few days it has been great to see articles in the Herald (Glasgow-based Scottish newspaper) about kinship carers. Check them out at http://www.theherald.co.uk/. On Monday this included a major interview with Jessie Harvey, one of our Comissioners and a Kinship Carer.
And in today's paper (8th July) we have a letter from Jim Wallace (Lord Wallace of Tankerness) and Tricia McConalogue, the Commission Co-Chairs calling on the government at local, Scottish and UK levels to get together to address the problems. You can read it at: http://www.theherald.co.uk/display.var.2518688.0.0.php?utag=137191.
Posted by Noel Mathias at 01:02
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