As a nation, we believe in social justice and compassion.
How is it then that, as a society, we accept that around one million people’s lives in Scotland are restricted by poverty?
About a quarter of a million of these people are children who are just setting out on their life journey. Modern life is challenging enough, but growing up in a household impacted by poverty only compounds these challenges, making it enormously difficult for many of these young people to fully participate in society.
Challenge Poverty Week (October 3-9) provides the opportunity to highlight the injustice of poverty in Scotland, and to celebrate the people and projects standing together to turn the tide against it.
In Aberdeen, Challenge Poverty Week will kick off with an event at the Belmont Filmhouse at 9am on Monday (Oct 3). The event will feature films made by four third sector organisations (ACVO, Abernecessities, Cfine and shmu), showcasing how low income and unfair pay, high cost of living, and lack of access to help and services that people need are affecting thousands of local households across the city.
These films will be followed by an open discussion, bringing charity and voluntary organisations and community members together to discuss what more we can do collectively to challenge poverty in the region.
Events like these are vitally important because they provide space for listening and collaboration, hearing from those most affected and sharing valuable resources and ideas on how we can best support those in our communities.
We need to turn compassion into action
Right across the country, poverty is increasing for the first time in two decades, impacting people’s lives in hundreds of different ways – and it is women, children, minority groups and disabled people who are often affected the most.
It doesn’t have to be like this. We’ve got a moral responsibility to solve poverty in Scotland – and we can. We can redesign our economy so that people don’t get swept into poverty by the currents of unemployment, or low incomes.
We can make sure that the vital services we all rely on – both statutory and those provided by the third sector – are properly funded and freely available
We need to turn compassion into action. We need to put this situation right so that everyone has a decent standard of living that allows them to grow and progress in their lives.
We can make sure that the vital services we all rely on – both statutory and those provided by the third sector – are properly funded and freely available to help everyone.
Poverty exists in Aberdeen and it’s restricting people’s lives. Despite this injustice, we can work together and turn the tide. We hope lots of local people will come along to our event to find out how we can challenge poverty together.
Murray Dawson is chief executive of Station House Media Unit (shmu)
Conversation