Fund set to trial new ways of combatting child poverty
A FUND to trial new ways of combating child poverty has opened for a second round of applications.
The Child Poverty Practice Accelerator Fund (CPAF) will provide up to £80,000 per grant towards local projects that test and evaluate new approaches which target at least one of the three drivers of child poverty reduction: improving income from employment, supporting people with the cost of living, and increasing awareness and uptake of social security benefits.
Karen Adam, MSP for Banffshire and Buchan Coast, expressed her support for the launch of the second round of the Child Poverty Practice Fund.
She said: "The First Minister has been clear, the single greatest priority for his Government is the eradication of child poverty.
“Every child in Scotland deserves a fair start in life. They deserve good health, safety, education and opportunity. As a parent to six children and grandparent to two grandchildren, my greatest priority is to see them grow up safe, healthy and happy. And every child in Scotland deserves that.
"While a combination of austerity, Brexit and a cost-of-living crisis is foisted on us by Westminster, this SNP government is taking vital action to eradicate child poverty. I encourage Aberdeenshire and Moray Councils and NHS Grampian to apply for the funding that the Scottish Government has made available."
Social Justice Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville added: “Eradicating child poverty is a central mission for the Scottish Government, and we must find new and innovative ways to achieve this.
“Measures such as the Scottish Child Payment are estimated to keep 100,000 children in Scotland out of relative poverty this year, but we are determined to go further. The Child Poverty Practice Accelerator Fund will support projects that target the root causes of child poverty and create lasting change in our communities.
“Local authorities and health boards are already undertaking transformative work to tackle child poverty and this fund will support them to go further and share best practice, to help make child poverty a thing of the past.”
Applications are open until 5pm on Friday, July 12, 2024. These can be submitted by local authorities and health boards, who may choose to work with other groups and organisations in the community.
