We’ve launched our Action Toolkit, written for young people, by young people
We are excited to announce that today (24th June 2022) we have launched our Action Toolkit. This aims to encourage young people to understand the root causes of child poverty – and develop campaigning solutions to address these.
You can download the whole toolkit, or individual sessions here: www.endchildpoverty.org.uk/Action-Toolkit
Government data shows that across the UK there were 3.9 million children living in poverty (after housing costs) between April 2020 and April 2021, which is a staggering 27% of all children.[1] Yet the needs of children and young people are often ignored by decision makers. For example there was no mention of child poverty in the ‘Levelling Up’ white paper, and recent costs of living interventions are being made without taking into account the number of children living in each family.
The Action Toolkit was developed by several End Child Poverty Youth Ambassadors, with support from Dr Gill Main from Leeds University. Youth Ambassadors are young people who work alongside the coalition to ensure the voice of 16-24 year olds is heard by those is positions of power.
“When I was younger I didn’t really understand what poverty was, not because I was ignorant but there was nothing out there that allowed education to be easy and fun. The topic is complex, especially with it affecting an increasing number of people of varying ages. As a group of young people, we knew it was important to enable these conversations to take place regarding poverty, whether it is with those who know very little about poverty or those who experience it on a daily basis. This toolkit is written by young people for young people, to enable these conversations to take place, and help young people create actions from their learning by developing their own campaigns.”
From Amelia Collins-Patel an End Child Poverty Youth Ambassador
The toolkit consists of 5 session plans which allow young people to share their own experiences of living in families who may not be able to afford the basics, or their interest in this topic, then take this experience to shape campaigning solutions. It has been designed to be used by youth groups, educators, and anyone who works with young people who feel as if their voices are not being heard by decision makers.
You can download the press release for the launch here.
[1] Can be viewed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/households-below-average-income-for-financial-years-ending-1995-to-2021