Poverty Alliance call for 'sea change' as Trussell Trust reveal 670,000 Scots struggling to afford food

Activists from across Scotland are coming together in Edinburgh to plan for a ‘sea change’ in their campaign for an end to poverty.

Over 170 members and supporters of the Poverty Alliance – Scotland’s national anti-poverty network – are meeting at the EICC in the capital for the ’Making Change Happen’ conference.

It comes as official statistics show that progress on ending child poverty has stalled, child homelessness is on the rise, and the share of people in deep poverty is higher than it has been since the 1990s.

A Trussell Trust study found that 670,000 Scots – including 170,000 children – are struggling to afford food.

The charity said the number of people facing hunger and hardship today is 24% higher than it was two decades ago.

The conference will bring together experts and activists to discuss and plan priorities for change across issues including housing, social security, and the climate crisis. The conference will also consider what new tactics and approaches anti-poverty organisations and activists can take.

Poverty Alliance chief executive Peter Kelly said: “Scotland is a country that believes in justice and compassion. These values guide the anti-poverty movement in all that we do – including the design and delivery of our campaigning activities.

“We are approaching a critical period for action. Despite welcome rhetoric from the Scottish Government, we are not currently on track to meet child poverty targets, and the new UK Government have taken office at a time of deepening poverty across the UK.

“It doesn’t have to be this way. We hope today’s conference marks a sea change in the way the anti-poverty movement organises for positive change and turns our numbers and public support into sustained political pressure.”

The conference will hear a keynote address from Dr Danny Sriskandarajah, chief executive of the New Economics Foundation, as well as opening remarks from Roz Foyer, general secretary of the Scottish TUC, and climate activist Laura Young.

The closing session will feature Jonathan Cox, deputy director of Citizens UK, Claire Telfer, head of Scotland at Save the Children and activist Amal Azzudin – one of the ’Glasgow Girls’ who campaigned against Home Office dawn raids on asylum seekers while at school.

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “Eradicating child poverty in Scotland is a national mission for the Scottish Government. There can be no acceptable number of children living in poverty and we will continue to do everything within the scope of our powers and budget to meet the 2030 child poverty targets and deliver the change needed.

“Our five family payments, including the game changing Scottish Child Payment, have provided over £1 billion of support to families in Scotland. We know our action is making a difference, with modelling published in February estimating that our policies will keep 100,000 children out of relative poverty this year.

“We will publish our third child poverty delivery plan by the end of March 2026, setting out the actions the Scottish Government will take between 2026-2031 to meet the final targets in 2030.

“However we also need the UK Government to do more. It is deeply disappointing they have failed to abolish the two-child limit, given the irrefutable evidence that the policy is increasing poverty and hardship across the UK.”