Trust Launches Scheme to Combat Child Poverty

A strategy to tackle Bradford's growing child poverty problem has been launched today. The scheme, organised by Bradford Children's Trust, will encourage organisations that provide services to youngsters to work together in eradicating the causes of poverty.

Around 70 members of staff from education, health and voluntary sectors gathered at City Exchange to discuss how to improve sub-standard housing and provide families with debt and careers advice.

The event also incorporated workshops to help organisations look at how to encourage children to eat better food and increase uptake of free school meals.

The scheme comes a fortnight after a documentary highlighted the plight of children living on the city's Canterbury estate. It showed that four out of five children living there are from low-income families.

Bradford labour councillor Ralph Berry said that, despite the economic down-turn, the scheme could make a big difference.

The lead member for children's services said: "We can't completely protect people from the scale of the public spending cuts, but there is a huge amount we can do by looking creatively at all the services we are delivering to make children's lives that bit better."

Wibsey primary school teacher, Maureen Kearns, who is also involved in the project, said it is important that the scheme helps entire families and not just children.

"There may be things that we can do on literacy and numeracy and sharing what we do in school with parents who may themselves have literacy and numeracy issues," she said.