Anti-poverty project gives families £700k
Financial officers came into four schools to explain the welfare system to parents
PARENTS in Glasgow have accessed more than £700,000 in unclaimed benefits thanks to an antipoverty project. Four schools took part in an initial trial working with a Financial Inclusion Support Officer (FISO) to help parents navigate the welfare system.
Now the scheme is to be rolled out to all 30 city secondary schools, an ASL school and two primaries following its success.
Gena Howe, child poverty manager at Glasgow City Council, said the project came about after a series of meetings, including with depute head Murdo MacDonald at Bellahouston Academy and Calton Child Poverty Action Group, showed her it was necessary.
Gena said: “The parents at Carlton Child Poverty Group suggested a leaflet to be available in schools but that wasn’t enough to make a difference.
“I work in the child poverty team and we knew that outreach work has the best results.
“Your traditional Citizens Advice, Money Matters services, that are in fixed locations in the city, the vast majority of people who use those facilities are single people, they are not parents.
“We don’t know the reason for that, but we knew we needed to take this to parents in an education setting if it was going to help tackle child poverty. So, we looked at a welfare rights officer.”
Gena approached GEMAP, a charity in Glasgow providing welfare advice and financial information, whose worker Sharon Graham became the first FISO.
Three academies, Bellahouston, St Mungo’s and Rosshall, as well as St Paul’s High School were chosen to take part.
A letter was sent out to the parents and carers of every child on the schools’ rolls, and this was followed up by a reminder text message.
In the first year, a staggering £400,000 of unclaimed benefit cash was accessed by Bellahouston parents with £700,000 in total generated across the four schools from November 2019 to January this year.
Some 70% of people using the service are from BAME communities and Gena said this is a figure they are “working to understand”.
Tony Quinn of GEMAP said: “This project demonstrates if we can find ways to open up advice services through trusted partners like schools, we can improve the quality of life, wellbeing and financial resilience of families.
“It also shows a collaborative approach is the most effective way to tackle poverty and inequality.”
The city-wide roll-out is being supported by Citizens Advice, Money Matters and will see nine FISOs work across Glasgow. There is also involvement from employability services, digital inclusion and support services for fuel and food for families that need it.