Tackling Poverty Locally Directory
Welcome to the Directory
The Tackling Poverty Locally Online Directory is managed by the Scottish Poverty and Inequality Research Unit (SPIRU) at Glasgow Caledonian University, initially supported by funding from the abrdn Financial Fairness Trust.
Find your project
Search filters
How to use the Directory
There are multiple ways to use the Directory. You can:
- Enter a keyword in the "Find your project" search box above. This helps you to find projects with a specific focus – for example, “food”, or “benefits” or “employment”.
- Use one of our eight filters which allow you to search by categories, including, the way in which poverty is tackled (poverty driver), the type of impact on poverty (such as mitigation or prevention), cost and location.
- Browse all case studies by selecting the Search button, which can be accessed when you activate the search filters
Latest additions
Within the last few weeks, we have added case studies on Ask Three Questions, Edinburgh Community Food Project, and Caledonia Funeral Aid.
The need for a Directory of local practice
The Directory provides a searchable database of local anti-poverty initiatives from communities across Scotland and beyond. Content is peer-reviewed and designed to inform policymakers, service users and practitioners. The Directory ensures that lessons learned are shared and readily available to inform and inspire new local initiatives.
What is in the Directory?
It already profiles a wide range of local anti-poverty work being undertaken across Scotland and beyond. New content is added most weeks.
What information is provided on each project?
The landing page for each project provides essential information, including an assessment of ‘what difference it makes’ and key learning points. This summary content can be downloaded as a PDF file. More detailed information is also provided, including links to external sources of information about the project, and a list of related content in the SPIRU Directory. Perhaps the most useful information is our ‘How-to’ Guide. This provides information useful to anyone interested in adopting or adapting the initiative in their area. The How-to Guide can also be downloaded as a PDF file.
The importance of local action to tackle poverty
Poverty cannot be eradicated by local action alone. And what works in one community might not necessarily work elsewhere. However, local action can be impactful. This Directory aims to share the experience and advice of those who have been tackling poverty locally.
How our quality-assured content is generated
Each case study has been quality assured by SPIRU and independently peer-reviewed by one practitioner and one researcher. Organisations can either draft their own case study or a SPIRU researcher can interview a case study contact and prepare the entry.
A dynamic resource – an explanation of how our classification scheme works
New local actions to tackle poverty are emerging all the time. It is important to share examples of local initiatives at different stages in their development.
- What might start off as a good idea ("emerging practice"),
- Might begin to show signs of positive impact ("promising practice").
- As the project matures, evidence of impact may be more substantial and verified by independent evaluation ("fully validated"),
- Which may lead to it being replicated elsewhere ("fully validated and adopted").
We intend to track the development of projects in the Directory and share examples of progression.
Would you like to become a peer reviewer?
We warmly welcome offers from practitioners and researchers to review new case study content. Please contact us at: SPIRU@gcu.ac.uk
Suggestions for new case study content
We warmly welcome suggestions and offers for new case study content. Please contact us to recommend new cases - SPIRU@gcu.ac.uk