Category

• Emerging Local Practice

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Poverty impact

• Awareness

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Poverty driver

• Non-driver - improving quality of life

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Keywords

• Poverty awareness
• Schools
• Cost-Of-Living Crisis
• Children
• Young people

Aim

The project aims to find out what young people think about poverty and what should be done about it, and to raise awareness of poverty issues in schools.

Summary

In the project “Ask Three Questions” school-age children are asked three questions; “How is the cost-of-living crisis affecting you?”, “how is it affecting those around you?” and “What do you think should be done about it? Through this project, the Tackling Poverty Team of the North Lanarkshire Council seeks to both raise awareness and collect information on how services and outreach could be improved within the local area in a sensitive and mindful way.

What difference does it make?

The “Ask Three Questions” project raises awareness of poverty and the need for sensitivity around the matter while also collecting information on the thoughts, feelings, and experiences of the cost-of-living crisis seen by school-age children in a totally anonymous way. This means they feel more comfortable openly sharing things they might not usually talk about.

Key take-aways

• Anonymity can help create a space where young people feel more comfortable to share their thoughts and experiences of poverty.
• School-age children can find it easier to talk to a younger member of staff about their experiences due to the closeness in age.
• Involving schools in qualitative child poverty data collection can be an effective avenue for including young people's voices.

 

Organisations

North Lanarkshire Council

Location

North Lanarkshire (in schools throughout the locality)

Contact