Child of the North 2024 Campaign – report and webcast

The second report in a year-long series – produced jointly by Child of the North and the Centre for Young Lives, has been published. The Child of the North campaign seeks to deliver a country that works for all children and young people. The report sets out a new plan to reduce child poverty inside the school gates. An evidence-based plan for addressing poverty with and through schools, argues that schools and nurseries are anchors in the most deprived communities and they should play a leading role in those areas with the worst child poverty. With over four million children in the UK living in poverty – one million of them in the North of England – the report highlights the negative impact that poverty is having on many children’s education, health, and future employment.

The report calls for:

• A new Government plan to support schools to reduce the impact of poverty as a first step of a national plan to reduce child poverty
• A targeted programme of funding to support schools in areas with the highest child poverty to co-ordinate services and provide support to reduce the impact of poverty on children
• The targeted extension of Universal Free School Meals in schools with high levels of child poverty
• A Child Poverty Unit in No. 10 and a Government Poverty Tsar to drive improvements in education for disadvantaged children
• A national Scientific Advisory Group for Children to ensure evidence, evaluation, and data-sharing lie at the heart of the programme

The team involved in the report also produced a webcast that is free to access, Addressing Poverty With & Through Education Settings Webinar (youtube.com), which has best-practice examples from organisations across the North East.