South Lanarkshire Health and Social Care Partnership (SLHSCP) are proud to be supporting Challenge Poverty Week.
Across Scotland, people are coming together to highlight the rising tide of poverty and showcase the solutions  to solve it.
Last year, SLHSCP reinforced its commitment to challenging poverty by signing up to the Poverty Alliance’s Pledge.
The Pledge has three main tenets: Poverty is not inevitable; attitudes matter; actions change attitudes.
The Poverty Alliance – which aims to combat poverty by effecting change in the policies, practices and beliefs of communities, policy makers, professionals and the general public – are spearheading this week’s campaign.
Val de Souza, Director for Health and Social Care, SLHSCP said the ethos behind Challenge Poverty Week chimes with many of the objectives of the partnership.
“Our vision is working together to improve health and wellbeing in the community – with the community.
“Whilst we are already committed to developing the correct policies and commissioning sufficient resources to effectively address poverty and inequalities in South Lanarkshire, we also need to challenge the many popular myths and stereotypes about poverty.
“That begins at grassroots level and the work of the Poverty Alliance – like Challenge Poverty Week – chimes with our endeavours, especially through our work with the Local Outcome Improvement Plan (LOIP) and Building and Celebrating Communities (BCC) programme.
“We are delighted to support this campaign and look forward to continuing to work together with partners like the Poverty Alliance, with the concrete objective of achieving positive change.”
SLHSCP are also committed to attaining Scotland’s public health priorities, which geared to improving healthy life expectancy and reducing inequalities.
Peter Kelly, Director of the Poverty Alliance said: “In our society we believe in doing the right thing. And yet, we’re letting increasing numbers of people get swept up in the rising tide of poverty.
“All across Scotland people from all walks of life are coming together to highlight the problem and show what they are doing to help overcome the barriers that lock so many of us in poverty.
“Poverty restricts people’s ability to take part in society, but by boosting people’s incomes and reducing the cost of living we can redesign our economy to better reflect the values of compassion and justice we all share.”
For more information visit: https://www.challengepoverty.net/