An Anti Poverty Programme for Wales — Mike Hedges AM

Anti-poverty needs to be at the forefront of everything that is done by the Welsh Government. For a socialist the removal of our fellow citizens from poverty has to be the top priority. No socialist can be anything but dismayed at the effect poverty is having on individuals especially its effect on children

We need a new anti-poverty programme to replace community first. Whilst community first had both its critics and its failings it did achieve a number of successes especially after it was changed into clusters. Initially each community first area had huge autonomy and very limited external scrutiny but when it was developed into clusters then staff specialisation, and more importantly the sharing of good practice started. I was hugely disappointed with the ending of the community first scheme.

Community first had some excellent projects but expecting Communities First to achieve healthy, prosperous and learning communities alone was unrealistic. It needed the support of a range of public, voluntary and private sector agencies.

Many projects such as those listed below had a major benefit for some of the more disadvantaged people in Wales

A project that looked to help people through reducing utility bill outgoings thus enabling people to make more of their household budget;

A clothing shop project which recycled unwanted clothes by selling them on at a much reduced rate in the community;

A fruit and vegetable co-operative which supplied local people with affordable fresh produce;

A project that encouraged the take up of the smoke free homes initiative and smoking cessation schemes;

It is well known that those who are least well off are more likely to suffer debilitating illnesses and to die young.

The association between deprivation and ill health is complex, but we know that lifestyle and environmental factors play a major part in the poorer health outcomes experiences by those who are most deprived.

Another problem is obesity in children, even those as young as aged four to five, which unless corrected will lead to obese children growing into obese adults with an increasing chance of diabetes, heart disease and strokes.

So schemes such as Healthy Balance that helped local residents gradually adopt a healthy lifestyle. Each week it ran a series of nutritional and physical activities for people to try out, giving local people the opportunity to improve their diet and increase exercise.

Also family lunch sessions were run weekly during term times to encourage families to both enjoy a healthy home cooked meal on a budget as well as to give advice on diet, developing cooking skills and food growing skills

One of the many disadvantages of being poor is that you end up paying more for energy, loans and until the arrival of the low cost German supermarkets for food. Most are on token meters and are, unless they are members of a credit union, unable to access low cost loans and they often have to resort to high interest lenders such as pay day loan companies.

Thing such as money awareness courses and basic budgeting, with credit unions working with the schools in an area to start regular savings clubs to encourage parents to start saving for Christmas. Saving with credit unions will allow parents to access low interest loans, which in-turn will make them less likely to access a super high interest pay-day loan or even worse, an illegal source of lending.

The area where there is the greatest scope for improving life chances is with family learning and supporting children in their education.

Things such as the Family Learning Project that focused on the value of education in the home. It is well known that children from families that do not value education perform less well at school. In addition to the Family Learning project was the opportunity to attend homework club sessions targeted at children and parents who do not have ICT and Internet facilities at home.

A parent and toddler group aimed at increasing the development and learning of pre-school, children. It also supported parents with any parenting issues they may have by offering support, advice and guidance.

There was also scheme supporting young people to do well at school with open access play schemes run during the holidays for children between the ages of 5 and 14. A homework club was also available providing support to children with their homework, with Maths having been especially popular.

The loss of these facilities has had an effect on many communities and the health of individuals living in them. We need these sort of schemes for our communities to improve our society

Mike Hedges is the Assembly Member for Swansea East