Blog
Greater Manchester Poverty Action (GMPA) supports our network of stakeholders with information and knowledge about poverty, with a strong focus on policy and practice that reduces and prevents poverty.
On this page you can access our latest articles relating to different aspects of poverty, which have all featured in our fortnightly newsletter.
Please get in touch if you would like to submit an article to be considered for inclusion.
A social safety net to protect people from hardship
By Katie Schmuecker (Principal Policy Advisor) and Graeme Cooke (Director of Evidence and Policy) at Joseph Rowntree Foundation Deepening poverty is shrinking people’s worlds. The grinding pressures of not being able to afford essentials leaves people more isolated, impacting on both physical and mental ill-health. This is about…
The minimum cost of education: What does going to school really cost families?
By Georgina Burt, Development Manager (Cost of the School Day) at Child Poverty Action Group For the last three years through the UK Cost of the School Day project, Child Poverty Action Group has been talking to and listening to children and families to understand how poverty effects children’s time…
Scottish government holds anti-poverty summit
By Laura Burgess, Senior Policy and Research Advisor at GMPA Scotland’s First Minister, Humza Yousaf, hosted a landmark cross-party, cross-sector anti-poverty summit in Edinburgh on Wednesday 3 May. The First Minister, who set tackling poverty as a defining priority of his government during his campaign for SNP leadership, brought together…
New policy briefing published: Household Support Fund
By Penny Rimmer, Policy Officer at GMPA The Covid-19 pandemic and Cost-of-living Crisis have heightened the importance of local authorities in responding to their residents' financial needs. The Household Support Fund (HSF) was first introduced in October 2021 and has provided £2 billion to local authorities to support essential costs…
GMPA launch VCSE anti-poverty forum
By Aisha Muhammed, Public Policy Officer at GMPA On Wednesday 3 May, GMPA launched the Greater Manchester VCSE Anti-Poverty Forum. The forum has been established under the delivery of the Greater Manchester VCSE Accord to build on existing strengths of VCSE sector across the ten boroughs. It seeks to create…
Missing out: £19 billion of support goes unclaimed each year
By Tylor-Maria Johnson and Alex Clegg, Senior Policy and Data Analysts at Policy in Practice A new report by Policy in Practice estimates that the total amount of unclaimed income-related benefits and social tariffs is now £18.7 billion a year. Millions of families need extra financial support to stay afloat We…
Join the movement for Free School Meals for All
By Louise Atkinson, primary school teacher and President of the National Education Union In September, the National Education Union launched our campaign for Free School Meals for All, urging the Government to extend hot, healthy school dinners to every child in primary school in England. Since then, educators, doctors, dentists,…
Taking GMPA’s work to Parliament
By Graham Whitham CEO, GMPA Last Thursday Greater Manchester Poverty Action held our first event in London as we took our report, Local anti-poverty strategies: Good practice and effective approaches to Parliament. We were joined in a packed Jubilee Room by national think tanks and NGOs, London based councils and…
