Rural Scotland is energy-rich, and hosts much of the UK’s energy infrastructure, yet one in four rural households lives in extreme fuel poverty. To help change this, The Scottish Government invests in retrofitting homes – providing air-source heat pumps and roof top solar. But, these measures don’t always produce bill savings for rural households. In … Read more
Becky Hothersall, Development Officer,The Poverty Alliance Click here to explore the photostories!(opens in new tab) Click here for exhibition details(opens in new tab) Over the past few months, citizens’ panel members from the Taking Action on Rural Poverty project have been working on a Photostories project, using photos and personal stories to explore the lived realities of the rural poverty premium – the extra … Read more
The scale of food insecurity across Scotland is the consequence of systems that are failing to provide people with the security, resources and opportunities needed to live with dignity. The reality is clear: people cannot thrive when work is insecure, social security falls short and essential services are inaccessible. That’s the clear message we took … Read more
Ralph Hartley, Policy Officer, The Poverty Alliance Click here to say Make Green Fair!(opens in new tab) Last week the Scottish Government predicted that the latest rise in everyone’s energy bills will plunge 110,000 more Scots into fuel poverty. This is yet another blow in what has become an enduring crisis of affordability in our … Read more
Living in rural Scotland comes with a hidden, unjust financial penalty that can trap households in hardship. Today, we’re publishing lessons learned from our three-year Taking Action on Rural Poverty project, funded by The Robertson Trust. We look at the ways government and agencies can work to lower the extra costs placed on people in … Read more
Living in rural Scotland comes with a hidden, unjust financial penalty that can trap households in hardship and ‘quiet crisis’, a new report says. The Poverty Alliance has published lessons learned from a three-year project looking at the extra costs placed on people in rural communities when it comes to getting everyday necessities like food, … Read more
One in ten young adults (aged 16-24) in the UK depend on Universal Credit for managing essential living and housing costs. While it is an important lifeline, providing vital financial support at a time when young adults are also often navigating employment, education, and independence, younger people receiving Universal Credit can face multiple barriers to … Read more
Poverty is not solely an economic condition; it is also a violation of human dignity and a cause and consequence of human rights failures. Activists have long-used human rights as a tool to combat oppression. Over the last year, we brought together seven community activists using the action learning methodology to explore and plan action … Read more
One in eight young people aged 16–24 are not in education, employment or training (NEET). Young people in the UK’s lowest-income households are around 3.5 times more likely to be out of work and education than those in the highest. In 2025, 40% of NEET young people were in material deprivation, twice the adult rate, … Read more
How can national partners support local change in rural Scotland? This briefing sets out our experience of helping parents in Aberdeenshire who were concerned about the impact of proposed ‘mothballing’ of nurseries in the county. The parents and local campaigners won in Aberdeenshire, but local anti-poverty campaigning continues. We learned some key lessons to take … Read more
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