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
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
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
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
Our Taking Action on Rural Poverty project was set up to explore the extra barriers that people in rural areas face when it comes to reducing poverty and inequality. We often hear from rural organisations that they struggle to attract funding for anti-poverty work. As part of a networking and learning event themed around funding, … Read more
Budgets reflect the choices and priorities of our Governments. Our political leaders have a responsibility to use them to build an economy and society in which all people the income necessary to live in decency and dignity. In October 2025, thousands of people from across Scotland took to the streets of Edinburgh in the Scotland … Read more
Click here to read the briefing in full Budgets reflect the choices and priorities of our governments. Each day, 109 children are pushed into poverty by the two-child limit. At the upcoming Budget, the Chancellor has a chance to change this. Scrapping this unjust policy would be a decisive step toward improving children’s opportunities and … Read more
Poverty Alliance and ALIenergy are working together to learn about how people on low incomes can be protected as Scotland transitions to renewable heating to tackle climate change. Our project is developing better information and resources to help people in rural areas make energy savings through retrofit and green energy installation. ALIenergy shared this case … Read more
It’s time to build a fairer, greener Scotland, free from poverty. We are calling on the Scottish Government to deliver a just and compassionate policy prospectus that puts people first. Our briefing shows how the Scottish Government can take substantive action to ensure Scotland is a place where we all have: an adequate income to … Read more
Our social security system is a public service and a basic human right that should secure the wellbeing of everyone in society. However, rather than preventing and reducing poverty, it too-often makes it more difficult for people to stay afloat. So it is deeply concerning that the UK Government has announced a series of unjust … Read more
Enter your email address to receive regular e-updates about our work. If at any time you want to stop receiving these, simply contact us. We’ll keep your details safe and won’t share them with any other organisations for their marketing purposes. For full details see our Privacy Policy.