TSI Network conference hears from JRF that poverty is a policy choice
In a stark message to the first TSI Network Scotland conference in seven years, Chris Birt, of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation delivered the challenging message that poverty in Scotland was a deliberate policy choice. He argued for instance that Universal Credit was deliberately set at destitution levels of poverty and this inevitably resulted in the increasingly large number of voluntary organisations and social enterprises working with communities and families in crisis. You can view his full presentation here.
The conference was a powerful signal that when TSIs across Scotland work together we can advocate for third sector groups with an even more powerful voice than a solitary TSI. Steven Sweeney, CEO of Voluntary Action South Lanarkshire has launched a new strategy and campaign called ‘Keep the beat alive’ championing the work of the voluntary and social enterprise sectors’ as well as a new data sharing strategy for all Scotland’s TSIs so we can better tell the story of our collective impact.
Lucinda Godfrey of ACOSVO and I led a session on how via distributed leadership models in the voluntary sector we can support each other in sometimes complex partnership arrangements. I provided two positive examples of how Argyll and Bute TSI, working with the voluntary and social enterprise sectors and statutory partners moved the agenda forward on Community Wealth Building and on an innovative co-produced approach to developing preventative Living Well service models.
More details on the conference proceedings here.
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