[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":116},["Reactive",2],{"post:the-2026-holyrood-elections-loom-large":3},{"_id":4,"authors":5,"body":12,"categories":7,"imageCredit":96,"imageUrl":97,"parent":7,"plainTextBody":98,"publishedAt":99,"slug":100,"submenuItems":102,"subtitle":7,"title":115},"dfdeb3f3-d5d3-4b53-8c11-ce3caa61d78a",[6],{"image":7,"name":8,"organisation":7,"slug":9},null,"Sahar",{"_type":10,"current":11},"slug","sahar",[13,24,32,40,48,56,64,72,80],{"_key":14,"_type":15,"children":16,"markDefs":22,"style":23},"91fea7f8f6ba","block",[17],{"_key":18,"_type":19,"marks":20,"text":21},"94fa2bf86726","span",[],"Last week, I attended The Poverty Alliance’s Scottish Election hustings in Glasgow, representing the Changing Realities collective. The hustings was a chance to ask party representatives questions about their political priorities in the lead up to the Holyrood elections in May. There were candidates from six different parties present: Scottish National Party (SNP), Scottish Greens, Scottish Labour, Scottish Liberal Democrats, Scottish Conservatives and Reform.",[],"normal",{"_key":25,"_type":15,"children":26,"markDefs":31,"style":23},"267bdb75f27e",[27],{"_key":28,"_type":19,"marks":29,"text":30},"6f46a44fe9de",[],"This was the very first time that I have attended an election husting and seen all of the different political parties in one place. It was interesting to hear about their differing policy angles; they had very different perspectives and solutions to the same problems, such as child poverty. It helped me in trying to understand where they are coming from, and how they are shaping their respective political strategies.",[],{"_key":33,"_type":15,"children":34,"markDefs":39,"style":23},"2334dffdb844",[35],{"_key":36,"_type":19,"marks":37,"text":38},"54a7bbb3fda3",[],"In general, I have some very big feelings about the coming election. I feel very uncertain about what is going to happen next in Scotland and who will come into power, which is also causing feelings of confusion and worry for me and others around me.",[],{"_key":41,"_type":15,"children":42,"markDefs":47,"style":23},"95265f544afb",[43],{"_key":44,"_type":19,"marks":45,"text":46},"8c0dfe15af27",[],"A fellow Changing Realities participant asked the panel a question about how they plan to tackle child poverty in the next parliamentary term, given that the government is currently not meeting their 2030 targets. Child poverty in Scotland continues to impact millions of families across the country. All the different parties presented very different perspectives on how to tackle poverty. Some candidates were clearly approaching this from a grassroots level, thinking about the role of communities and the charity sector. Some candidates made it clear that there was more that could be done – recognising there needs to be a holistic approach to child poverty that considers the whole family and not just the child. It is also the home, it is education, it is income.",[],{"_key":49,"_type":15,"children":50,"markDefs":55,"style":23},"543ee1d8d824",[51],{"_key":52,"_type":19,"marks":53,"text":54},"aca2a68f4b3d",[],"To me, it seems like some parties are taking the issue of child poverty very seriously, genuinely looking for different ways to do things so that all families across Scotland can thrive. For other parties, it was clearly not their priority; not even on their agenda. The candidates were certainly not on one page about this issue, they were going back and forth on different positions and placing child poverty at different priority levels.",[],{"_key":57,"_type":15,"children":58,"markDefs":63,"style":23},"d077d2fc4bda",[59],{"_key":60,"_type":19,"marks":61,"text":62},"a3ad10e42287",[],"The room felt positive and hopeful, with lots of people asking questions around topics including: energy bills, global conflict, the wellbeing economy and housing. Again, there was a huge variety in answers. At points, the candidates could not provide full answers because their manifestos had not yet been published.",[],{"_key":65,"_type":15,"children":66,"markDefs":71,"style":23},"b9585ab39a6a",[67],{"_key":68,"_type":19,"marks":69,"text":70},"e6515cbbc17e",[],"For me, the missing part of the puzzle was children’s mental health. This was not mentioned in any of the panel’s answers around child poverty and family wellbeing. There was no focus on kids with Additional Support Needs (ASN), on how their families can be included and what their families need. This is an issue that personally affects me and my family. It feels like politicians across the board have no idea how challenging the situation is, particularly the long, arduous wait for a diagnosis. They don’t seem to be aware of how many different doors a diagnosis can open for children moving through the system. A diagnosis can open doors to occupational therapy, counselling, speech and language therapy and more. But instead, kids are expected to deal with their trauma, to live with it.",[],{"_key":73,"_type":15,"children":74,"markDefs":79,"style":23},"cc85db7c5ba4",[75],{"_key":76,"_type":19,"marks":77,"text":78},"e780b7f9c52f",[],"For the next government, whoever that might be, we want them to look at child poverty very closely. For them to gain a really understanding of the cause, the effect, the impact. No child should be limited, and no family should have to raise their children without access to the basic necessities.",[],{"_key":81,"_type":15,"children":82,"markDefs":92,"style":23},"e27231fc1592",[83,87],{"_key":84,"_type":19,"marks":85,"text":86},"781bec53ee9d",[],"Please read Changing Realities demands for Scotland’s next government here: ",{"_key":88,"_type":19,"marks":89,"text":91},"c3caf25f79d2",[90],"89150f0beb5c","changingrealities.org/writings/our-priorities-for-scotland-s-new-government-changing-childhoods-and-protecting-parents",[93],{"_key":90,"_type":94,"href":95},"link","https://changingrealities.org/writings/our-priorities-for-scotland-s-new-government-changing-childhoods-and-protecting-parents","Lily (CR researcher)","https://cdn.sanity.io/images/brhp578m/production/8564749ce64986d757414022f7985841e1b1d968-1440x1920.jpg","Last week, I attended The Poverty Alliance’s Scottish Election hustings in Glasgow, representing the Changing Realities collective. The hustings was a chance to ask party representatives questions about their political priorities in the lead up to the Holyrood elections in May. There were candidates from six different parties present: Scottish National Party (SNP), Scottish Greens, Scottish Labour, Scottish Liberal Democrats, Scottish Conservatives and Reform.\n\nThis was the very first time that I have attended an election husting and seen all of the different political parties in one place. It was interesting to hear about their differing policy angles; they had very different perspectives and solutions to the same problems, such as child poverty. It helped me in trying to understand where they are coming from, and how they are shaping their respective political strategies.\n\nIn general, I have some very big feelings about the coming election. I feel very uncertain about what is going to happen next in Scotland and who will come into power, which is also causing feelings of confusion and worry for me and others around me.\n\nA fellow Changing Realities participant asked the panel a question about how they plan to tackle child poverty in the next parliamentary term, given that the government is currently not meeting their 2030 targets. Child poverty in Scotland continues to impact millions of families across the country. All the different parties presented very different perspectives on how to tackle poverty. Some candidates were clearly approaching this from a grassroots level, thinking about the role of communities and the charity sector. Some candidates made it clear that there was more that could be done – recognising there needs to be a holistic approach to child poverty that considers the whole family and not just the child. It is also the home, it is education, it is income.\n\nTo me, it seems like some parties are taking the issue of child poverty very seriously, genuinely looking for different ways to do things so that all families across Scotland can thrive. For other parties, it was clearly not their priority; not even on their agenda. The candidates were certainly not on one page about this issue, they were going back and forth on different positions and placing child poverty at different priority levels.\n\nThe room felt positive and hopeful, with lots of people asking questions around topics including: energy bills, global conflict, the wellbeing economy and housing. Again, there was a huge variety in answers. At points, the candidates could not provide full answers because their manifestos had not yet been published.\n\nFor me, the missing part of the puzzle was children’s mental health. This was not mentioned in any of the panel’s answers around child poverty and family wellbeing. There was no focus on kids with Additional Support Needs (ASN), on how their families can be included and what their families need. This is an issue that personally affects me and my family. It feels like politicians across the board have no idea how challenging the situation is, particularly the long, arduous wait for a diagnosis. They don’t seem to be aware of how many different doors a diagnosis can open for children moving through the system. A diagnosis can open doors to occupational therapy, counselling, speech and language therapy and more. But instead, kids are expected to deal with their trauma, to live with it.\n\nFor the next government, whoever that might be, we want them to look at child poverty very closely. For them to gain a really understanding of the cause, the effect, the impact. No child should be limited, and no family should have to raise their children without access to the basic necessities.\n\nPlease read Changing Realities demands for Scotland’s next government here: changingrealities.org/writings/our-priorities-for-scotland-s-new-government-changing-childhoods-and-protecting-parents","2026-04-13T10:13:00.000Z",{"_type":10,"current":101},"the-2026-holyrood-elections-loom-large",[103,106,109,112],{"path":104,"title":105},"/blog","Blog",{"path":107,"title":108},"/our-work","See our work",{"path":110,"title":111},"/write-ups","Write-ups",{"path":113,"title":114},"/zines","Our zines","The 2026 Holyrood Elections Loom Large ",1780658774932]