Lisa Weylandt

We were grateful to attend today's summit to share our expertise and to give feedback on what community engagement should look like.

Key is investment in building trusting relationships, listening to and understanding children and young people and doing with and not to.

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@includem.bsky.social Young Person's Fund has become an invaluable part of the support we provide to children, young people and families across the country.

Watch my wonderful colleague Nicola speak about this in a bit more detail and support us if you can 🙏

Excellent morning with @povertyalliance.org discussing how Whole Family Support can help us tackle child poverty, and the actions we need in the next Child Poverty Delivery Plan to achieve this! @includem.bsky.social

This morning I had the pleasure of attending a meeting with the First Minister’s Policy Unit alongside colleagues from the @endchildpoverty.bsky.social coalition in Scotland to discuss priority actions to tackle child poverty! So much commitment and passion in one room 💪🏼

@includem.bsky.social

Today we launch our new report - Beyond the Budget.

We’re asking both the Scottish and UK governments to think long term when it comes to making decision that affects families lives.

Forever grateful to the young people and families who contributed and to my team!

#BeyondTheBudget

Following the Chancellor's announcements made in today's Spring Statement we are gravely concerned for the families we support. Families are already struggling, and the announced changes will have a catastrophic impact on them. Recent analysis already shows that the Government's announcements on welfare will not only make families worse off but will also push 50,000 children into poverty. We remain deeply worried over the impact (or lack of) of the upcoming Child Poverty Strategy and the difference, if any, it will make as a result of the Government’s approach to families in need.”

Our response to the Spring Statement 👇

Following today’s launch, read our press release 👇

Journalists: My DMs are open and happy to chat!

#BeyondTheBudget #includemTL

@lisa-includem.bsky.social @includem.bsky.social

The response from Joseph Howes, the Chair of the End Child Poverty Coalition, which reads; “Today’s Spring Statement will cause further hardship for disabled people, which includes families with children. This government came to power with a commitment to significantly reduce the numbers of children living in poverty. Yet, today’s announcement, combined with the recent proposed cuts to disability payments – will likely pull more families into hardship. “The government’s planned Child Poverty Strategy, to be published in spring, will now need to mitigate the impact of these cuts to families - before putting in place further measures, to have any chance of addressing the already record high numbers of children in poverty.” The image also features the Coalition logo, and a placard with the words 'MPs Must End Child Poverty Now.

Here is our response to the Chancellor's Spring Statement

It’s great that the Minister agrees that charities are essential and with yesterday’s announcement they will become even more a safety net for people across the UK.

But they cannot ignore the fact that eNICS is a significant harm to the sector.

#SaveOurSector

Following Workshops discussing legislative reform and how policies contribute to trapping families in cycles of debt it’s now time to hear from Shirley-Anne Somerville MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice & Politicians Panel facilitated by Kezia Dugdale

#childpoverty #publicsectordebt

Looking forward to today’s event with @aberlourcharity.bsky.social on Child Poverty and the Public Debt Crisis.

Pertinent discussion and something we heard a lot about during @includem.bsky.social’s most recent engagement with families about the rising cost of living.

#BTB #includemTL

Chancellor set to cut welfare spending by billions Cuts to areas including welfare will be put to the official forecaster ahead of the Spring Statement.

At a time when the UK Government is claiming to prioritise tackling child poverty, and developing a child poverty strategy, cutting welfare spending undermines this commitment. 1/2

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

“This is research that goes underneath the statistics”
Looking forward to hearing more about this important work commissioned by @shelterscotland.bsky.social
@includem.bsky.social

Thank you to Douglas Ross MSP and Pauline McIntyre from the Education, Children and Young People committee for meeting with us today!

@lisa-includem.bsky.social

We had a great meeting with Douglas Ross MSP this afternoon at the Scottish Parliament, amplifying the voices of children and young people across Scotland.

We’re delighted that he will be writing for our next edition of #URSPACE so be sure to check it out when it launches in the coming months! 👀

This afternoon The Scottish Government was debating 'Tackling Child Poverty and Inequality Through the Scottish Budget'

We felt it's important to reflect on a blog from our Transforming Lives campaign.

Read the full article below ⬇️
includem.org/news/challenging-poverty-at-includem/

A fantastic couple of days down in Westminster with @lisa-includem.bsky.social and David amplifying the voices of the children, young people and families we support at @includem.bsky.social across various constituencies in Scotland.

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It's time for Part Two of our look back at our #TransformingLives campaign and this time, we're reflecting on our influence and engagement work!

Our third and final part is #comingsoon

@includemmartyn.bsky.social @lisa-includem.bsky.social @johnincludem.bsky.social

#includemTL

YouTube video by includem Transforming Lives Recap - The Final Part

It's time for the final part of our look back at our #TransformingLives campaign!

We hope you have enjoyed our reflections over the last few days.

➡️ youtube.com/shorts/yG8dG...

COMING SOON: #TransformingLives 2.0

@includemmartyn.bsky.social @lisa-includem.bsky.social @johnincludem.bsky.social

We are delighted that from 2026 the Scottish Government will scrap the two-child benefit cap here in Scotland, a move that could lift 10,000 children out of poverty.

Read the full comment from our Chief Executive Martin Dorchester below ⬇️
includem.org/news/comment...

I just can’t seem to escape the camera 🤣 All for a good cause though!

Watch this space
@includem.bsky.social

Catch up and planning with @lisa-includem.bsky.social - some really exciting stuff coming from my team over the next few weeks and months!

@includem.bsky.social