Beyond Poverty’s Reach

Alison Prowle grew up in the South Wales Valleys during the 1970s and 80s. There, she saw first-hand the impacts of poverty on children’s lives and watched far too many of her peers fall through the gaps in services and fail to meet their potential. This instilled in Alison a passion for working with disadvantaged communities. Her career has spanned teaching, family support, community development and Local Government management, actively seeking out those roles where she felt she could make a difference. Alison is now a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Children and Families at the University of Worcester. She teaches across a range of undergraduate and postgraduate programmes, specialising in early intervention, Adverse Childhood Experiences, human trafficking and forced migration, and strength-based family support. Alison’s current research interests centre around supporting families facing adversity and equipping the children and families’ workforce to develop trauma informed and strength-based practice solutions.Angela Hodgkins has had a varied career in working with children and families, having trained as an NNEB in 1984 and working in a wide variety of settings. Angela is also a qualified and experienced Counsellor, having worked in victim support, GP surgery and Childline. Angela went on to work as a Development Officer for Children with Disabilities and Special Needs and then into teaching adults, first at F.E. colleges and now as a Senior Lecturer at the University of Worcester. She is Course Leader of the BA (Hons) Integrated Working with Children and Families. Angela’s PhD study, entitled “Exploring Early Childhood Practitioners’ perceptions of empathic interactions with children and families” was completed in 2024. Angela’s main research interests are empathy, emotional intelligence, strength-based practice and children’s rights.Rebecca Thomas was formerly Chief of Staff at Save the Children and now works with the UK STC team, focusing on ensuring children have the money, services, and power to end child poverty. With over ten years of experience leading complex programmes, securing significant funding, and building strong partnerships across government, philanthropy, and communities, Rebecca brings a wealth of expertise in child-centred strategy and advocacy. She is passionate about embedding children’s voices and needs at the heart of decision-making, believing that lasting change comes through collaborative efforts that create a fairer, more inclusive future where all children can thrive.

• ForewordAcknowledgementsDedicationList of FiguresList of TablesList of AbbreviationsIntroductionSection 1: Understanding Child Poverty in the UKChapter 1: The Big Picture: Child Poverty in the UK – Alison ProwleChapter 2: Unravelling the Causes of Child Poverty – Rebecca ThomasChapter 3: Examining the Effects of Child Poverty - Angela HodgkinsChapter 4: Approaches to Addressing Child Poverty – Alison ProwleSection 2: Responding to Child Poverty in the UK: A Bio-Ecological Systems ApproachChapter 5: Using the Bio-Ecological Framework for Child Poverty - Angela HodgkinsChapter 6: The Child and Young Person at the Centre - Angela HodgkinsChapter 7: Partnering with Families in the Context of Poverty – Alison ProwleChapter 8: Core Services as Foundations for Reducing Child Poverty – Alison ProwleChapter 9: Working with Communities: Services and Power in Addressing Child Poverty – Rebecca ThomasChapter 10: Policy for Change - a Collective Impact Approach to Child Poverty in the UK – Rebecca ThomasChapter 11: Conclusion – from Understanding to Action – Angela HodgkinsSection 3: Reducing Child Poverty: A Call to ActionChapter 12: A Call to Action for Readers – Alison Prowle, Angela Hodgkins and Rebecca ThomasIndex