Poverty Proofing© is a consultation method created by Children North East as a powerful tool to identify the barriers children living in poverty face, and to make recommendations on practice and policy to enable equal access to services and opportunities.

We believe systemic change should always be fuelled by the voices of those with lived experience, which is why we work directly with the families affected, faculty and leading experts to identify these barriers and find ways to overcome them. Our dedicated teams work with these voices to create bespoke plans, provide training on what poverty is and how it affects people, and encourage people to rethink and reframe how to tackle poverty.

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Our Young People’s group based at our Benwell Allotment have been working their way through the history books to bring a new installation to the community!

As part of Life of the Wall project, the team explored what life was like at the time of the Romans when Hadrian’s Wall was built – which runs right along the Allotment site now! Our group visited Segedunum Roman Fort in Wallsend, and were joined by experts from Tyne & Wear Museums at our Graingerville location where they learned more about life as a Roman through artefacts and talks.

Visiting the Herb Garden at Segedunum, the group learnt how herbs were used for medicine and cooking, and that many still are today. They’ve now planted their own herb garden at the Allotment with the hope they’ll be able to use them in the future for their own cooking at home!

From the sessions at Great North Museum, our group found a lot of similarities between life in Roman times and nowadays – from architecture, drainage and even fast food! When tasked with designing and building an installation to mark the area, the group wanted to make something which made them think of home – of shared experiences, family, friends, different cultures and the food they shared. This inspired them to build a Pizza Oven in the Allotment which could be used by the wider community, with space for communal gathering nearby and Roman inspired decorations. Trying their hands at mosaic, the group have created designs which have been transferred to paving slabs to form the base, and worked with clay to build the outside of the oven.

This week, we fired up the Pizza Oven with some friends and special guests in a celebration of the group’s incredible work! Bringing out homemade pizza dough, fresh mozzarella and herbs grown in the allotment, the group made their own pizzas and cooked them on site – despite the typical North East summer rain it was a great afternoon and a fantastic way to round off the project! The group are now looking forward to more events and experimenting with what else they can cook in the oven – marshmallows are definitely on the list!

A special thanks to Tyne & Wear Museums, Historic England and local artist Marek Gabrysch for the support with this project.

With the General Election coming up, here’s everything you need to know to make sure you can use your vote and make your voice heard.

On the 4th July 2024, the UK Government will hold a General Election to determine the next Parliamentary body for the UK. Eligible voters will determine who is the MP for their constituency (area of residence in the UK). The party with the most MPs will form a government who will be in charge of making and passing laws, policies and decisions for how the country is run.
If there isn’t a single party which wins more than half of the seats, a group of parties needs to come to an agreement to form a government together, called a coalition.
Each political party will produce a manifesto, a set of policies or promises of what they will do for the country if they are elected, to try to persuade people to vote for them.

Who can vote?

To be eligible to vote you must be;

• Aged 18 or over
• A British citizen, an Irish citizen, or citizen of a Commonwealth country who has the right to live in the UK.
• You can’t vote if you are in prison.
• Registered to vote

For full details refer to the government website.

How to register to vote?

You must be registered to vote by Tuesday 18th June.
If you’ve never registered to vote before, or you’re only just old enough to vote you will need to register to be able to vote at the General Election. If you’ve moved house or changed your name since the last time you voted in an election you’ll need to register again. Visit www.gov.uk/register-to-vote and follow the instructions. You’ll need to provide your National Insurance number and your address.
If you are a student and you have a home address and a University address, you can be registered to vote at both addresses, and you can choose to vote at either address, but you can only vote at one.
If you’re not sure if you’re registered to vote you can check at your local Electoral Registration Office. More information here; https://www.gov.uk/contact-electoral-registration-office

How do I vote?

At a polling station, once you’re registered to vote you’ll receive a polling card telling you which Polling Station to visit. You can vote between 7am and 10pm on the 4th July.
Through a Postal Vote, if you are away or unable to get to your Polling Station make sure you are registered for a Postal Vote by Wednesday 19th June via www.gov.uk/apply-postal-vote
Through a Proxy Vote, which is where someone else votes on your behalf. You must apply for this by Wednesday 26th June here www.gov.uk/apply-proxy-vote with the reason why you want to vote through a proxy. The person voting on your behalf must be registered to vote, be able to provide their own photo ID and be able to vote at the polling station named on your polling card.

You must have one of the below forms of photo ID when you go to the polling station.

• UK passport
• Photocard driving licence
• Driving licences and passports from certain other countries are also accepted, as are national ID cards from some countries, a Blue Badge or PASS card.
• You can use ID that has expired, as long as the photograph still looks like you.

There is a full list of acceptable ID on the government webpage www.gov.uk/how-to-vote/photo-id-youll-need
If you don’t have acceptable photo ID you can apply for a specific photo ID document for voting, called a Voter Authority Certificate. You can do this online, for free and will need to provide your National Insurance number and a recent digital photo of yourself. Register for your Voter Authority Certificate via www.voter-authority-certificate.service.gov.uk/check/registered by Wednesday 26th June.

This summer, our campaign to Get Out & Grow shines a spotlight on the incredible work our youth groups have been involved with, including our Social Action Group who have been looking after their local environments through litter picking and building bug hotels, and our Allotment Group who have been working on a special project with the National Trust and Great North Museum to build their very own pizza oven!

Through these projects we’ve been encouraging children and young people to get in to nature and explore the world around them. The activities have helped improve their mental health, shape team-building and communicative bonds and the sensory developments of children learning new sensations and textures.

Whether you live in a rural area with plenty of green space, or a city with a local park we are encouraging families to spend time together learning about the natural world.

If you would like to join in with the action, we are offering free Seed Grow Pouches to encourage people to Get Out & Grow! These handy pouches are small enough to thrive on a windowsill and will grow bee attracting flowers which can be planted outdoors or in a pot. Teaching children the cycle of seed to sproutlings to full plants, and how these play an important role in our biodiversity. Sign up now to get your free Seed Grow Pouch, and make sure to send us some photos!

Follow along as we #GetOutandGrow!

Maternal Mental Health Awareness Week aims to raise awareness and understanding about mental health problems both during and after pregnancy. The most common form is typically Post Natal Depression, but can also include anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and eating disorders. Started by PMHP UK (Perinatal Mental Health Partnership UK) in 2017, the campaign aims to raise public and professional awareness around these concerns, advocate for families and change attitudes.

At Children North East, we want to ensure every child has the happy, healthy start in life they deserve – and this includes caring for expectant mothers too. We offer a range of welcoming and non-judgemental services to help support parents with their emotional wellbeing, creating a support community and developing essential skills to help them thrive.

“You helped me a lot in my bad time. I will never forget you.  Because of you, I know I have the strength to be a good mother”

Services range from one-on-one professional support through our Therapeutic Practices services, including Little Minds in Mind. This is our parent-infant service to help you and your baby (up to two years old) develop a healthy relationship. We can work with you if you are a mother, father, grandparent, foster carer or adoptive parent.

Our expert and welcoming team will work closely with you and your family to achieve the very best for you, your baby and family. You will work with a specially trained practitioner, who will get to know you and your baby and develop an understanding with you of the difficulties that are affecting your relationship.

“I can’t thank you enough, your support was amazing, just being able to talk openly and honestly without judgement was so helpful.  I felt like a complete failure as a parent but now I feel confident and I am finally enjoying my baby”

We also offer community based support, like Boogie Bairns, Stay & Play and Baby Massage where we encourage families to come together and build their own networks, to one-on-one volunteer support where volunteers are paired with an expectant mother to offer support and guidance.

1 in 5 women experience a perinatal mental health problem

All parents and carers are welcome at our family hub sessions for one to one support or our “preparing for baby” and “baby’s here” group work sessions. Outside factors including previous health issues, lack of support, financial concerns or insecure housing and traumatic experiences, including birth trauma, are all contributing factors to Maternal Mental Health issues and these can affect anyone.

”The sessions have been invaluable, very helpful and have been a sort of ‘Diversional Therapy’. My baby has been engaging and socialising with other babies, and I also learnt new things, and I got clarifications from my worries”

For more information, please contact us on [email protected]