The conference opened with a simple but powerful icebreaker: finding three things in common with a neighbour. What emerged was a shared passion for the North East and for children’s health. As one speaker reminded us, “We must listen non judgementally to lived experience,” setting the tone for a day filled with honesty, urgency and hope.

Hosted by Children North East and the Centre for Population Health, the conference brought partners, practitioners, and young people’s voices together in Newcastle to confront the stark inequalities facing children and families in the region. With 32% of children in Newcastle living in poverty, and life trajectories shaped dramatically by postcode, the event explored what needs to change, and what is already working, to build a healthier future for every child.

The day highlighted the emotional and practical realities for children growing up in deprivation, including powerful video content and personal testimonies and speakers emphasised that without truly hearing children, families and communities, services cannot hope to address inequality.

“If we invest in young people now, it won’t show straight away — but it will in 10 years’ time.”

From the high prevalence of asthma and poor oral health in the region, to the soaring number of school suspensions, speakers outlined the structural issues creating poor outcomes. Prevention was reframed as more than “stopping harm” — it’s about creating environments where babies, children and young people can thrive.

The most powerful moments came from personal stories — a consultant’s account of a mother’s experience of repeated missed hospital appointments because transport failed; young people moved eight times before the age of two; families who cannot read health letters because translations simply don’t exist.

Speakers made clear that children in the North East face deeper health and social inequalities than almost anywhere else in the country. Poverty, unstable housing, school exclusion and inaccessible services are all preventable contributors to poor outcomes. But the event also highlighted opportunity: more joined up working, neighbourhood level solutions, creative community programmes and a renewed commitment to listening to young people.

How Poverty Proofing® can support population health

“Healthy food is two times as expensive as normal food per calorie.”

This point underscores how cost barriers shape everyday choices: when nutritious options are financially out of reach, families are pushed toward cheaper, calorie-dense foods, reinforcing cycles of poor health and inequality. On the day, we delivered breakout sessions on what Poverty Proofing is and why it is so important to break down the barriers so health access is equitable.

“This learning has been an eye-opener. I have new awareness of how poverty can affect people. I hope to explore more about how finding help for my patients and advocate for them.”

“It identifies issues that you may not be aware are present in your organisation and can provide opportunities and suggestions on how best to address them.”

Embedding Poverty Proofing® in practice is a strategic, preventative approach to improving health outcomes and reducing inequalities. So far, Children North East have worked with a range of healthcare services including maternity, paediatric diabetes, CAMHS and community practices.

The day ended with a reminder that children don’t vote, and that makes it our job to put them first. The passion, honesty and courage shared across the conference were a powerful call to hope and collective action. Together, we can create a region where every child has the chance to grow up healthy, safe and supported.

Attending the conference didn’t so much alter my professional outlook as it reaffirmed it. The discussions and lived experiences shared throughout the day strengthened my belief that meaningful change happens when we truly listen, work collaboratively, and challenge the structures that keep families locked in inequality. It reinforced why the principles behind Poverty Proofing® matter so deeply in my day-to-day work, ensuring that every decision, practice and policy is shaped with children’s realities at the centre.

To find out more about Poverty Proofing Healthcare;

Email: [email protected]

Call: 0191 256 2444

Guest blog by Eva Thwaite, Poverty Proofing® Support Worker

Children North East welcomes today’s announcement from Rachel Reeves that the two-child limit benefit scheme will be scrapped from April 2026.

This is a moment worth celebrating. After years of tireless campaigning, today’s decision represents hope, fairness, and progress for families across the country. It is a testament to the power of collective action and the voices of those who have stood together to challenge injustice. We celebrate alongside the families who will finally see change, and with our partners who have worked relentlessly to make this possible including those from End Child Poverty and North East Child Poverty Commission.

This is a significant step forward that will lift 350,000 children out of poverty, including around 19,500 families in the North East. For over a decade, this policy has forced families into hardship, and we have campaigned endlessly alongside End Child Poverty and the North East Child Poverty Commission to bring it to an end.

Removing the limit means families will finally have more money in their pockets – enabling them to provide fairer opportunities for their babies, children and young people, it will enable them to spend more time together, and access experiences such as after-school clubs that were previously out of reach. We know too well how poverty contributes to long-term health problems, stress, relationship breakdowns, and mental health challenges. Ensuring families receive this for each of their children will help level the playing field and allow all children to thrive.

This decision offers a moment of relief and hope, but our fight to end child poverty continues. We now look to the forthcoming National Child Poverty Strategy to set out the government’s long-term plan to ensure that every baby, child, and young person can grow up happy, healthy, and free from the barriers of poverty.

We are proud to share that, as of November 2025, our Poverty Proofing® work is officially recognised as a trademarked methodology. This is a landmark achievement in our journey, acknowledging the profound impact of our commitment to removing barriers created by poverty across the communities and settings we work with. 

Since 2011, we have developed and refined our Poverty Proofing the School Day model, which has since expanded to encompass healthcare, early years, and arts and culture. At its core, Poverty Proofing ensures that spaces and their users are shielded from the effects of poverty, that hidden barriers are identified, and that everyone involved gains a deeper understanding of what poverty is and how it can be addressed. While we recognise that poverty is a systemic issue that cannot be solved by any single space or individual, our work focuses on reducing its impact on babies, children, young people, and their families. 

Trademark recognition means that every individual, organisation, or setting we have partnered with carries a stamp of legitimacy and impact. It signifies not only collaboration with us and the application of our expertise, but also that the work created together is recognised more widely as meaningful and effective. 

The trademarking of Poverty Proofing is more than a legal milestone – it is a powerful affirmation of the value, integrity, and legitimacy of our methodology. It ensures that the framework we have built over more than a decade is protected, respected, and continues to grow as a trusted approach to tackling the effects of poverty. 

This achievement strengthens our commitment to working alongside schools, healthcare providers, cultural organisations, and communities to uncover hidden barriers and create environments where everyone can thrive. Poverty Proofing is now more than a practice; it is a recognised standard of excellence, a symbol of collaboration, and powerful ethos and a promise that together we can reduce the impact of poverty on children, families, and communities. 

We have officially opened the doors on our first ever flagship shop – a milestone moment in our 134-year history!

Children North East have worked since 1891 to provide generations of support for babies, children and young people to grow up happy and healthy across the North East. Providing essential services like mental health counselling, support for families in crisis, and safe spaces that help children overcome obstacles and thrive.  

This October, we opened the doors on the newest venture, a two-storey shop stocking clothing, footwear, accessories, toys, books and games, with a dedicated children’s section, there’s something for everyone! Every donation and purchase will fund programmes and initiatives that provide meaningful change for the next generation. 

Our Chief Executive, Leigh Elliott said “This is such an incredible moment for the charity, and one we’ve been looking forward to for some time. Thanks to the dedication and commitment of our wonderful staff and supporters, we’ve been able to create this beautiful shop space and become part of Morpeth’s vibrant retail community. Our work supporting babies, children, young people and their families is so important for the region, and we’re looking forward to building our legacy through this new fundraising stream.” 

The grand opening event welcomed trustees, stakeholders and members of the public for a day of celebration, connection, and community spirit. The day began with a private showing of the new retail space, followed by a lively Sip & Shop launch featuring premium mocktails, exclusive discounts, and a raffle prize draw. 

The shop is located on Bridge Street and is open Tuesday to Saturday from 10am – 4pm. We are accepting donations during open hours, and the staff are excited to meet the public and local community. If you’re interested in Volunteering opportunities, contact the team on [email protected] or visit Our Flagship Shop

Our Chief Executive recently set out the case for ending the two-child limit From the CEO: Why we must end the cruel two-child limit. That’s why, along with over 100 organisations in the North East, we signed a letter, coordinated by the North East Child Poverty Commission, calling for the end of this cruel policy – Every child deserves an equal chance in life.

Like all organisations campaigning for ending this policy we had hoped that the Prime Minister would have announced its removal at last week’s Labour Party conference, especially given both the candidates for the Deputy Leadership have signalled their strong support for this position and that child poverty was given a prominent mention.

Now it seems like we must wait for the budget on 26th November or the publication of the national child poverty strategy.

We want to restate our position that the two-child limit must end, and that Government must set a timetable for this to be implemented as soon as possible. It is the single biggest action that any Government could take to lift children out of poverty and so must be at the heart of the budget and the national strategy for a Government serious about eliminating child poverty.

Any broad commitment to scrap the limit is of little comfort to those families struggling right now, who will be worrying about going into the winter with energy costs rising.

Similarly, any compromise to limit changes such as a three-child limit, would clearly be better for some families but ignore the considerable evidence of the impact scrapping the limit would make, it would be the worst kind of politics to compromise on.

The limit must go, in full, and as soon as possible.

Anything else continues to let our children down.

Our Poverty Proofing Culture team work to support culture venues be more inclusive and accessible to everyone, allowing equal opportunities for children and young people to thrive. This blog piece, by guest writer Susan, highlights one mum’s experience of feeling excluded from a culture venue. When any new policies are bought in, often it’s those on low income who feel the effects the most – even if the new rules are not specifically about costs. We’re working to ensure every space feels accessible and inclusive to anyone visiting, helping to shift the culture of culture settings. 

The arts, culture and heritage sector have historically struggled to engage people from “non-traditional” audiences; people on low incomes and from working class communities feeling these experiences are “not for them”. Some brilliant work has been done in recent years to identify and remove barriers and widen participation and accessibility of venues and opportunities. But is there a risk that, when the ‘next big thing’ comes along, all this progress will be lost?

Step forward Martyn’s Law. A new law that requires public venues and events to improve their security and implement proportionate security measures.

This vitally important new piece of legislation should keep people safer at major events and venues. It received royal assent in the spring, but with a minimum two-year implementation period, and statutory guidance yet to be published.

Nonetheless some organisations are keen to get ahead of the game. But hasty implementation could easily lead to them alienating the very audiences venues are trying to include.

Engagement with people less inclined to access cultural venues consistently shows it is not just cost that prevents participation, but the “culture” of culture itself – the fear of not knowing the rules or how to behave, of facing stigma and disapproval of staff. This was precisely my recent experience at a venue in the North East.

In implementing Martyn’s Law, the venue in question has deemed a particular category of bag an inherent security risk and subject them to an outright ban. Naturally this is the exact type of bag I use on a day-to-day basis, for completely practical reasons, to carry all the bits and pieces I invariably need when out and about with my gaggle of small children.

But here is the problem – I had absolutely no idea that this policy had been brought in, despite weekly visits to the building over the last year, receiving countless emails and following their social media. Moreover, the zealous implementation of the new policy wasn’t at a sold-out, high-profile event, but a Sunday afternoon kids showcase, the audience mostly made up of frazzled parents who had spent the last hour and a half waiting around, in the heat, trying to keep small children contained, over lunchtime.

My experience was horrible. I was completely blindsided when security told me I wasn’t allowed in because of my bag, initially totally confused before rapidly spiralling into blind panic. I didn’t know where the cloakroom was. I didn’t even know there was one. The show was about to start. Did I have time to get back before they closed the doors? I didn’t have pockets. Where would I put my things? The tickets were on my phone. Where would I put my phone? I was going to miss the show. I felt like a bad person. A bad parent.

For the venue I was a problem to be managed. Ultimately another security person appeared and took my bag. I was allowed to watch the show but couldn’t concentrate, adrenaline racing, fight or flight in overdrive, panicking about whether I would get my things back, my mind playing through every possible scenario of what might happen if I didn’t. I felt publicly humiliated, shamed, embarrassed and stigmatised – and came away feeling that ultimately this space is not for “people like me”, with my chaotic young family and the bag I use to carry all their things in.

Martyn’s Law implementation will be important in the coming months. And there will be other legislation and policy in the future that will require a response. So how do venues not lose sight of best practice around inclusion while implementing new policies?

All policies should be formed through a pro-inclusion lens, considering all audiences, not just traditional ones, and how proposed measures might impact them: do proposed solutions reflect unconscious bias? Proportionality needs to be at the heart of this.

Communication should be front and centre. A policy buried in the annals of a website and oblique email reference in tiny font is too easy to miss. It should be clear, bold, direct information – on the homepage, highlighted in emails, profiled on social media.

And staff need to be trained not just to enforce policy but to treat people as humans, offering as much help, reassurance and kindness as they can so when mistakes are made, solutions can be found without shame or embarrassment.

Getting these things right matters, and I sincerely hope the rollout of Martyn’s Law – or any other future policy doesn’t result in the arts and culture sector going backwards in terms of inclusive practice because something else is now flavour of the month.