Tackling Poverty Locally Directory
Welcome to the Directory
The Tackling Poverty Locally Online Directory is managed by the Scottish Poverty and Inequality Research Unit (SPIRU) at Glasgow Caledonian University, initially supported by funding from the abrdn Financial Fairness Trust, and now supported by the Scottish Government.
Find your project
Search filters
How to use the Directory
There are multiple ways to use the Directory. You can:
- Enter a keyword in the "Find your project" search box above. This helps you to find projects with a specific focus – for example, food, benefits, or employment.
- Use one of our eight filters that allow you to search by categories, including the way in which poverty is tackled (poverty driver), the type of impact on poverty (such as mitigation or prevention), cost, and location.
- Browse all case studies by selecting the Search button, which can be accessed when you activate the search filters
Latest additions
Within the last few weeks we have added case studies on, The Milton Food Hub- a North Glasgow food initiative and community garden, Love in a Box, Clackmannanshire (LIAB) - a Community-Based Christmas Gift Programme for Clackmannanshire Families in Need, and Gordon Rural Action - tackling rural poverty with community-led advice and support.
The need for a Directory of local practice
The Directory provides a searchable database of local anti-poverty initiatives from communities across Scotland and beyond. Content is peer-reviewed and designed to inform policymakers, service users and practitioners. The Directory ensures that lessons learned are shared and readily available to inform and inspire new local initiatives.
What is in the Directory?
It already profiles a wide range of local anti-poverty work being undertaken across Scotland and beyond. New content is added most weeks.
What information is provided on each project?
The landing page for each project provides essential information, including an assessment of ‘what difference it makes’ and key learning points. This summary content can be downloaded as a PDF file. More detailed information is also provided, including links to external sources of information about the project, and a list of related content in the SPIRU Directory. Perhaps the most useful information is our ‘How-to’ Guide. This provides information useful to anyone interested in adopting or adapting the initiative in their area. The How-to Guide can also be downloaded as a PDF file.
The importance of local action to tackle poverty
Poverty cannot be eradicated by local action alone. And what works in one community might not necessarily work elsewhere. However, local action can be impactful. This Directory aims to share the experience and advice of those who have been tackling poverty locally.
How our quality-assured content is generated
Each case study has been quality assured by SPIRU and independently peer-reviewed by one practitioner and one researcher. Organisations can either draft their own case study or a SPIRU researcher can interview a case study contact and prepare the entry.
A dynamic resource – an explanation of how our classification scheme works
New local actions to tackle poverty are emerging all the time. We aim to share examples of local initiatives at different stages in their development.
- Pilot projects or tests of change (time-limited projects introduced with a view to be mainstreamed at a later date if they prove successful)
Work that organisations have committed to introducing
- Might start off as a good idea ("emerging practice").
- Might begin to show early signs of positive impact ("promising practice").
- Might be ones that have become part of regular business (“established practice”).
- Some established projects may have more substantial evidence of impact that has been verified by independent evaluation ("fully validated").
- This may lead to the Project being replicated elsewhere by other organisations ("fully validated and adopted").
Would you like to become a peer reviewer?
We warmly welcome offers from practitioners and researchers to review new case study content. Please contact us at: SPIRU@gcu.ac.uk
Suggestions for new case study content
We warmly welcome suggestions and offers for new case study content. Please contact us to recommend new cases - SPIRU@gcu.ac.uk