Private firms providing services to NHS made £1.6bn profit in two years, research finds

'Changing childhoods and protecting parents' - our priorities for Scotland's new government after the May elections. 🆕 📣 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 New Changing Realities briefing: 📣 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 ⬇️ www.changingrealities.org/writings/our...

Did you watch Dirty Business? I can't believe how much water companies have gotten away with. They're putting profit before public health - it’s a scandal and the Government MUST take action! Sick of sewage? Add your name to the petition today: you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/en...

"I am desperate to find the positives here. Yes, I want my child educated in a mainstream school. I also want to be able to choose which school that is. A right I will lose under the new system." New blog out 'SEND reform: putting my child last' by Helen: www.changingrealities.org/blog/send-re...

Ella writes about the Schools White paper on SEND: "The fractured relationships between parents and schools are at an all time high; how can we tangibly see and trust that what is being offered will be upheld?" New lived expertise blog post out now: www.changingrealities.org/blog/send-re...

Incredible to see @changingrealities.bsky.social named as one of the @bigissue.com Change Makers. So much more change to be made & no one better to do it with than the over 200 parents we work with and @cpaguk.bsky.social & @lshtm.bsky.social @glasgow.ac.uk

Congratulations to @changingrealities.bsky.social for being named as a @bigissue.com Changemaker - a wonderful recognition of hard work by parents and carers who've been lobbying politicians to eradicate child poverty in the UK.

'Principles for the Schools White Paper' published today - from parents who know exactly what change is needed and why: www.changingrealities.org/writings/pri...

End of working week but this article from @madeleinepower.bsky.socialn is a must-read. A plethora of names to describe 'food aid' conceals the reality they're all experienced as food banks, with the key fault line not *type* of provision but *demographic* factors www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

"As a mother, my heart swelled with pride. But as an advocate, I felt something even deeper: a reassuring reminder that this country still has space for compassion..." Why we [continue to] do this work, a blog by Beauty reflecting on a visit to No.10: www.changingrealities.org/blog/hope-at...

It should be the British public that decide the future of the BBC, not presidents or politicians. Agree? Add your name to the #APeoplesBBC campaign. party.coop/campaign/bbc...

'I will never be sorry for standing my ground and standing up for what I believe is right.' Vital, if hard to read, words from Stacey @changingrealities.bsky.social about why she won't be stopped from speaking out about poverty by trolls www.changingrealities.org/blog/why-i-w...

A year ago today I joined some of the incredible @changingrealities.bsky.social parents at Downing Street who shared what changes are needed to end child poverty - incl why the two-child limit must be scrapped. It’s brilliant to see yesterday’s announcement after so much hard work from so many.

"The removal of the two-child limit brings my family a deep sense of relief. Without the cap hanging over me, I finally feel less weighed down by constant financial worry and more able to make choices that genuinely reflect what each of my boys’ need." (Kim, CR parent) #2CL #Budget 🧵1/3

The two-child limit will go. @nuffieldfoundation.org research by the fab team below showed the limit & the benefit cap didn't meet their behavioural aims & harmed families. Huge thanks to the team & to the families who shared their experiences. Evidence matters: today it seems it was heard.

Sam, a mother of one child, coherently explains why the two child benefit cap must be lifted as part of the upcoming child poverty strategy. Read her opinion piece @bigissue.com @uofgussp.bsky.social www.bigissue.com/opinion/two-...

Only 3% of the UK is common land, compared to 50% four centuries ago. How can we get back our right to roam?

"Children are our future and will help this country thrive and grow, but to do this they must have the best possible start in life that they can have." Read our wonderful blog from Brian on his experience at the House of Lords Child Poverty roundtable 👉 changingrealities.org/blog/hope-on...

Parents and carers of @changingrealities.bsky.social are doing essential work to bring child poverty issues to the public eye as the govt prepare to publish their Child Poverty Strategy. Powerful words from @ruthpatrick0.bsky.social on scrapping the two child limit in this popular substack.

Today, we attended a roundtable at the HoL hosted by Baroness Ruth Lister on the subject of the Child Poverty Strategy. CR participants, inc. Jo & Brian, delivered powerful testimonies, using the space to push for an ambitious Strategy that genuinely confronts the root causes of child poverty. ✊

Our participant James has written an excellent piece for @scotsman.com. ✏️ "The fight for true social justice is long and arduous. But for that hour or so, in that grand room, we were not just the ‘marginalised’ or ‘the beneficiaries’, we were the experts." Read: www.scotsman.com/news/politic...

A couple of weeks ago, CR participant Brian spoke to @newstatesman1913.bsky.social about the continuation of the cost-of-living crisis, which he feels politicians have "completely pushed to one side." Read more: www.newstatesman.com/politics/eco... @uofglasgow.bsky.social @uofgussp.bsky.social

Looking forward to discussing the vital need for improved support for children and young people with send with @theifs.bsky.social @helenmiller.bsky.social & colleagues, drawing on our own recent @changingrealities.bsky.social briefing changingrealities.org/writings/wha...

Fantastic to see the @changingrealities.bsky.social work led by our own @ruthpatrick0.bsky.social cited in this piece 💪

“Peter Mandelson lost his job for being friends with a paedophile. Donald Trump, who was friends with the same paedophile, was given a state banquet hosted by a King whose brother lost his job because he was friends with the same paedophile.“

Jonny from CR spoke on a CPAG panel at the Labour Conference today. As published in @bigissue.com, Jonny says "The most depressing truth about child poverty isn’t how many children are in it, it’s how easy it is for the government to lift so many out." www.bigissue.com/opinion/sing...

A father from CR attended the Labour Conference this week. He reports of "a sense of duty to speak to my own personal experiences in order to bring some emotion – but also some everyday reality – to the urgent challenge of driving record rates of child poverty down". labourlist.org/2025/09/chil...

Bringing emotion and reality to the debate on child poverty: Jonny from Changing Realities at the Labour Party Conference: labourlist.org/2025/09/chil...

Bringing emotion and reality to the debate on child poverty: Jonny from Changing Realities at the Labour Party Conference: labourlist.org/2025/09/chil...

Jonny Roberts is a single parent with two children. He is speaking at a Child Poverty Action Group event at the Labour Party Conference.

Following the meeting, @changingrealities.bsky.social has published a policy note that highlights key principles that it believes the White Paper should include 👇 www.changingrealities.org/writings/wha... With credit to @ruthpatrick0.bsky.social @milliemaglet.bsky.social & Maddy Power 💪

Millions of us are still struggling to access affordable NHS dental care. I’ve signed 38 Degrees’ petition demanding Keir Starmer properly funds NHS dentistry now, will you join me? you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/fu...

Gloria Odhi, a participant of Changing Realities, shared her story with the Scottish first minister with the hope of inspiring change.

“I feel confident and hopeful.” Parents from @changingrealities.bsky.social - led by @ruthpatrick0.bsky.social - met with @johnswinney.bsky.social and @sa4dunfermline.bsky.social for discussions about the Scottish Government's Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan. More: gla.ac/3VGnVH0

Yesterday, Changing Realities parents sat around the table with the First Minister, John Swinney, and Cabinet Secretary, Shirley-Anne Somerville, for vital discussions about the Scottish Government’s Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan.

“You might not expect it from looking at me, but I’ve had the worst 10 years of my life”. Jimbo, a Changing Realities parent living in Scotland has written about Universal Credit reform in a blog called: ‘On speaking out for change’. Read here ⬇️ 📝 changingrealities.org/blog/on-spea...

CONTRIBUTE: The Sociological Review’s #openaccess digital magazine is inviting early career scholars to submit pitches for our #ResearchInsights series. Editors Iris Pissaride & @juliettephd.bsky.social are seeking proposals for our December issue. Pitch deadline is 5 September. 🔎 buff.ly/Q5KZlcJ

Love writing with Tracey Jensen, one of my academic heroines, although a shame that this piece on the need to FINALLY end the two-child limit even needs to be written @csp-journal.bsky.social

Economists are speculating about the likelihood of the Government raising taxes in the Autumn. 📻5 Live interviewed CR participant, Aurora, who says that things are ‘tough, and have been for a while’. Feature begins at 39 mins and you can 👂listen to Aurora from 44:44. 🎧🎤 www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

📻 Changing Realities participant, Aurora, was interviewed by World at One (R4) today to talk about worsening living standards in the UK. She discusses rising costs as a ‘hand to mouth situation’ that doesn’t look to be improving.👂 Listen to Aurora: 10.50 to 14mins. 🎧🎤 www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

The normalisation of privatisation in education, health & other social domains … it should not be ‘normal’ to pursue profit at the expense of a decent, functioning society that cares for children and each other 😱 ⬇️

Millie Light writes of the deep sorrow she feels for anyone who becomes sick or disabled with cancer after the universal credit cuts.

Fantastic blog in @bigissue.com from @changingrealities.bsky.social very own @milliemaglet.bsky.social writing powerfully on how insecurity and universal credit collide www.bigissue.com/opinion/canc... <please read and share>

This piece starkly sets out the fears anyone without a considerable personal safety net has about falling seriously ill or becoming disabled. The cuts to social welfare will make this all too real. Well done @milliemaglet.bsky.social & @bigissue.com

As a research associate on a participatory project, lived experience is valued, carefully held, and entangled with our (researchers') own lives. My blog for Big Issue covers precarious work, ill-health, and Labour's cuts. www.bigissue.com/opinion/canc...

Cuts to the health element of universal credit will push tens of thousands of people into poverty despite the increase in the standard rate.

Germany gave people €1,200/month no strings attached. They kept working, slept better, switched to better jobs, and even gave more to others. Turns out, when people aren’t drowning, they swim further. #UBI doesn’t kill ambition, it frees it.

“Poverty doesn’t end with childhood”. In this 💥new💥 blog, a lone parent records the lasting impact of poverty on his daughter as she enters adulthood. Brian urges the government to make up for the ‘years of neglect’ that has ‘left the poor to get poorer’. ⬇️ 📝 changingrealities.org/blog/child-p...

“Childcare for profit, big profit”