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”

I added my name to demand real action from the UK government – not just words - to protect civilians and humanitarian workers in Gaza with @dotwuk.bsky.social. 💙 Please take a minute to do the same. petition.doctorsoftheworld.org.uk/page/171651/...

"The school holidays should be a wonderful break, full of memory-making activities, fun, and getting some rest. But instead, it’s a miserable time". A lone parent in 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿shares their experiences of another summer in poverty. 💥 New blog💥: ⬇️ 📝 changingrealities.org/blog/the-mis...

Hot on the heels of the last poem about the strain of the summer holidays on families on low incomes, 🍬Syeda writes about ‘the silent need’ of children for whom the holidays are “A Summer Uneven” ⬇️ 📝 changingrealities.org/blog/a-summe...

Parents on low incomes have been speaking about how the school summer holidays are financially and emotionally draining. 🎪 Changing Realities participant, Kim, uses poetry to express her experiences in ‘The Summer Guilt’ ⬇️ 📝 changingrealities.org/blog/the-sum...

‘How delays in policies hurt families like mine’. In this 💥NEW Changing Realities blog post, Gloria shares how delays to the child poverty strategy affect everyday decisions, like choosing between fresh fruit or bus fare. Read here ⬇️ 📝 changingrealities.org/blog/still-w...

“Good work” … hmmm zero hours, fixed term contracts, insecurity, uncertainty, casualised, low pay, gig work … what is “good work” in 2025 exactly? (Then let’s relook at the connection between work and health).

‘Left behind twice: why cuts to mental health and disability support leave us nowhere to turn’. Nicola P illustrates how “living without a safety net” reinforces a “vicious cycle that no one in government seems willing to break”. New Blog Post ⬇️ 📝 😣 changingrealities.org/blog/left-be...

New government data on the impact of the two child limit: 469,780 households now affected, with 1,665,540 children in those households Almost 40,000 more children affected since last year It's a child poverty machine & it will cost us all more in the long term - get rid of it

🤹 When you’re living on a low income, the school summer holidays can be “filled with dread”. Changing Realities participant, Ella, likens parenting during the summer break to “spinning plates”🤹. New Blog Post here ⬇️ 📝 ☀️ changingrealities.org/blog/summert...

“Everything is already a struggle” - NEW blog post by Changing Realities participant, Arjan, shares the stress of waiting to hear about disability cuts & the prolonged sense of ‘suspension’ & continued uncertainty following the passing of the welfare bill. ⬇️ 📝 changingrealities.org/blog/everyth...

To all who think capitalism can drive progressive change, it won’t – and here’s the shocking proof | Polly Toynbee

📢 We've received new funding from the brilliant ‪@impurbanhealth.bsky.social‬ 💡🏴‍☕ Are you a parent or carer in Lambeth and Southwark, managing life on a low income while raising kids under 19? We would love you to join us: changingrealities.org/get-involved Please share!

"Disability isn’t just about budgets or benefit bills, it’s about the real lives of real people." Changing Realities participant, Beverly, packs a punch sharing her lived experience of chronic illness and the cruelty of cuts to PIP. New blog: ⬇️ 📝 💥 changingrealities.org/blog/cuts-le...

We are delighted to share that Changing Realities has been nominated for a Sheila McKechnie Foundation Award in the 'Amplifying Voices' category! Congratulations to all our participants and the team for this recognition 💛 🎺 🎉 smk.org.uk/awards_nomin...

The ‘Pathways to Work’ health and disability Green Paper is causing concern and distress for many. In a new blog, Lisa considers the shadow it casts on Scottish families and worries how it might affect her own situation. Read Lisa’s blog here: ⬇️ 📝 changingrealities.org/blog/the-gre...