Shirley-Anne Somerville, cabinet secretary for social justice, visited Irvine Royal Academy yesterday to speak to staff from council services that work hard to help make life better for families.

Ms Somerville was welcomed to the school by council leader Marie Burns; depute leader Shaun Macaulay; North Ayrshire Young People’s Champion, Councillor Chloe Robertson and executive director for education, Sam Anson.

She met with headteacher Linzie Sloan and members of her leadership team to hear about the impactful work that is being carried out at the school to ensure financial constraints are not a barrier to children thriving.

The cost of the school day is made affordable for families through projects including the Royal Resources Shop - a community shop offering free uniforms and food - and the free badge service, which sees school badges being pressed onto pre-loved uniforms.

Ms Sloan said: “We believe that every child deserves the opportunity to fully engage in their education and thrive, regardless of their family’s financial circumstances.

“We are committed to removing stigma around the cost of the school day, and to working with families to ensure every pupil can succeed and enjoy as many experiences as possible.

“It was a pleasure to welcome the Social Justice Secretary to our school and explain what we do, often in partnership with charities and community groups, to make school life affordable and manageable for everyone.”

Scottish Government funding, including the Child Poverty Accelerator Fund and the Fairer Futures Partnership, supports programmes that are in place to help tackle child poverty.

Marie Burns, leader of North Ayrshire Council, added: “I would like to thank the Social Justice Secretary for visiting Irvine to hear about some of the fantastic work that is being done by council services and our partners to help mitigate the impact of poverty on families across North Ayrshire. As a local authority, one of our main priorities is well-being and, within this, reducing the number of children living in poverty is paramount.”

Sally Turner and Nicola Slavin represented We Work For Families, which is a Council-funded service in Ardrossan that supports parents into work in partnership with the Council’s employability team.

They were joined by parents Cheryl Moore and Margaret Bowles, who credit the team for changing their families’ lives by helping to boost their confidence, gain qualifications and find well-paid jobs they enjoy.

Welfare Rights Officers, who work within the North Ayrshire Health and Social Care Partnership’s Money Matters team, explained how they ensure parents are accessing welfare benefits they are entitled to.

Having a Welfare Rights Office in secondary schools to offer parents and carers free, impartial and confidential benefits advice led to more than £1 million going into families’ bank accounts between 2021 and 2023.

Gillian Slaven, service manager at Girdle Toll Out of School Care, explained how the after-school care and breakfast club services she runs in Irvine and Stevenston support local families.

She shared her experiences of some of the challenges the sector faces while acknowledging the positive support she receives from the council to provide care to more than 100 school children.

Ms Somerville added: “Eradicating child poverty is this Government’s top priority and our national mission, so I was really pleased to have the chance to see some of the really creative approaches which have been put into place at Irvine Royal Academy, including the pupils’ work on the cost of the school day and the actions to help parents find work and maximise their incomes.

“This is exactly the kind of innovation we are looking to support and that is why our recent budget doubles the funding for our Fairer Futures Partnerships to £6 million, to help test how we can improve and expand the provision of holistic, wrap around support for families like that being provided in North Ayrshire.

“I am grateful to North Ayrshire Council and its partners for their support to tackle child poverty and in helping us deliver our whole family support commitments through the range of Tackling Child Poverty initiatives they are delivering.”