A blind Scots dad has told how his life was destroyed by poverty while he was at his most vulnerable.
Derek Kelter says, at his lowest point, he was left with so little he was unable to buy his son a Christmas present.
The 55-year-old, from Motherwell, was left struggling after suffering a brain injury just before his 50th birthday.
He was later made redundant and his marriage broke down.
He had forged a career fighting for disability rights, having been left blind and paralysed at age 15 following a respiratory arrest.
Derek says since his second brain injury, he has been forced into poverty as he has been unable to find work that can accommodate his disability.
Now, the determined dad has shared his story and has signed up as a community activist for The Poverty Alliance.
Derek said: “Poverty destroys everything in your life. A low for me was last Christmas, when I had no money to buy my son a Christmas present.
“The situation we have today is unacceptable. We need to get together to solve it.”
Derek will join thousands of people across Scotland at events in Challenge Poverty Week which runs from today. It aims to highlight the rising tide of poverty and offer solutions.
“We should all be able to live a dignified life but too many people are trapped in poverty. I’m blind and I’ve been locked out of employment since I had a brain injury five years ago.
"It doesn’t have to be this way though. Social security benefits should be enough so that people can live a dignified life and disabled people should be given support to access employment.
Many organisations will launch initiatives like breakfast clubs, employability hubs and concessionary travel.
Peter Kelly, director of The Poverty Alliance, organisers of the week, said: “All across Scotland people are coming together to highlight the problem of poverty and show what we can do to overcome the barriers that lock so many people in it.”
