“She felt that she had to look after me and protect me.” This is how Christina, a mother with a severe disability, described her daughter’s reaction to a recent family crisis. Faced with threats of eviction, Christina was considering going back to her abusive husband. But advice provided by the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) led to a transformation. After Christina’s housing benefit was reinstated, and her daughter was signed up for free school meals, the child’s sleeping problems eased and she became “much happier”.
The welfare advice service that helped them ran in 11 London primary schools last year. It is characteristic of the approach of CPAG, whose first press release was issued along with a letter to the prime minister, Harold Wilson, 55 years ago on Wednesday. CPAG seeks not only to alleviate but also to end child poverty, emphasising solutions, including social security reform, with a strong focus on evidence and rights. That is why, at the end of a year that has seen the number of children in poverty rise by 120,000, the Guardian and Observer chose CPAG as one of three beneficiaries of our 2020 charity appeal.
One of this year’s other charities, UK Youth, has an even longer history: its work as a nationwide youth work movement dates back to 1911. Youth services suffered some of the deepest cuts in the public sector during a decade of austerity: 70%, according to a recent report by the Conservative MP Danny Kruger. The Guardian believes that youth work should be placed on a statutory footing so that councils are obliged to fund it, as they are libraries and social care. Its chronic neglect is a dismal indication of the low priority accorded to the needs of children, and particularly teenagers, by policymakers and society at large. Despite this, projects such as Multiple, which saw young people in Birkenhead, Merseyside, take over a community farm in the summer, still manage to provide much-needed opportunities and experience. That is in part due to the generosity of donors. We hope readers will be inspired by stories such as this one to give generously as well.
YoungMinds, our third charity, is dedicated to an aspect of young people’s lives that has been a source of growing concern over recent years: mental health. With practical tools such as a parents’ helpline, and strong emphasis on prevention and support, we believe YoungMinds has a vital role to play in championing the importance of psychological wellbeing to every child and young person. As Covid restrictions ease, previously hidden problems are expected to emerge, with a recent survey of health visitors suggesting that the neglect of the youngest babies and children has risen along with perinatal mental illness and parental anxiety. Increased numbers of young people struggling with eating and sleeping disorders, and a rise in self-harm have also been linked to the pandemic.
Thousands of Guardian and Observer readers have already donated, including hundreds who took part in our telethon on Saturday; we have raised more than £700,000. We know 2020 has been an enormously challenging year and that many of our readers have themselves experienced hardships including illness and bereavement. Children have been less directly affected than some other groups by Covid-19, which is mostly not such a dangerous illness for them as for older people. But in other ways the pandemic has hit them very hard.
The loss of nursery and schooling, the stress of disrupted exams, the chaotic situation at universities, combined with the impact on family finances and mental health, mean that many young people are in need of support. Poorer children and those from black and minority ethnic backgrounds have suffered disproportionately. Many uncertainties lie ahead. Thank you to those who have already donated to our 2020 appeal for young people; we wish all our readers a healthy and peaceful break.
