From Dumfries & Galloway Council
Since we started to implement our Anti-Poverty Strategy in June 2015 we have realised that Challenging poverty is a full time job!
Although all our services take into account the impact of poverty and work to challenge the affects as best they can, we realised that we needed one person to take control and tie all the strands of our work together.
As part of Dumfries and Galloway Council’s agreed new organisational shape we are placing greater emphasis and focus on our priorities, all of which take poverty into account one way or another.
The employment of a dedicated Anti-Poverty Officer post was agreed as part of the revised staffing compliment and structure with all associated costs met from within available resources.
Following the required recruitment process, an officer has now been appointed to this region wide role of Anti-Poverty Officer, which is a very timely appointment considering this is Challenge Poverty week. Wendy Jesson, previously the Council’s Partnership Support Officer for the Wigtown Area has a wide range of experience including working for Shelter Scotland and Woman’s Aid.
Leader of Dumfries and Galloway Council, Cllr Ronnie Nicholson commented, “I am delighted our Council has been able to confirm the appointment of an Anti-Poverty Officer during Challenge Poverty Week. The Council unanimously agreed to make preventing, mitigating the effects and helping people out of poverty a priority. As a result there are a whole host of initiatives being driven forward such as promoting the living wage, investing in home insulation measures to help vulnerable people cut down their fuel bills, establishing Family Centres to provide support for parents to get the benefit or employment advice they need and alleviating child poverty by removing fees in subjects such as Home Economics. I am proud our Council has had the foresight to include this post in the revised structure to ensure we build on these initiatives and play our part in tackling the scandal of poverty in the region”.
