Moray’s Lord Lieutenant Major General Seymour Monro and Reverend Dr Hamilton Inbadas host discussion on local poverty at St John's Church, Forres
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SIXTY concerned members of the community held a third public meeting to discuss how to alleviate poverty in the area.
The main speaker at the 'Where is poverty in Forres?' consultation at St John’s Church was Moray’s Lord Lieutenant, Major General Seymour Monro, who talked about how the Moray Emergency Relief Fund had helped those in greatest need through the initial coronavirus lockdown.
Mr Monro told the meeting that a year on and, despite the best efforts of all involved, the situation remains dire.
He said: “Many believe that with all of us paying taxes and the government benefit schemes, no one should be in financial difficulty. However, the reality is that benefits and wages do not cover weekly bills for many.”
He described the range of people who applied for MERF grants, many of them vulnerable and in difficulty. These included the self and unemployed, furloughed workers, families waiting for Universal Credit, single parent families abandoned without financial help by another parent, adults and children with physical and mental health issues. All exhausted other options for assistance.
Well over 1000 applications were received, a quarter from Forres. A total of £240k was given out to 625 applicants with grants ranging from £100 to £700. Some were in such difficulty and need that they were given financial aid on numerous occasions.
The meeting also shared information about the local support currently available. A teacher who wishes to remain anonymous spoke about wellbeing and inclusion in local schools.
She said: “There are lots of groups and people doing amazing work in our area. The meeting gave us an opportunity to work together more. We are aware of how Covid has had a massive impact on our families and young people. We are doing everything we can to help and support.”
Forres Academy offers a breakfast club, to be expanded as a daily ‘cart’ for pupils, a community larder is available, and the school is working with Moray Food Plus and Moray School Bank to provide food, drink and clothing. In addition, pupils and facilitators are working with the Child Poverty Action Group as part of ‘The Cost of the School Day’ campaign which aims to break down financial barriers to education. Wellbeing support is also a feature of provision with school pastors meeting pupils face-to-face to offer counselling and advice.
The teacher added: “If you ever feel like you need support as a parent or for your child, please contact your school as they will be able to help.”
A local volunteer who also wished to remain anonymous confirmed there was an impressive mix of individuals and organisations at St John’s including representatives of partner agencies.
She said: “Seymour gave a very moving and thought-provoking talk. He told us that, through the MERF allocation, he had been distressed to learn about the circumstances in which residents found themselves. It had opened his eyes to the huge level of need of which he had been unaware.
“The levels of child poverty in Forres are the highest in Moray.
“At the meeting, there were questions and suggestions from attendees as to how best to address poverty-related issues. And a very helpful leaflet was available giving details of agencies able to help.”
Many who attended agreed that the problem of poverty could only be solved by a partnership approach involving central and local government working closely with the local community and businesses.
In this respect, Major General Monro’s reminded the meeting that MERF was a short-term solution to meet individual need. It was a safety net of last resort.
He said: “Poverty is intergenerational so how do you break the cycle? We need good affordable housing, more sports and better healthcare support and have to pull together to make these happen.
“Some firms do not pay the Real Living Wage(RLW) of £9.90 and therefore people do not receive enough to live on.
“What can we do to help? We have to draw attention to poverty as all children should have a fair start in life and be able to break intergenerational poverty.”
