06/11/2015 – The Mussel & Steak Bar based in Edinburgh’s Grassmarket has become Scotland’s first Living Wage accredited restaurant. The family run restaurant specializes in surf and turf, and currently employs 24 staff. By becoming an accredited Living Wage employer, the Mussel & Steak Bar has committed to paying their staff £8.25 per hour – the new rate announced on Monday 2 November.
EAPN members are contributing to the the EU Alliance’s efforts to gather signatures of the Written Declaration on Investing in Children from at least half of the Members of the European Parliament (i.e. 376 members) by the 7th December 2015 and to raise public awareness about the campaign. To name a few: in the context of the Cypriot Children’s Week 2015, EAPN Cyprus is organizing an event on 21st November (in co-organisation with the PCCPWC, Pancyprian Coordinating Committee for the Protection and Welfare of Children) when which 6 MEPs from Cyprus will be invited to sign the Declaration; EAPN Estonia, Germany, Portugal, Malta and Netherlands also sent requests for signatures to the MEPs of their countries and/or are raising the visibility of the campaign through their communication channels.
Living Wage Week 2015 will be begin this coming Monday 02/11 with the announcement of the new Living Wage rate. The week is a UK-wide celebration of the Living Wage and of those employers paying the Living Wage. It is coordinated by the Living Wage Foundation across the UK and by the Poverty Alliance in Scotland.
22/10/2015 – The Poverty Alliance will celebrate the close of Challenge Poverty Week 2015 by hosting the 6th Scottish Assembly for Tackling Poverty at the Royal Concert Halls in Glasgow on Friday. The Scottish Assembly for Tackling Poverty has been organised by the Poverty Alliance since 2010. Over this time the Assemblies have brought together hundreds of people with direct experience of poverty, activists, representatives of community and voluntary organsiations, trade unions, faith groups, researchers, policy makers and politicians. The events have become a become a key forum for discussion around the problems of poverty in Scotland and how they could be more effectively addressed.
14/10/2015 – EAPN SPain presented its 5th Report “State of Poverty, Follow up on the indicator on poverty and social exclusion 2009-2014 (Informe ‘El Estado de la Pobreza. Seguimiento del indicador de pobreza y exclusión social en España 2009 – 2014’) at Ecooo Headquarters in Madrid highlighting that poverty and social exclusion have reached record levels. The event is part of the Week against Poverty and Social Exclusion, aroudn the 17th October International Day for the Eradication of Poverty.
Next 17th October, on the occasion of the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, the FBLP (Brussels Forum Against Poverty, regional member of the Belgian Anti-Poverty Network), organises a conference on Social Innovation, as part of the Festival des Libertés, with the support of the French Community Commission of Brussels-Capital, the King Baudouin Foundation and CPAS of Saint-Gilles. The content of the conference will be based on an inventory of 33 projects identified as a spearhead of social innovation in Brussels.
03/07/2014 – The Poverty Alliance has welcomed the City Deal Partnership between Glasgow City Council and the UK Government which will used to create a £1.1bn infrastructure fund for the city, but has called on all the partners to ensure that the new funding makes a contribution to tackling poverty and inequality in the city. The UK Government have committed £500m with local authorities Glasgow, North Lanarkshire, South Lanarkshire, East Renfrewshire, Renfrewshire, Inverclyde and West Dunbartonshire councils pledging another £130m to the new infrastructure fund.
09/07/2014 – The 3rd Social conference on employment took place in Paris with President F. Hollande Paris taking on board FNARS and Collectif Alerte joint proposals, which both organisations welcome. Declaring that long-term unemployment is a major national issue and priority to tackle, the President also called on everyone and particularly social partners to mobilise against what affects today over 2 million people in France. However, the most important is to witness the implementation of concrete and adapted proposals that respond best and as fast as possible to the needs of millions of people experiencing hardship.
16/06/2014 – Poverty and social exclusion are still increasing in the Community of Madrid, says EAPN Madrid in its study: Evolution and impact of the risk of poverty and exclusion in the Community of Madrid, based on data from the Survey on Living Conditions (Encuesta de Condiciones de Vida). According to the annual survey of…
18/06/2014 – The ANPCME the FNAPSY, UNAFAM and FNARS cosigned a charter for the accomodation and housing for people with mental disorders. For these four associations, accommodation and housing are major stabilizing factors for people with mental health problems, and consequently a real public health issue. Read more on FNARS website (in French).
