The Early Learning Community was founded by Save the Children UK, Sheffield Hallam University, Watercliffe Meadow Primary School, Sheffield City Council and Sheffield NHS Children’s Foundation Trust.
The event, sponsored by Sheffield Hallam University, will bring more than 200 people together from all four regions and is aimed at drawing up solutions to child poverty levels by using community, local and national expertise.
Discussions on child health inequalities, the home environment and barriers to school attendance will be led by nationally leading experts and those with lived experience of the issues.
Professor Sally Pearse, Director of the Early Years Community Research Centre at Sheffield Hallam University, said: “At the Child Poverty Summit we will be sharing how our trauma informed approach at Meadows Nursery has created a safe space for families and how this has led to parents taking a lead in addressing the challenges they face.
“Professor Helen Lomax and I, alongside a group of parents, will also be sharing our research on the serious impact on families of living with multiple challenges as well as experiencing poverty – from housing to health, work and caring responsibilities.”
This summit is an excellent opportunity for families, professionals and policy makers to come together and explore what we can do together to end child poverty and stop it blighting the future of so many children in South Yorkshire.
A panel event will hear from Alison Garnham, chief executive of the Child Poverty Action Group, Oliver Coppard, Mayor of South Yorkshire, Professor Sir Michael Marmot, Institute of Health Equity, Brittany Jackson a volunteer with the Sheffield Early Learning Community and Tsitsi Chawatama-Kwambana, a Sheffield-based paediatric doctor and chair of Save the Children UK.
Children’s Laureate Frank Cottrell-Boyce will speak about how reading is an effective, economic health intervention, and the day also includes a screening of BBC Panorama documentary Britain’s Child Health Crisis which was filmed in Sheffield last year. The documentary’s producer, journalist Rahil Sheikh, who grew up in the city, will be at the event with the parents who took part in the programme and who have also had a major hand in developing the summit.
Young people from a range of organisations across South Yorkshire will also be in attendance as well as students from Sheffield Hallam University’s social work, teacher training and childhood studies courses.
CEO of Save the Children UK, Moazzam Malik, said: “Child poverty has seen little progress in 20 years across the UK. We need renewed urgency and momentum. This why we are coming together with a diverse range of partners to exchange ideas and debate solutions. This is the first time an event like this has been held in South Yorkshire. We stand with families as they raise their voices, determined to create brighter futures for their children.”
There will also be performances on the day by Kindling Choir, based in Sheffield, and St Catherine’s Primary School and workshops facilitated by Roundabout, Chilypep and Sheffield Theatres.
Bethany Wilson, a volunteer with Sheffield Early Learning Community, said: “I’ve helped to set up our own community group, You, Me and Us, so we can do more for families who face too many struggles. The response to our work has been brilliant and I’m looking forward to sharing my story and ideas at the South Yorkshire Child Poverty Summit.”
