Poverty
BBC Children in Need funds support that restores dignity, strengthens confidence and opens doors
The scale
- 4 million children are growing up in poverty in the UK.
- 7 out of 10 children living in poverty have at least one parent in paid work.
- A third of children under five are living in UK homes where there is not enough access to healthy and nutritious food.
How we make a difference
Our approach tackles the immediate pressures of poverty and specific systemic barriers that hold families back, such as a lack of affordable housing, limited opportunities and reduced access to services.
Through locally trusted organisations, we support children to feel safe, confident and connected.
Our funded projects provide:
- Enriching and developmental activities: fun, creativity, play and learning that builds confidence, broadens horizons and creates friendships.
- Safe, inclusive groups and 1:1 support: spaces where children can feel they belong, find ways of strengthening their identity and building coping skills and social connections.
- Advocacy and voice: enabling children to be heard, influence decisions and feel empowered in shaping their own lives.
- Support for immediate needs: providing essentials such as food, beds, clothing and crisis support with dignity and without stigma.
- Building resilience and wellbeing: offering support for improved mental and physical health alongside trusted relationships that reduce isolation and nurture self-belief.
- Expanding opportunity and equity: skills-building, employability and cultural opportunities that expand life chances, boost employability, support cultural opportunities and break cycles of disadvantage.
- Targeted place-based work: investing in communities to develop sustainable, locally-led solutions, moving beyond emergency relief to long-term change
Case Study
Jessica*, a mum with a young daughter with additional needs as well as a baby son, was living in rented accommodation. She could only afford to buy an old second-hand washing machine,which soon broke and started leaking water all over the kitchen floor. Jessica found it hard to cope; her children needed clean clothes every day and she couldn’t cover the cost of a new machine. Her support worker applied for a new washing machine through BBC Children in Need’s Emergency Essential programme and it was delivered within the week.
Jessica says “It was stressful because the washing was just piling up. It was affecting me mentally and making me anxious. The new washing machine has made a big difference”.
Now Jessica’s daughter can go to school in a clean uniform and the baby always has freshly washed bedding in his cot.
*not her real name
Our other areas of focus
Discover what we fund in these areas, the positive differences it makes to children and young people, and explore real‑life case studies.
