The West of England’s new Child Poverty Partnership Board met for the first time yesterday, bringing together organisations from across the region to turn shared ambition into regional action on tackling child poverty.
The new Partnership Board, co-chaired by Helen Godwin, Mayor of the West of England, and Andy Street (Founder and Chair of FareShare South West, Chair of BristolCharities’ Board of Trustees, and Founder and Chair of Feeding Bristol) met at Felix Road Adventure Playground in Easton. This follows the launch of the Child Poverty Action Plan in Staple Hill in December, which was praised by former Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Early Years Minister Olivia Bailey.
Members of the new board discussed the ambitions set out in the Child Poverty Action Plan to pull every lever available to the combined authority and regionalpartners in four priority areas: reducing the cost of living for families, supporting children to grow, learn and thrive, connecting young people to opportunities and services, and pioneering new approaches for children and families.
The board, made up of key stakeholders from across education, the voluntary sector, local government, health and police, will meet quarterly to track the progress and delivery of the Child Poverty Action Plan; explore investment opportunities and new funding sources; considershared data and evidence; and provide a clear forum for partners to raise issues that the Mayor can champion with government.
Helen Godwin, Mayor of the West of England, said:
“Today’s first meeting of the West of England Child Poverty Partnership board focused on one shared goal: giving every child and young person in our regiona real chance to thrive.
“Child poverty in the West of England is not an abstract problem. Across our region, around 67,000 children are growing up in poverty after more than a decadeof austerity. Many are arriving at school too hungry to learn or play. That must change, and those numbers will begin to fall dramatically with the welcome abolition of the two-child benefit cap.
“We can do more as a region, working together. From Kids Go Free on our buses providing more than 1.4 million journeys to under-16s, often in the places wherepeople benefit the most from free bus travel, to widening access to childcare and building more affordable homes, we are determined to make a real difference to people’s lives and today’s meeting is a step closer to achieving that.
“Working alongside our fantastic partners from charities, in education and training, local government, health and emergency services, we can build a betterfuture where every child can have the best possible start in life.”
Andy Street, West of England Child Poverty Partnership co-chair and founder of FareShare South West, said:
“I’m delighted that the West of England Child Poverty Partnership board is in place, and it’s a privilege to be part of it. It grieves me that so many children acrossour region are struggling, and my longing is that the board is able to contribute towards addressing this challenge.
“Our children deserve every opportunity to thrive and realise their potential, and that’s my hope – they are our future, and we need to support them in every way wecan.”
Councillor Kevin Guy, Leader of Bath & North East Somerset Council; Councillor Tony Dyer, Leader of Bristol City Council; Mike Bell, Leader of North Somerset Council;and Councillor Maggie Tyrrell, Leader of South Gloucestershire Council, said:
“Tackling child poverty will take the work of all local councils at every level, working closely alongside the West of England Combined Authority and the many fantasticorganisations right across our region.
“We are committed to delivering real change and the first meeting of the West of England Child Poverty Partnership board is a step towards improving the life chances of children in the West.
“Partnership matters and through collaboration we can tackle the root causes of poverty head-on, taking action to pioneer new approaches to support those who need itmost.”
Tom Williams, Deputy CEO, Eastside Community Trust, said:
“Eastside Community Trust are delighted to be hosting the first meeting of the Child Poverty Partnership at Felix Road Adventure Playground. We have over 1,600 childrenand young people on register at Felix Road in one of the poorest parts of the region.
“With the combination of free food for children six days a week and high energy adventure play on our one-acre site, we believe Eastside is at the forefront of buildingcommunities of resilience in this part of Bristol.”
A range of representatives sit alongside Mayor Helen Godwin and Andy Street on the Child Poverty Partnership Board, including:
· Rachel Robinson, Learning Partnership West
· Liz Hughes, policing, previously Avon and Somerset Constabulary
· Phillip Vincent, West of England Rural Network
· Rachel Mostyn, Women’s Work Lab
· Ingrid Skeels, Room 13
· Dr Sharon Colilles, Bath Spa University
· Julia Gray, Colleges West
· Claire Shiels, North Somerset Council
· Sir Steve Taylor, Cabot Learning Federation
· Paige Josham, Mamas
· Annabel Thomas McGregor, Raised in Bristol
· Dr Barbara Brown, Sirona
· Martin Bisp, Empire Fighting Chance
· Del Planter, St Mary Redcliffe and Temple School
· Louise Swain, Homes for the South West
· Poku Osei, Babbasa
· Stacey Yelland, Eastside Community Trust
· Brendan Tate Wistreich, Bath City Farm
· Cllr Christine Townsend, Bristol City Council
· Paul Scott, Bath & North East Somerset Council
· Cllr Ian Boulton, South Gloucestershire Council
Alongside today’s meeting of the new regional child poverty partnership, the Child Poverty Action Plan includes:
· Using rare combined authority powers to widen EarlyYears provision, alongside creating a co-operative childcare staff bank
· Launching the Mayor’s VCSE Youth Guarantee Fund, backingthe organisations who already know best how to reach and support young people to do that
· Getting more young people into work, training, or education,including through our £5million Youth Guarantee, and focusing employment and skills support at low-income households alongside Return-to-Work bootcamps
· Creating a fund to deliver new jobs in the EverydayEconomy, a key growth sector for the region, in the sectors that families rely on most
· Establishing anew distribution hub for essential items for families who need them most, particularly families in crisis
· Building more affordable and social homes, using theStrategic Place Partnership with Homes England to accelerate delivery, and targeting retrofit funding for social housing
· Continuing Kids Go Free, following itssuccess in the summer,over Christmas, and itsreturn this Easter
Mayor Helen Godwin has highlighted the issue of child poverty throughout her first year in office, supporting national government efforts to introduceand expand free breakfast clubs, campaigningfor the end of the two-child benefit cap, and freezingchild bus fares at £1 until 2029.
Data from the hugely popular, nationally unique Kids Go Free initiative indicates that theareas in the West where families have incomes among the lowest 10% in the country saw the largest increases (+98% on average) in bus travel by childrenand young people in summer 2025 compared to the same time in 2024. In areas where families have among the lowest 30% of incomes in the country, the data showed an 89% rise while Kids Go Free first ran.
Attached/furtherpictures for download, including from the Mayor’s visit to a nursery on the same site – credit: West of England Mayoral Combined Authority.
