We attended two events recently, two events with one focus – tackling child poverty in the North East.
The first in Tees Valley- Anything is Possible: Tackling Child Poverty Together Across Tees Valley. Planned and hosted by North East Child Poverty Commission alongside Close-Knit Families and a small group of community partners, this event was action packed and had an amazing agenda.
The second was Creating Real Opportunity – Child Poverty Summit 2026 convened by Mayor Kim McGuinness and the North East Mayoral Strategic Authority. This was an opportunity to mark one year since the Child Poverty Action Plan was launched and the summit focused on supporting families, breaking down barriers to opportunity, and tackling the longer-term structural challenges that have prevented children and young people from thriving.
It was brilliant to be at both events to amplify the voices of women’s organisations across the North East who play a vital role in helping to alleviate child poverty by supporting families facing hardship.
Women’s organisations do so much to alleviate child poverty, even when their work isn’t labelled as a ‘child poverty project’. Supporting women who are caregivers day in, and day out is child poverty work. Providing counselling services, helping women maximise their income and more is child poverty work.
Women make up most single‑parent families, and lifting women out of poverty directly lifts their children out of poverty too. Without supporting women and addressing the root cause of their problems nothing will change for their families, subsequently their children, and this is why the work of the women’s sector is so vital.
We were not only happy to be attending as a delegate, but we also had the opportunity to host a stall at both of these events to showcase exactly why the work of women and girls organsiations is so important and how their work is directly intertwined with child poverty.
Erin at the Tees Valley Anything is Possible event
We used this opportunity to showcase some of our amazing women sector member organisations based across the region. We also gave out a few free badges too!
We would like to give a special thank you to Locardia and Agatha from Women Today for stepping in and expertly looking after our stall during lunch at the Tees Valley event, we really appreciated it!
Locardia and Agatha manning the Represent Women stall
At the Anything is possible- Tackling Child Poverty Across Tees Valley event we heard from Tom Bryant, CEO of Tees Valley Combined Authority about their commitment to do more. Locardia asked an important question about the people they support- families and their children. She asked about what is being done to address the rise in discrimination and fear that is felt by the Black African Women they work with since the race riots. She also raised the pertinent question of why as educated women they were being pushed into lower paid roles. Tom replied to say that he was keen to follow up on this with a meeting with Women Today.
Panel Discussion at the Anything is Possible event
We also heard from Steph McGovern in conversation with Alfie Joey, which was a lively conversation.
Steph highlighted that she takes every opportunity to talk up Tees Valley, her home town. She also spoke about how her school helped her adopt a more ambitious mindset by getting students to focus on what they have rather than what they don’t, this helped her understand the importance of raising the aspirations of young women in Middlesbrough and ultimately led her to Rubies where she is now an ambassador.
Steph shared her passion for the organisation and from this Erin was able to ask what first drew Steph to the charity, how she has worked alongside CEO Liz over the years, and how greater support can be mobilised for the women and girls sector and its transformative impact.
The Creating Real Opportunity, Child Poverty Summit the following week was certainly one to remember. It was hot, intense and at times full-on, but that didn’t stop people rolling up their sleeves and getting stuck into the important work at hand.
Charlie Charlton did a fantastic job of guiding the day, expertly managing the agenda while keeping everyone engaged and energised.
Livv and Erin at the Creating Real Opportunity Child Poverty Summit
Convened by the North East Mayoral Strategic Authority, the session brought together partners to revisit the region’s Child Poverty Strategy, exploring where gaps remain and, crucially, what needs to happen next. We also heard about some of the interventions already being tested across the region. Many of these are already making a tangible difference to the lives of women and families, with childcare grants standing out as a particularly positive example of practical support.
What stood out throughout the day was the recurring emphasis on trust, transparency, empathy and collaboration. There was a shared recognition that meaningful progress depends on working together, while also being honest about the challenges we face and having the confidence to pause, reflect and adapt where necessary. Adrian Dougherty brought these themes to life through candid examples and a refreshingly transparent account of the work underway.
The tone for the day was set brilliantly by the opening conversation between Joanna Unthank, Head of Economic Inclusion and Child Poverty North East MSA and Martin Brookes, CEO VONNE. Their discussion was positive, honest and grounded in the realities of partnership working. It highlighted the vital role of the voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) sector in tackling child poverty and driving change across our region. It was encouraging to see the value of that partnership recognised so clearly, and the conversation that followed reflected a genuine commitment to working together to improve outcomes for children, families and communities across the North East.
Conversation between Joanna and Martin at the Creating Real Opportunity Child Poverty Summit
There were a number of workshops that asked us to reflect on what has been going going well, any gaps and what steps we could take to fill them. As always, the most valuable discussions were those that combined ambition with realism. There is still much to do, but there was a clear sense that people are committed to finding solutions, learning from what works, and building on the progress already being made.
It was apt that on such a hot day we ended with a fireside chat between Mayor Kim McGuinness and MP Angela Rayner as it was literally scorching and so was the conversation…honest personal accounts and the hopes of further devolution and powers locally and what that could mean for our region. A great end to the day.
So much hard work went into both of these events but we couldn’t end this blog without mentioning Amanda Bailey, Director of the North East Child Poverty Commission. Amanda was significantly involved in both events, and it would be remiss of us to not mention all of her hard work.
We would also like to thank all of the organisations involved in the North East Child Poverty Commission.
If you only take away one thing from this blog let it be that there are some amazing womens organisations across the North East who need you to listen, support and most importantly value them and their contribution to our communities, especially in their work to alleviate child poverty.