How creativity and community is helping to tackle poverty in Scotland

Paul Sullivan
Sun 13 October 2024 

Kids take part in Big Noise (Image: jeffholmes)

As we approach the end of Challenge Poverty Week, Sistema Scotland’s Director for Children, Young People & Communities Paul Sullivan explains how creativity and community are helping to overcome the impacts of poverty throughout Scotland.

This week has seen people and organisations across Scotland come together to shine a light on poverty and what we can do to tackle it and its impacts.

Arranged by the Poverty Alliance charity, Challenge Poverty Week inspires communities every year to work together, support each other and find new solutions.

However, while we have made huge strides in tackling poverty, there remain true and enduring poverty in communities across Scotland.
Places like Govanhill, in Glasgow, which despite being a fantastic, vibrant community in so many ways, was still recently highlighted as one of the most deprived places in the whole of the UK, and where more than 88% of all children under the age of 15 are living in poverty.

Sistema Scotland is one organisation that is working in the area – and five other places targeted as having the highest need – to help people overcome the significant impacts of growing up in poverty and make a long-term difference for children, families and communities.
We use the power of creativity and community to change lives and transform parts of Scotland that had, for a long time, been excluded.

The impact we are having is palpable. That isn’t down to any magic on our part, but instead the logical impact of an immersive and long-term approach to investing in communities.

Big Noise, our music education and transformational social change programme is intensive, place-based, and embedded in communities facing significant challenges: Govanhill in Glasgow, Wester Hailes in Edinburgh, Torry in Aberdeen, Douglas in Dundee and Raploch and Fallin in Stirling. We provide free music lessons – and wraparound support – to children and young people, working with them on a daily basis to boost their confidence and attainment.

Participants in Big Noise (Image: jeffholmes)

We provide free food and make sure they are safe and nurtured so families can access work and training.
It is a simple idea but one that has had life changing impacts over the past 16 years for the young people and the wider community.

Music itself as a tool for social change within communities. Throughout history, the process of creating and making music together helps us to forge identity, aspiration and human connection. But Big Noise is about more than music.

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In Raploch and Govanhill, we are now watching the children who took their first steps with us as primary school pupils grow up and leave school.

What they are going on to achieve is wonderful. They are going to university, to college and into work with confidence and a sense of purpose.

One participant, now 18, is at college and has her sights set on becoming a radiographer. She has performed at countless concerts and has travelled to India to perform.
Yes, the music education element is important – but it is the social change that really matters.

Anna told us she has had opportunities she never would have had, and it changed her life. Doors that might have been closed without being part of Big Noise are very much open. She told us that the nurturing, regular support gave her foundation of self-belief that she carries with her in everything she does.

Poverty is more than simply not having enough money to make ends meet – although that is obviously a big part of it. Poverty is compound and multi-faceted – and its impact can be lifelong. One of the main problems that poverty brings with it is uncertainty. That’s why we aim to be a consistent, supportive presence. We know that it takes flexibility and individual approaches to support families experiencing that instability. We have a flexible and tailored approach for families who require further support for any reason. One family in Govanhill, for example, are new to Scotland. They have achieved wonderful things as part of Big Noise and are both performing music at a really high level now.

Their mother told us how Big Noise helped them settle into the community, make friends and move forward. She has completed a degree, and her children are bubbly and outgoing – far from the shy children they were when they started.

Many of the families we work with might experience stigma, and so it is important that we are always working alongside each other. Music is such a perfect leveller in that respect; showing that anyone can achieve excellence when systemic and cultural barriers are removed.

Music is our tool to supporting wider social change, but there are many elements that help make that change possible.

Participants in Big Noise (Image: Stewart Attwood)

The first is the direct involvement of those communities. Challenge Poverty Week is right to reflect on the importance of volunteers. Our Big Noise programmes are only made possible through the support of a dedicated team of local volunteers, who give up their time to provide to fantastic experiences for young people. We are fortunate to benefit from a number of committed local volunteers – some of whom have been involved with Big Noise for more than ten years– as well as welcome young musicians, many of whom have progressed into joining our staff teams. Volunteer opportunities also open pathways to work, giving people skills and experience to take a step on the career ladder, or get back to work after having children.

The transition from school has been rightly identified as a key moment for young people, we create clear pathways to help young people navigate this tricky time. As well as help with university and college applications, we also provide bespoke career pathways to help our young people onto a bright future – no matter what they want to do. We have set up Modern Apprenticeships at our centres, where older school leavers can get on the job training, and summer internships, helping young people get workplace skills and experience. The immersive and long-term nature of the programmes makes being able to provide those pathway opportunities possible.

Providing whole family support is also another core element of what we do. At Big Noise, we also run holiday clubs across each of our six centres. This summer, 463 children and young people took part in the camps. Alongside music lessons, we served up 4,500 free healthy meals and snacks and ran a wide range of activities to give children and young people a safe and social space, enabling parents to work or study over the holidays. Parents tell us this support is a lifeline during the school holidays, where they need support to keep working to support their families.

Poverty cannot be tackled in isolation. While we look to do everything we can within our power to support families, we know it takes close partnership between third sector agencies, schools, social work and other statutory services in order to provide the right supports for people at risk of poverty.

All communities deserve opportunities to be creative, and we see every day the impact of our programmes. This Challenge Poverty Week, we can celebrate the impact of community-based work – and ask that the crucial role of long-term and immersive community work is recognised and supported on a national scale.