Lincoln Anti-Poverty Action Plan 2015/ /17 James Wilkinson Anti-Poverty Programme Lead City of Lincoln Council Lincoln Against

Lincoln Against Actions in the Lincoln Anti-Poverty Action Plan 2015/16 – 2016/17

Lincoln Against Poverty Lincoln Against Objective: Helping people maximise their income Programme: Increasing money management skills and confidence Project: Pilot a letter amnesty in St. Giles Concern raised at LAPC 2015 that some residents struggled to cope under a mountain of debt letters Good practice was identified where an existing Debt Letter Amnesty had been run by a partner in Birchwood Recommendation by delegates at LAPC 2015 to trial this elsewhere

Lincoln Against Poverty Lincoln Against Objective: Making the move into work easier Programme: Moving people into training Project: Delivering 600 training courses to people who may struggle to afford the fees COLC Revenues and Benefit Team identified a need Some residents were not entitled to certain free education courses because their income was too high, but they struggled to pay for the fees themselves COLC bid for funding to provide 600 educational courses to people who were not automatically passported to free courses These are now being delivered by Lincoln College

Lincoln Against Poverty Lincoln Against Objective: Helping people maximise their income Programme: More help when the household budget runs out Project: Council Tax Discount Scheme existing support continued for 2015/16 From April 2013 funding for the national Council Tax Benefit scheme was reduced for working age people Councils had to decide whether to pass on this reduction in funding to work age residents, or to maintain the support by finding a way to meet this shortfall Since then, City of Lincoln Council has maintained the discount for working age residents Overall: 9,726 Lincoln residents (of all ages) benefit from the Lincoln Council Tax Discount Scheme It puts £7.5m into the hands of Lincoln residents

Lincoln Against Poverty Lincoln Against Objective: Breaking the link between poor health and poverty Programme: Helping those facing poverty due to illness Project: Helping Hand Summer Campaign 2015 The strong link between poor health and poverty was raised by delegates at LAPC 2015 The need for signposting information to advice agencies was raised The Summer Helping Hand Campaign was launched and ran from July to September 2015 Supported by all 16 GP Surgeries in the city, along with Lloyds Pharmacy and Lincolnshire Co-operative Pharmacies, the campaign distributed: More than 7,500 posters, leaflets and advice cards distributed

Lincoln Against Poverty Lincoln Against Objective: Helping people maximise their income Programme: Increasing money management skills and confidence Project: Helping Hand Christmas Campaign 2015 LAPC 2015 delegates noted the importance of ensuring families with dependent children received signposting materials In response, the Helping Hand Christmas Campaign was launched. It had a citywide reach, but there was a particular focus on distributing via schools 22 different organisations supported the campaign 800 posters were distributed 1,600 advice cards were distributed 6,000 leaflets were distributed Est. 1,800 families / 2,500 children reached

Lincoln Against Poverty Lincoln Against Objective: Breaking the link between poor health and poverty Programme: Helping to stop poverty making people ill Project: Promote food banks to allotment tenants Partners highlighted the issue of food poverty in the city, and queried whether or not excess food could be diverted to those experiencing food hunger 820 allotment tenants contacted

Lincoln Against Poverty Lincoln Against Objective: Helping with the cost of raising a child Programme: Supporting families to feed and clothe their children Project: School uniform pop-up shops From an idea at LAPC 2015 to create a way to distribute second hand school uniforms without stigmatising The first school uniform pop-up shop has taken place at Monks Abbey Primary School with a number of families benefiting Two more are being planned at Hartsholme Academy and St. Giles Academy Discussions are also taking place with two more schools in the city

Objective: Helping people maximise their income Programme: Increase income Project: Making Lincoln Living Wage Campaign Paying £8.25 an hour ensures a basic standard of living for your staff Become accredited for free at: