Maddie Henson

Heard

Comments from Becka Kellaway, anti-poverty campaigner and Aishah Siddiqa, senior programme manager at Heard

Heard is a charity that works with people and the media to inspire content and communication that changes hearts and minds. On a fundamental level, good communication means being heard and feeling heard. Using insights from research and our 15 years experience of supporting communicators, we help storytellers build their confidence, land their message and engage audiences. Our work has reached millions of people in their living rooms and on their newsfeeds.

1.   How are you helping to tackle child poverty in London?

Heard has been supporting organisations and campaigners working on a range of social issues including child poverty. We do this through our consultancy and training offers for sector partners andcampaigners with first hand experience, and through our bespoke workshops for the TV and entertainment industry. Our mission is to create conversations about social issues that change minds and develop the conditions for lasting social change. The long-term effects are two-fold: a public that is more receptive to and approving of policy change, and a new generation of individuals who feel inspired to act on our most urgent issues.

Becka – I hope I help by campaigning and raising awareness. I am more than happy to speak out about things that I see are unjust and I don’t mind sharing my personal experiences. I think others can feel silenced by stigma and shame so I believe it’s important to shine a light and make a difference where you can.

2.   Tell us something you are excited about?

Becka – I’m excited that there are more conversations happening around child poverty and ways to tackle it and I’m really very hopeful for the future. 

Heard has also recently started a new piece of work exploring how a narrative change approach, informed by lived experience, can shift cultural perceptions of our economy. Often messages about economic change delivered by academics and people with economic privilege are limited in effectiveness. The majority of the country will relate more to people who share in their lived experiences of financial hardship and other forms of economic injustice. These are the people who should lead a new story about what our economy could be, and the systemic changes that need to happen to bring that change about. We’re looking for lived experience consultants to help us explore this and create a set of framing recommendations about the economy to share with other campaigners, partners and organisations in the ecosystem. If you’re interested in finding out more, please email aishah on aishah@heard.org.uk 

3.   Share with our members something positive about your organisation’s achievement or service?

Becka – the best thing about this organisation is that it empowers people to tell their story bravely and it supports them throughout the process and helps to frame the narrative so we all feel safe in our work.

Together with other lived experience consultants, we co-designed the digital version of Heard’s poverty focussed ‘Communication That Works’ course. The course itself is a blend of self-directed learning on an online platform with live workshops running over several weeks covering ways to effectively frame communications on poverty and tools to keep safe when sharing stories in interviews and beyond. We ran a successful pilot at the end of last year with Becka brilliantly facilitating our live workshops. We’ll be making final tweaks before going live this summer.

 “This Heard Training course has been profoundly informative and impactful, not only in reshaping my approach as a communications professional but also in influencing how I think about and discuss social issues in all areas of my life. The trainers were knowledgeable, confident and excellent facilitators. The video content was clear, easily digestible and engaging. Overall, the program was truly transformative.” – Fern Bain Smith, Marylebone Project

4.   What can other network members learn from you or find out more about through you?

Becka- They can learn from Heard’s example how to be a champion for people with lived experience 

Becka is an amazing, energetic and thoughtful facilitator – reach out if you require someone sensitive and engaging!  

5.   What would most help you achieve your goals?

Becka – Funding, opportunities, awareness, more people fighting the good fight and they can start by attending the training and being mindful and empowered advocates. 

6.   Why did you join 4in10? What do you enjoy about being part of the 4in10 network?

Narrative change requires joined-up approaches – and we love being able to work with 4in10 and its members. The Challenge Poverty Weeks were great examples of this in action! If anyone would like to connect and chat about how we can collaborate, please do =D 

Give. Help. Share

Give. Help. Share. work to tackle food poverty in London.

1. How are you helping to tackle child poverty in London?

At Give. Help. Share., we tackle child poverty in London by addressing two key issues: food insecurity and a lack of nutritional education. We provide free nourishing food bags to children and families in disadvantaged communities via a school distribution network across Greater London and Herts. In parallel, we also run hands-on healthy eating workshops in primary schools, empowering children to make better food choices and become ‘food change champions’ in their homes. Our lessons are designed to be accessible and impactful, helping to improve long-term dietary behaviours and break the cycle of poor nutrition linked to poverty.

2. Tell us something you are excited about?

We’re really excited about the growing interest from corporate partners who want to support our mission. More businesses are now recognising the importance of tackling child poverty, and we’re running more corporate volunteering days where teams help pack and deliver nutritious food bags for disadvantaged families. These sessions don’t just provide vital hands-on support – they also open people’s eyes to the realities of food insecurity in their own communities. It’s been powerful to see whole teams get involved, learn more about the issue and leave feeling inspired to do more.

3. Share with our members something positive about your organisation’s achievement or service.

One of the things we’re most proud of at Give. Help. Share. is that we’re a grassroots charity founded and run by qualified teachers who also hold Master’s degrees in Public Health and Health Promotion. This unique combination means we not only understand how to engage children in schools, but we’re also fully equipped to design and deliver evidence-based interventions that genuinely improve health outcomes.Thanks to this expertise, we’ve developed a six-week food education programme that’s already been delivered in over 100 primary schools. These engaging, hands-on sessions are helping children learn how to make healthier food choices and take that knowledge back to their families. It’s a sustainable, empowering approach that we hope will make a real difference in the fight against child poverty.

4. What can other network members learn from you or find out more about through you?

Other members can learn from our experience in developing and delivering engaging, low-cost nutrition education, with a particular focus on how to reach children in disadvantaged areas in a meaningful, age-appropriate way. We’re also happy to share insights on mobilising volunteers, running corporate engagement days and building sustainable food support models that empower, not just provide. We’re always happy to collaborate, share resources and work with other organisations to amplify our overall impact on child health and poverty.

5. What would most help you achieve your goals?

One of the biggest barriers we see is the rising cost of healthy food – it’s simply not accessible for all families, especially those already facing hardship. To truly tackle child poverty, we need systemic change, so to achieve our goals, we’d benefit most from:

• Sustainable funding to continue delivering food and education to the communities that need it most
• Government support and lobbying contacts to campaign for long-term solutions
• Policy change including making food education statutory in all primary schools, so every child learns essential skills for lifelong health, regardless of background

6. Why did you join 4in10? What do you enjoy about being part of the 4in10 network?

We joined 4in10 because we wanted to be part of a collective voice challenging child poverty in London. As a small but growing charity, it’s important for us to connect with others who share our mission and values.We’re new to the network but it feels like a brilliant space to exchange ideas, raise awareness of the work we’re doing, and stay informed about policy developments that affect the families we support. Thank you!

Cash Perks

Cash Perks way to get cash immediately to beneficiaries for hardship grants and other welfare payments. 

1. How are you helping to tackle child poverty in London?

Cash Perks is transforming the way hardship funds reach vulnerable families by providing instant, cash-first support. Our innovative payment solution allows councils, housing associations, charities and community organisations to instantly send emergency funds directly via SMS, which can be withdrawn 24/7 for free at thousands of ATMs nationwide without the need for a bank account or card. This ensures families in crisis can access essential financial support quickly and with dignity, reducing the stress and stigma often associated with traditional aid like food parcels or shopping vouchers.

2. Tell us something you are excited about?

We’re excited about the growing adoption of Cash Perks by almost 50 organisations of all shapes and sizes across the capital. In London that includes leading councils such as; Barking and Dagenham, Camden, Haringey, RBKC and Lambeth through to diverse frontline charities such; Z2K, Wimbledon Guild, CAB Kensington and Chelsea, North Paddington Food Bank and Solace Women’s Aid.

Hearing the real -life benefit of our service—families getting the immediate support they need without unnecessary delays—is incredibly rewarding. When clients collect their money, we often embed surveys that help measure the impact and gain valuable insights and feedback such as this from someone receiving their funds – “Brilliant experience eternally grateful for the help escaping domestic violence & accessing help to move to a safe home. Really appreciated!”

3. Share with our members something positive about your organisation’s achievement or service?

Within the next few weeks, we will reach a huge milestone of disbursing over £10 million of hardship funds directly to struggling families. It’s been an amazing journey from recognising there must be a better way of getting emergency financial support to people – especially those that are unbanked or in vulnerable circumstances to reaching this important landmark.  We were also hugely honoured last year to win two awards, recognised by The Big Issue as one of their Changemakers 2024 and as the best Financial Inclusion Innovation at the nation Pay360 Awards.

4. What can other network members learn from you or find out more about through you?

Like an increasing number of civil society organisations, we advocate for a cash-first approach to poverty relief, which research shows is the most effective way to support people in crisis. We’re happy to share our experiences with organisations looking to transition to cash-based support, helping them navigate concerns around security, fraud, and administration, while also reducing time and delivery costs and most importantly maximising the impact of their funds through engagement in longer-term holistic support.

5. What would most help you achieve your goals?

Greater collaboration! The more organisations that embrace cash-first support, the bigger the impact we can have on tackling poverty. We’d love to connect with more charities, councils, and funders who are interested in partnership. Advocacy for direct cash assistance at policy levels would also help ensure more families receive the support they need in the most effective way possible.

6. Why did you join 4in10? What do you enjoy about being part of the 4in10 network?

We joined 4in10 because we share its commitment to addressing child poverty in London. We hope that being part of the network allows us to collaborate with like-minded organisations, learn from others’ experiences, and advocate for systemic change. We love the sense of collective action and the opportunity to share insights on how cash-first solutions can play a key role in reducing financial hardship for families.