From Stigma to Support: Edinburgh’s Collaborative Approach

Written by Stacey Cuthbertson, Grants Manager at Capital City Partnership as part of Challenge Poverty Week, and marking the launch of the Change the Story campaign. This new campaign aims to tackle poverty stigma in services, making what is often invisible visible, and supporting organisations to design and deliver support that is rooted in dignity and respect.

From Stigma to Support: Edinburgh’s Collaborative Approach

6th October 2025

Written by Stacey Cuthbertson Grants Manager – Parents and Families

For Challenge Poverty Week, we’re highlighting how collaboration across Edinburgh’s advice and employability networks is helping people access the support they’re entitled to. 

Asking for financial help isn’t always easy. Some people worry about being judged. Others don’t realise they have a right to support. 

Social security is a public service, part of the same infrastructure that keeps us all going when life takes a turn. As one member of End Poverty Edinburgh put it, “The line between living a comfortable life and being in poverty is a very thin one.” In fact, almost one in five working households in Scotland are now living in relative poverty (Scottish Government, 2023). Work no longer guarantees security for many individuals and families. 

Across Scotland, huge sums of support go unclaimed every year - around £7.5 billion in Universal Credit, £3 billion in Council Tax Support, and £2 billion in Carer’s Allowance. Here in Edinburgh, it’s estimated that households may be missing out on around £80 million in benefits they’re entitled to (Edinburgh Poverty Commission, 2020).  

Research from Policy in Practice (2024) found that up to a quarter of people eligible for Universal Credit didn’t claim because of stigma. Others simply don’t know what they’re entitled to or find the process too complex. When people don’t claim what is theirs, the cost isn’t just personal - it’s social. Poverty drives higher demand for health and social care, education support, and crisis interventions, costs that far outweigh early income support (JRF, 2024). Policy in Practice notes, “Stigma remains one of the most damaging barriers, making people feel benefits are for someone else.” 

Edinburgh has a strong advice and employability sector that works with citizens to make the system easier to navigate. Through the Intensive Family Support Service, we have seen how families benefit when advice is part of a wider team. The Maximise! Early Years partnership between Children 1st and CHAI brings family support, advice, and employability together within early years settings, giving parents wraparound support that helps to steady their household finances and plan ahead. That kind of joined-up approach prevents crisis and helps families build longer-term stability. 

Advice services across the city are connected through the Edinburgh Advice Network (EAN), a collaborative space to share learning, coordinate support, and strengthen relationships across services. Later this year, EAN and the Joined Up for Jobs network will host a joint session on building stronger relationships between advice and employability providers. 

This week also marks the launch of Change the Story, a regional campaign co-designed with families and frontline staff to tackle poverty stigma in practice. The campaign builds on the good work already happening across Edinburgh, highlighting the difference it makes when people are treated with dignity and respect, and when services work to remove the barriers created by stigma. 

That approach is already visible across the city. Advice and employability services lead by example, offering practical, confidential support that people can trust. From a benefits check in a school to advice on childcare or in-work progression, these services show what it looks like when systems are rooted in fairness and understanding. 

For most of us, needing help is temporary. What lasts is how we’re treated when we ask for it. That’s what people remember. 

The Change the Story webinar on 9th October marked the launch of a campaign that brings together a Commitment for organisations, a practical toolkit and training resources - all shaped by the experiences of people who know what stigma feels like and what meaningful change requires.

The resources are now live and available to use on our new website:

https://www.changethestorystigma.org/

References 

• Policy in Practice (2024). Missing Out: £23 Billion of Support is Unclaimed Each Year. 

• Scottish Government (2023). Poverty and Income Inequality in Scotland 2019–22. 

• City of Edinburgh Council (2023). Campaign Shines a Light on Capital’s Unclaimed Millions. 

• Edinburgh Poverty Commission (2020). A Just Capital: Actions to End Poverty in Edinburgh. 

• Joseph Rowntree Foundation (2024). UK Poverty 2025: The Essential Guide to Understanding Poverty in the UK.