FOUR projects are to share out more than £2.5 million to help tackle poverty in Scotland.

A Scottish Government strategy aims to tackle the causes of poverty by addressing them early and sets out plans to maximise household incomes and ensure all children have the same chance in life.

The £2.5m will be used to advise people dealing with welfare reforms, give advice on household budgets and encourage employers to adopt the Scottish Living Wage.

Over the next two years MacMillan will receive £900,000, Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) will receive £750,000, One Parent Families Scotland will receive £424,000 and Poverty Alliance will get £433,000.

Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: "We know there have been improvements to the number of people who are living in poverty in recent years - we also know that this progress is under threat from the changes to the welfare system.

"Today we are setting out how we plan to use £2.5m to help fund advice and support services that provide front-line help to hard-pressed families."

Head of CPAG in Scotland, John Dickie, said: "This funding is vital to helping CPAG ensure individuals and organisations on the front line have the high quality advice, information and training they need to support families."