Doctor Who actor Peter Capaldi has backed The Herald’s child poverty campaign following a media industry award nomination.
Scotland’s Forgotten Children – a week-long investigation into the scale of poverty in the country – has been shortlisted for the News Media Association’s Making a Difference Award 2025.
Mr Capaldi, who portrayed the 12th incarnation of the Doctor in the BBC programme, urged Herald readers to vote for the series as best regional campaign before voting closes on Thursday afternoon.
In a rare interview, the Oscars and Bafta winner praised The Herald’s “moving” and “important” work to fight child poverty in Scotland.
The Herald joined forced with 23 of Scotland’s top children’s and anti-poverty charities to write to First Minister John Swinney and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer. The open letters called for immediate action against child poverty.
The campaign calls for the Scottish Child Payment to be increased from £27.15 to £40 per week, while urging the UK Government to scrap the two-child benefit cap.
Vote for our Scotland's Forgotten Children campaign here
Independent modelling from the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) Scotland suggests the policy move could cost £261 million, leading to a 2.5 percentage point reduction in child poverty.
Mr Capaldi, who grew up in Springburn, Glasgow, said: “In Scotland, the numbers [of children in poverty] are staggering. There shouldn’t be any at all.”
The Herald revealed in April that more than 80,000 children were living in “very deep poverty” in Scotland.
That is tens of thousands of children without basic essentials like food, adequate clothing and housing, according to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.
Meanwhile, 22%, of children in the country are living in relative poverty.
Read More:
- I grew up in poverty – this is why I'm writing about it
- 80,000 children currently live in 'very deep poverty'
- This is the cost of increasing Scottish Child Payment
- Make a Difference Award: Vote for The Herald’s child poverty campaign
Endorsing The Herald’s campaign, Mr Capaldi added: “It’s really important, it’s one of these issues that I think a lot of people don’t realise that are happening right now.
“In their time, there are kids going to school who haven’t been fed and may not be fed when they get home that night and that is through no fault of their own.
“Life is full of surprises and there is always something around the corner and it could highly upset your direction and also your economic standing.
“A lot of these kids are suffering from that.”
The 67-year-old added: “That is still going on – that children are not getting fed is just ridiculous so anything that draws attention to that – and your article I think is one of the most moving, if I may say, that I have read about this issue so I think people should definitely vote for it.”
Voting for the Making a Difference Award closes at 5pm on Thursday, November 6 and the winner is decided by public vote.
How to Vote:
- The public vote for the Making a Difference Award is open now.
- It closes at 5pm on Thursday, November 6.
- To vote, visit this page and highlight Scotland's Forgotten Children for best local and regional campaign.
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