Thick of It star Peter Capaldi has praised The Herald's Rebecca McCurdy for her searing personal account of poverty, as he encouraged readers to back our campaign for a hike in the Scottish Child Payment.
The Oscar winner described Rebecca's article as "one of the most moving" he had read about the issue.
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
In May, The Herald's Scotland's Forgotten Children series brought together 23 of Scotland's top children's and anti-poverty charities, who backed our open letter to First Minister John Swinney demanding an increase in the weekly payment.
We stood with charities like Barnardo's Scotland and Save the Children to urge him to raise the payment and change the life of the thousands of Scottish families living in poverty.
As part of the week-long series, we tried to tell the stories of those who live in poverty, those whose stories are often ignored and go unheard.
Rebecca, The Herald's political correspondent, spoke frankly about her own experience.
She told readers: "I have been the child lying awake at night, cold and hungry. Going to bed and waking up the next day, still hungry, was the norm.
"I do not have a specific memory in my life of realising my family was poor. Perhaps that means it was just the way things always were.
"I do not write this for sympathy. In fact, people who personally know me understand that this is the last thing I would want or need.
"But equally, I did not want to – and could not – write about poverty in such an intensive way without demonstrating that this is an issue that I genuinely care about."
She asked readers to "put yourselves into the shoes of eight-year-old me."
"A criticism that is often floated about people in poverty is that if you cannot afford to have children then you simply should not have them.
"That is an offensive statement for those of us born into poverty. And how does it help the child growing up in these circumstances?
"For me, there were circumstances that catapulted us into poverty – and ones that we had no say over.
"My dad became ill and when he was not in hospital, required a lot of care. At the same time, my mum continued her minimum wage social care job she has loved since the age of 15.
"Times were tough.
"I have very distinct memories of lying in bed almost crippled with worry over how much more my mum could handle. She was already skipping meals to ensure my two brothers and I were fed. To suggest that our poverty was because of a lack of effort from her is quite simply ridiculous.
"She is, and has always been, the hardest working person I have ever known and it is her resilience and sacrifice that has allowed me to thrive in adulthood. And yet people like her are regularly labelled lazy or a scrounger."
Our series sparked a major political reaction. First Minister John Swinney responded to our campaign, admitting that the current levels of child poverty was a "matter of shame".
Scotland's Forgotten Children has now been recognised alongside other powerful newspaper campaigns from across the UK and has been shortlisted in the News Media Association's annual Making a Difference award.
The winner is decided by public vote and voting closes at 5pm on Thursday November 7.
Vote for our Scotland's Forgotten Children campaign here
Peter Capaldi has urged readers to register their support for The Herald.
The Paddington 2 and Doctor Who actor said: "That this is still going on – that children are not getting fed is just ridiculous so anything that draws attention to that – and [Rebecca's] 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."
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.”
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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