A PROJECT in Glasgow’s East End is aiming to offer new routes out of child poverty by removing the barriers that hold families back.
The Calton Demonstration of Change, led by Clyde Gateway in partnership with Glasgow City Council and other local partners, is testing new, community-based ways to help families move out of poverty by linking childcare, training and job opportunities.
Part of the city’s Child Poverty Programme, the project is funded through the Whole Family Early Intervention Fund and supported by local partners including the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and the Scottish Government.
It aims to address issues like access to childcare and language support to health and caring responsibilities to allow progression into sustainable employment.
In Calton, those barriers are being tackled head-on through a model that treats childcare not just as a social entitlement, but as a vital piece of economic infrastructure, as essential to family wellbeing and opportunity as housing or transport.
One example is the afterschool childcare project at Baltic Street Adventure Playground (BSAP) in Dalmarnock.
What began as two short sessions a week quickly grew from 11 to 21 children, with a waiting list already in place.
Parents say it has been life-changing, allowing them to take on extra work, complete college courses and better manage caring responsibilities.
As part of a wider test of different childcare approaches across Calton ward being explored, this local pilot offers a play-based, community and child-led model that helps explore what truly accessible, flexible support for families could look like complementing and informing the area’s statutory childcare offer.
To further support BSAP, Clyde Gateway has separately secured £800,000 in Regeneration Capital Grant Funding (RCGF), which, coupled with additional direct financial support from Clyde Gateway, will allow parallel investment into the physical facilities that BSAP uses to underpin its role delivering childcare services.
The impact reaches far beyond childcare.
Six local parents have now secured civil service jobs through Scotland’s first locally ring-fenced recruitment process, while young people at St Mungo’s Academy are training as community interpreters, turning lived experience into SCQF-accredited qualifications that benefit both their families and their future careers.
Natalie Phillips, sustainable communities development manager at Clyde Gateway, said: “The Calton Demonstration of Change is proving that childcare isn’t just a service, it’s a springboard for opportunity.
“When we connect childcare with training and employment, it becomes a real route out of poverty.
“This isn’t about shifting away from childcare’s educational purpose — it’s about broadening its impact.
“Scotland already invests close to £1bn a year in childcare, but we need to measure its impact through outcomes, not just hours.
“This work is showing how, by removing everyday barriers for parents, we can boost income, confidence and stability for families, and make sure that investment delivers the change it was meant to.”
Richard Bell, deputy leader and city treasurer from Glasgow City Council, said: “The Calton Demonstration of Change reflects exactly what our Child Poverty Programme was set up to achieve, local solutions that make a real, lasting difference.
“By bringing partners together around the needs of families, we’re showing that childcare, employability and community support can work hand in hand to deliver change that matters.”
Alan Kennedy, executive director, BSAP, added: “Our afterschool pilot has lifted a real weight from families.
“Parents can take on more hours or return to education without worrying, because they know their children are safe, well fed and having fun. It’s made a massive difference.”
The early success of the Calton Demonstration of Change will help shape future approaches across Glasgow and beyond.
The project is providing valuable evidence that community-led, joined-up solutions can deliver real social and economic change for families.
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