As well as being a Vistage Chair for the North East and Northumberland, a NED and entrepreneur, Andrew Marsh is a trustee for Citizens Advice Gateshead. He has a specific interest in ensuring that organisations operate under best governance, ensuring that all stakeholders including employees are treated well.
For this article he has linked up with Society Matters CIC – a social enterprise, registered as a Community Interest Company. The team there work on a number of projects including CPPP, a programme that aims to reduce child poverty in the region.
Andrew said: “70,704 children of school age living in absolute low-income households in the North East (22-23, DWP) – 39,290 of those are in working families. 17% of households nationally having a degree of food insecurity. And the number of Children in poverty in working families in the NE has risen from 56% to 67% in a decade. Also 21.5% of children where all adults work is still in poverty in the NE, doubling since 2014/15. (North East Child Poverty Commission, 2024).
“Quite simply, this should not be allowed to continue and it is up to leaders in the region, and employers, to take action to help.
“As the summer holidays approach, many families are facing real challenges aside from children wanting entertaining, including affording childcare and having to feed their children all three meals a day for six weeks, missing keenly the breakfast and lunches given whilst the children in school. Not all families can do this, as even in 2024 some employees in the region are being paid to live in poverty with a huge 16% of workers having issues feeding their family.
“Society Matters has been delivering the Child Poverty Prevention programme (CPPP), funded by the North of Tyne Combined Authority since September 2022, working with the employers in the region to help them meet their social requirement. In the future, the programme will be funded by the North East Mayoral Combined Authority.
“Through the programme Society Matters enable employers across the area to enhance the financial resilience of their staff. Employers can access:
A confidential ‘Making Ends Meet’ survey which enables employees to understand better the situation their staff are in financially.
A comprehensive strategic report and options for next steps from our toolkit, briefed by the Society Matters team.
Provision of fully funded awareness-raising workshops and learning opportunities.
Facilitated 121 problem-solving sessions.
Invitations to exclusive peer learning and networking opportunities with other cross-sector industry leaders.”
Managing director of Society Matters, Stuart Fearn MBE, and his team work with employers closely under the thesis that if they can reduce the levels of in-work poverty, primarily by reducing the transactional cost of work, then that allows for more disposable income for households, and therefore children.
Stuart said: “We engage employers with a series of activities that identify areas where they can reduce the cost to the employee of working, or increase their revenue, and then enable them to take those actions through direct and peerbased support. We would, of course, like to engage with more businesses and work with them to enhance the financial wellbeing of their employees and welcome conversations with any employers in the region. One way to find out more is to join us at one of our events.”
North East Leaders for Change
Leaders for Change is a dynamic network of passionate business leaders committed to driving meaningful impact, fostering collaboration and enabling change within communities in the North East. Coordinated by Society Matters CIC the network meets quarterly and covers important topics identified by the group, sharing best practice from members and hearing from key speakers on relevant topics.
The Next Leaders for Change event is in June.
Sign up here or scan the qr code below: tinyurl.com/Leadersforchange
Andrew concluded: “Through the funded support, North East employers have been able to collect data, create strategies and take action to improve the financial wellbeing of their employees. With the access to funded workshops and CPD for professionals on in work benefits and lived experience from Society Matters, there really is no excuse for any employer not to be taking this seriously. Please do sign up for an event or get in touch with the team.”
You can also contact Andrew for more information on andrew@marshbusinesstransformation.co.uk