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Charities, by definition, exist to provide a benefit to society. The more effective they are, the greater the benefit.

Northern Ireland’s urban spaces are designed to suit cars. We could tinker with this – or transform it entirely.

 Poverty kills. If we want a health society we need the right building blocks in place, including good quality jobs, housing and education.  

Northern Ireland’s fractured politics come with risks. The current system mitigates against dangers, like majority rule, but is failing to deliver basic governance. Other options are available.

Northern Ireland is supposed to have a strategy “to tackle poverty, social exclusion and patterns of deprivation based on objective need.”

Civic society plays a key role in Northern Ireland’s wellbeing. It is worth listening to – and what it says about the Stormont impasse could scarcely be more unified.

At Scope we write about public policy rather than politics. Yet the two are co-dependent. And there are times you just cannot address one without the other. 

Demand for food banks is soaring but, as the cost of living increases, people are less able to donate. However, helping food banks does not fix any fundamental problems – something the Trussell Trust is determined to make clear.

The phrase “alternative facts” first got an airing on 22 January 2017.

A new report from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation shows that, while poverty in general has waxed and waned over the past 20 years, the number of people and families living in destitution has increased significantly.

In politics, as in so much of life, nothing is quite what it seems.

NI is behind the times when it comes to children and the justice system. Plans for change have been announced – and not before time – but still need to be realised.

As the UK government drifts further into farce and chaos it seems increasingly unlikely that anything will be done about the greatest challenge of our time: levelling up.

The Welsh Government has announced a trial of universal basic income. That’s what they’re calling it, anyway. It’s a bold move by a devolved government and Stormont should pay attention. However, some issues remain.

Paul Sweeney, Chair of The National Lottery Community Fund’s Northern Ireland Committee and UK Board member talks about the organisation’s plans to develop their grant making in the future and how you can get involved.

Following deaths of six people who were sleeping on the streets of Belfast over just two weeks, Homeless Connect CEO Nicola McCrudden writes for Scope about how we can best address the complex set of issues that can lead to such tragedies.

Whenever we discuss how to improve health we invariably neglect the biggest factor of all in making us ill: poverty.

Best practice has moved from counting outputs to measuring outcomes. However, change takes time. The local third sector is moving in the right direction but more needs to be done.

Anyone who has tried to book an appointment with their GP since the pandemic will be all too aware of how difficult that has become.

With no good ideas to improve people’s lives, the Westminster government has nothing left except its ability to fabricate arguments and make people angry.