Hi ,
This week, to mark both Challenge Poverty Week and the upcoming International Day for the Eradication of Poverty on Friday 17 October, we are delighted to handover this week's edition of 'On the Level' to our friends at Addressing Poverty through Lived Experience (APLE) Collective who continue to inspire us with their incredible work putting lived experience at the centre of decision making. But that's enough from us, over to APLE!
At APLE Collective, we believe in the power of lived experience to shape real change.
We are a grassroots network led by people who have direct experiences of poverty. Our aim is simple: to bring those voices together, amplify them nationally, and work with others to create meaningful and lasting change. Poverty is too often spoken about without the people most affected being in the room. We want to change that.
Over the years, we’ve grown into a national collective of activists, campaigners, and organisations that believe in the importance of putting lived experience at the centre of decision-making. Our members don’t just share stories, they shape policy, challenge stigma, and co-create solutions. We believe that when people with lived experience are given the tools and respect to take part fully, the results are stronger, more ethical, and more effective.
That belief is what sits at the heart of our campaign Taking Voice Seriously. Too often, people with lived experience of poverty are invited around the table in tokenistic ways — asked for input once, then left out of the process. Taking Voice Seriously challenges that. It calls for real participation where voices are not only heard but acted upon. To support this, we have developed the Taking Voice Seriously Toolkit. A practical resource designed to help organisations, charities, and community groups build person-centred, inclusive practices. It includes activities, conversation starters, and guidance on how to move beyond tick-box engagement towards true collaboration. By offering this toolkit, we hope to give others the tools to embed lived experience ethically and effectively in their work.
This year, as we approach the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty (IDEP 2025), our focus is on the theme: “Ending Social and Institutional Maltreatment: Parents and Society Building a Future without Poverty for Children.” IDEP is always an important day for us and a chance to come together nationally and internationally to highlight the voices of those seldom heard. For APLE, it’s about showing how poverty is not just about individual struggle but about the systems and structures that continue to disadvantage families and communities.
We’ll be marking IDEP 2025 by spotlighting organisations led by or championing those with lived experience of poverty on our interactive online map. We’ll also share creative contributions from our members including biographies, reflections, quotes and more. Connecting the theme of childhood, poverty, and the urgent need for change.
One of the issues we’ll be highlighting this year is hidden disabilities. Living in poverty with a hidden disability adds an extra layer of stigma and exclusion that often goes unseen. People may struggle with inaccessible services, lack of recognition, or assumptions that dismiss their needs entirely. By bringing hidden disabilities into the conversation this IDEP, we hope to shine a light on these injustices.
We are proud to be led by lived experience. We are proud of the Taking Voice Seriously work we have developed, and we are proud to stand alongside our members, allies, and communities this IDEP 2025 to demand a future where no one is left behind. Because when voices are taken seriously, change is possible.
You can find our Taking Voice Seriously Toolkit here.
Help us to #LightUpTheUKMap and let us know what you are doing this IDEP to address poverty with lived experience by clicking here.
To find out more about the work of the Collective and to stay up-to-date, make sure to follow us on Twitter/X and BlueSky.
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