A conference about poverty and neglect on the Island attracted an audience of 160 people including charity workers, social workers, students from Isle of Man College and an array of other organisations active in child and adult welfare. Entitled ‘Is there poverty and neglect in the Isle of Man?’ the conference - held at The Sefton Hotel - was organised by The Children’s Centre and featured contributions from experts on both subjects. Following opening addresses by President of Tynwald Clare Christian MLC, and John Knight, Chief Executive of The Children’s Centre, there were keynote speeches from Mrs. Jo Thomas, Head of Safeguarding for The Isle of Man Government, motivational speaker Richard McCann, and children’s welfare lecturer and author Patrick Ayre. Mrs Thomas gave a Manx perspective on how poverty and neglect affect children in care and reminded the audience that the two social issues are not necessarily linked. She also gave figures for the number of children on the Island who are on the ‘at risk’ register, how many are listed as suffering abuse or neglect, and how many receive free school meals. Patrick Ayre then gave a UK perspective and focused on the causal factors of neglect in a family setting. He also challenged the audience to retain their focus on the child’s perspective rather than simply the mechanics of social work referral processes. Richard McCann then spoke about the lived experience of growing up in poverty and neglect. He told the moving story of his mother’s murder and the subsequent years of abuse he suffered within and outside of the family setting, and how he has managed to cope with this adversity. Following these presentations, the audience was then invited to question the panel of experts and speakers. The debate was chaired by Mrs Christian and the panel included Stephen Carse, the Isle of Man Government’s Economic Adviser, Jed Bibby and Phil Drowley from the Isle of Man Constabulary (MAPPU) and Rev. Bill Platt from Broadway Baptist Church. John Knight said that he was pleased to see a keen interest in debating the issues of poverty and neglect and added: “As we anticipated, the conference produced more questions than answers - but the number of people who attended clearly illustrated the level of interest in giving more consideration to both issues. The conference was a good starting point to what we hope will be a continuing debate about the issues of poverty and neglect. There were several key areas of concern which emerged from the conference. The availability and pricing of alcohol was viewed by many delegates as a major contributor to poverty on the Island, and perhaps neglect. Housing standards, and particularly the lack of enforcement around minimum standards and control among private sector landlords, was also cited as major causal factor. The debate also raised concerns about the need to retain focus and funding for early intervention with vulnerable children and families. Several delegates took the view that this is being damaged by decreasing resources in the current financial climate. Linked to this was the view that short term planning is a concern as Government are pressured to look at and manage the here and now rather than invest in preventative action which has the potential to save funding and prevent social hardship.” Mr Knight said a general view emerged from the conference that a relatively low level of investment right now could save the Isle of Man significant expenditure in the future and significantly support and help the most vulnerable members of our Island community. - ENDS -