Evaluation of the Glasgow Lone Parent Project: final report

This evaluation report aims to capture the impact of the Glasgow Lone Parent Project. Set up in 2014 by the Poverty Leadership Panel, the short-term project aimed to improve the way mainstream services supported lone parents.

Senior representatives from the NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, Glasgow City Council, NHS Health Scotland, One Parent Families Scotland, Wheatley Group and Glasgow Centre for Population Health worked together to support a Development Manager, hosted within the council, and a Lone Parent Advisor, based at One Parent Families Scotland. 

Key successes and outcomes that the project contributed to included: 

• Low income families automatically receiving a school clothing grant, instead of having to apply.
• Ensuring families unable to telephone or access the Scottish Welfare Fund online have paper copies of the application.
• Tackling stigma and ensuring the lone parent voice influences work ranging from:

1. the choice of split payments under Universal Credit
2. the Gender Based Violence Strategic Action Plan
3. the review of Lifelong Learning undertaken by Glasgow Life. 

The evaluation demonstrates the value of partnership working, co-location and involving lone parents in solutions. There is scope to share this learning more widely to raise the profile of groups known to have poorer health, social and economic outcomes, and to ensure that mainstream services provide more tailored support to improve these outcomes.