The Wise Group was delighted to welcome Joe Griffin, Permanent Secretary of the Scottish Government, alongside colleagues from Glasgow City Council, to our Glasgow Hub today.
The visit provided an opportunity to demonstrate how the Wise Group’s Relational Mentoring model is helping families across Glasgow overcome child poverty and the connected challenges that limit life chances.
Through trusted, relationship-based support, the Wise Group helps households build resilience across 15 areas of need – from mental health and housing stability to employability and financial security.
New analysis from the Wise Group shows that:
- 80% of people who present with a Health Need (addiction, mental wellbeing, and/or physical health) also experience multiple other challenges.
- Individuals with a Health Need are 5x more likely to need support with relationships, 3.5x more likely to need help with wellbeing and confidence, and 2.5x more likely to need help with basic and life skills.
- Health Needs rarely stand alone – they are deeply entangled with challenges in housing, skills, finances, and relationships.
This illustrates why child poverty and household hardship cannot be tackled through a single lens. Integrated, preventative models are essential.
During the visit, Mr Griffin met with Chief Executive Sean Duffy and the Wise Group’s Relational Mentoring team, seeing first-hand how our work integrates with local public services – including health, employability, housing, and education – to deliver more joined-up, efficient support.
The Wise Group shares the Scottish Government’s focus on reducing duplication, amplifying what already works, and embedding sustainable models that deliver better outcomes for families.
Sean Duffy said, “Poverty isn’t one-dimensional — and neither should be our response. Our data shows clearly that challenges like health, housing and employability are interconnected. To genuinely shift the dial on child poverty, Scotland must back relational, preventative models that connect services around the whole person. We were proud to show Mr Griffin today how Relational Mentoring is making this vision a reality.”
