Relieving child poverty in the developing world is a central plank of the Millenium Development Goals. Yet very few people in western society, and fewer still children, actually understand what it means or feels like to be a child growing up without education, always malnourished (though not starving) and an essential part of the family's survival strategy. Still fewer can imagine the desperation that leads to families abandoning their 8 year old to the streets.

The Barge will create a centre in Leith accessible to school children across Scotland, which will deliver an experience leading to a much fuller understanding of what it would be like to be them living in the poorest communities in the developing world. There will be a permanent exhibition space for everyone together with workshops and seminars designed to grow the global citizens of the future, to whom the task of solving endemic child poverty is likely to fall.