Is this an indoor plant, Novice gardener? A photo would be a help, too.

If it looks like an Ivy, it may not in this case necessarily be an Ivy! Senecio macroglossum and its form 'Variegatum' look so like an Ivy they fool many people. Can you post a picture?

Pothos is also sometimes called Devil's Ivy, and often shows that bare-stick-with-a-tuft-of-leaves appearance when in poor condition. More light and some plant food usually remedy it.

Thanks very much for your comments, it is an indoor plant... I'm discovering that I am not very good at id'ing plants so maybe it isn't a hedera after all...?!

Aha! a picture now. This looks like Diffenbachia (Dumb Cane).

I would cut the plant right back. The basal stems will re-shoot. The stems cut of can be used for propagation and will root quite well after a few weeks.

I wonder if you have the plant in too little light?

It definitely looks like too little light. It stands up by itself when it's healthy. I would start the cuttlings, and grow them on in more light, say, within a meter of a bright north window, or an east window with chintz curtains.

Thanks guys, strangely, it is sat in a window with lots of light?

Possibly starved then? :-)

Hmmm. Has it always been in the window, NG? And is the window under a deep overhang, such as an entryway or porch? As fractal says, lack of plant food is a possible cause for the lack of leaves, but it doesn't usually cause the serpentine growth seen here.