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Today is National Poetry Day, and we have an exciting announcement

We will launch a  powerful collection of poetry about poverty and the pandemic this month, during the first Challenge Poverty Week in England and Wales.

Same Boat? brings together dozens of works by people with experience of poverty and supporters from across the movement to end poverty, including some debut writers. We’re announcing the launch today, on World Poetry Day.

The book brings new perspectives around poverty and challenges many of the prevailing myths and clichés, and challenges us all to ensure that society after the pandemic is more just and compassionate. We know we can build back better and the outpouring of kindness and community has been heartening – but it cannot be taken for granted. Simply reading the poetry in this anthology is “a radical act of empathy”.

Launch event

The project has been coordinated by Matt Sowerby, who was poet in residence at Church Action in Poverty from the beginning of lockdown until September. He facilitated workshops and open-mic events online and oversaw the production of the anthology. Participants were asked to contribute a poem reflecting their experiences of lockdown and poverty, or the impact of Covid-19 on themselves, their families or communities

A launch event will be held on Thursday 15 October, during Challenge Poverty Week.

Four of the contributors. From left: Ellis Howard, Shaun Kelly, Jayne Gosnall and Matt Sowerby.

In their introduction, the editing panel of Barbara Adlerova, Ben Pearson, Jayne Gosnall, Matt Sowerby and Penny Walters, write:

“While the term ‘poverty’ is often understood as a financial problem, these poems suggest that the word is more of a blanket term for numerous different ‘poverties.’ These include social poverty, poverty of choice, psychological poverty, poverty of autonomy, digital poverty, poverty of access and poverty of opportunity among others. The book also takes a closer look at some of the people behind the statistics. Rejecting the myth that those in poverty are helpless, several poets choose to explore the power that their experiences have given them.”

Responses to abuse, homelessness and stigma

Works include i have a voice by Penny Walters of Newcastle, which reflects on her determination to speak out against poverty, despite having “abused and berated downcast / shunned”, and 100 days by Earl Charlton, which reframes his experience from that of victim to expert. He writes: “being homeless before and living in social isolation, gave me the knowledge and sense to beat this complicated situation”.

Ben Pearson’s Yellow Sticker pinpoints the stigma around poverty, while Melanie Rogers’s My Mask finds relevance to mental health in the face coverings that the pandemic has made routine.

The Same Boat? title reflects the question of whether we are all in the same boat during the pandemic. The question is also addressed in a short film of the same name, written by Ellis Howard & directed by Brody Salmon, which is being released on October 13.

More information:

  • Same Boat? will be launched on October 15th.  Sign up here.
  • To discuss the book or if you have media queries, email benp@church-poverty.org.uk
  • Challenge Poverty Week England and Wales runs from October 12 to 18. For more information, visit challengepoverty.co.uk

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No Fixed Abode by Maeve McClenaghan is published this month. It tells the stories of many people who have been pushed into homelessness and who have died or lost friends – and it challenges us all to make this a turning point.

Tony sat down in the garden of his former home in Lowestoft, and froze to death. He was 57.

Fiona was found under a bridge in Leeds, where she had been sleeping. She was 46.

Alan was 81 when he died in hospital, having been sleeping rough outside a shopping centre in Norwich.

Hamid was 55 when he died in a hotel room, having been forced by the cold out of the car where he had been living. He had been academically brilliant as a teenager, and had applied in the late 1990s to be a research assistant to Professor Stephen Hawking.

Cardon was 74 when he died in a tent, where he lay undiscovered for some time.

Jayne died in a doorway in Stafford, aged 53.

We could continue this way, line by line, person by person, year after year. All over the country, all too often, people who have become homeless die prematurely and avoidably.

Often there are individual moments where opportunities were missed. Police did not respond to the first call about Tony, for instance; a health appointment Jayne requested was accidentally not booked. Yet there are always bigger structural issues and attitudes at play, such as poverty; the insufficient support for people moving into adulthood after traumatic childhoods; the national housing shortage; a dehumanising public rhetoric around homelessness; severe cuts to vital services through the ‘austerity’ programme; and a reluctance by councils to carry out Safeguarding Adult Reviews after the death of a homeless person.

Until recently, the full scale of the crisis was not known. How many people died while homeless in 2010? How did that compare to two years, 10 years, 20 years earlier? What were the recurring factors, causes or lessons that could be learned? Nobody knew – until, in December 2018, the Office for National Statistics published the first official data showing how many people were dying homeless. They recorded a figure of 597 in England and Wales for 2017 and, analysing historical data, calculated that figure had likely risen by 24% in five years.

The news made headlines all around the country. For the first time, the scale of the crisis was clear and No Fixed Abode is the story behind the story.

Author Maeve McClenaghan, a journalist at the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, began exploring homelessness when it was visibly rising. She spoke to relatives of people who had died but was surprised to find nobody recorded the total figures, so the Bureau and many journalists around the country began sharing information from their own communities.

Ultimately, their data helped the ONS find a viable methodology to record annual figures.

No Fixed Abode is a vital work. It charts the journalistic tenacity that helped change the system and tells the stories of some of those who have died. It also shines light on the compassionate work of countless small community projects, and brings powerful first-person insight from people such as David.

David was about to take his own life on a park bench, when he was spotted and stopped by a park officer, who listened, helped, and in doing so changed everything. David went on to become an artist, and in autumn 2018, when the Bureau’s initial figures were revealed, he spoke on Channel 4 News.

“We have this fear to talk to homeless people, we seem to dehumanise them.”David Tovey, a campaigner who used to be homeless, and Crisis Policy Director Matthew Downie respond to new figures which suggest that at least 449 homeless people have died in the UK in the last year. pic.twitter.com/6vkl3jqIAj— Channel 4 News (@Channel4News) October 9, 2018

David Tovey, a campaigner who used to be homeless, and Crisis Policy Director Matthew Downie respond to new figures which suggest that at least 449 homeless people have died in the UK in the last year. pic.twitter.com/6vkl3jqIAj

— Channel 4 News (@Channel4News) October 9, 2018

No Fixed Abode was researched and written before the coronavirus pandemic, but the manner in which it exacerbated inequalities is addressed in the preface.

People who are homeless have circumstances that make them more vulnerable to the pandemic, it notes. Homeless people already had higher mortality rates and were far more likely to have respiratory problems, mental health issues or substance abuse issues.

And yet…

The pandemic also changed society’s ideas of what is possible. By Government order, thousands of people were accommodated without question, as services focused on one non-negotiable end goal. McClenaghan writes: “As pleased as I was to see it happen, I couldn’t help but wonder: should it really have taken a global pandemic to get us here?”

Can such a can-do attitude last? Can we continue to achieve the unthinkable, by focusing on the end goal and not getting bogged down in process? 

The pandemic will sweep millions into or towards poverty, but it has also brought communities together, challenged what we as a society prioritise, and enabled us to see clearly how many lifelines and safety rails have been removed over the years.

McClenaghan writes: “For many, the effect of years of austerity policies and tightened belts was invisible… But this pandemic has taught us that the invisible catches up with us and, when it does, we can either bury our heads in the sand or face up to where we have come to….  I hope the frustrations and injustices laid out in this book are a thing of the past. But unless we stare them down, understand how they happened and why, we will never learn how to build back better.”

  • No Fixed Abode by Maeve McClenaghan is published by Pan Macmillan on September 17, and is available to order here.

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We must all look out for one another, to ensure nobody is cut adrift.

We continue to hear heartening stories of how communities across the country are pulling together. The video below tells the story of one of our oldest partners, the Cedarwood Trust in North Shields.

 

The project usually operates a range of projects from its community centre on the Meadowell estate. But since lockdown, regulars, neighbours, staff and volunteers have been coming together to ensure nobody in the community is cut adrift.

Watch the video above to hear first-hand from local residents Jean, Henry, Adam, Lindsey, Lynne, Andrew and Dorothy, as well as the staff.

The team have been delivering meals, making phone calls, sourcing spare baby supplies or equipment, and holding cherished doorstep conversations. Wayne Dobson, chief executive at Cedarwood, says the experience of lockdown will change their approach forever. He says there is a tremendous community spirit on the estate, and says:
We cannot just be custodians of the building. We need to be out in the community and that’s one of the things we are going to do differently when this is all over – we are going to continue the community outreach.  

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Community choirs in Sheffield have come together online beautifully.

All of us have been seeking ways to stay connected during the coronavirus outbreak, and to sustain community through these rocky waters.

Today, we’re delighted to share a wonderful piece of community singing, produced by some of our partners and friends in Sheffield.

Community choir coordinator Yo Tozer-Loft worked with an editor and four local choirs, to produce a beautiful community rendition of A Whole New World, from Disney’s Aladdin.

The choirs involved were the Dore & Totley Intergenerational Singing Teapot Choir; the St Mary’s Family Choir;  the Meersbrook URC Community Choir; and the Gleadless Valley Food Glorious Food Choir and Friends.

Yo had previously worked with us last year, when the last of those choirs helped lead our End Hunger UK work and performed at Sheffield Cathedral.

She said: “Early in lockdown, we were making things up as we went along and trying to master the technology. Making a video became a good focus for our Zoom singing and a way of making something collective happen in this time. Some people were really feeling lost and unproductive. 

“There were 35 singers and me. An accompanist made a backing track and we had five sessions learning the parts on Zoom, then shared it all via WhatsApp and our editor (John Swain) put it together.

“I am really delighted with it; I know the work the singers put in. For some it was a really big thing to see themselves featuring solo on camera. It really cheered people up and gave people a lift.

“We had planned to go into a Disney phase with the choirs anyway, and that was one of the songs. A Whole New World suddenly seemed very apt and it was quite serendipitous that it was completed just as new life tentatively set foot with the major unlocking last weekend.”

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Our latest podcast episode features some inspiring stories of kindness and solidarity from York. Press play below to listen.

All of us, all over the country, have hopefully seen very clearly the kindness and compassion that have flown through society in recent months.

Neighbours looking out for one another, communities pulling together, people sharing supplies or simple words of kindness and encouragement. In adversity, we have pulled together.

In this blog and in the accompanying podcast, we take a snapshot look at just one city: York. There, community groups and residents tell of inspiring teamwork and solidarity. In the words of one person we spoke to, “there has been a fantastic outpouring of goodwill”. Hopefully, much of this rings true wherever you are as well.

You can listen to some of the people we spoke to on our podcast. If you prefer the written version, read on.

The city’s elected leaders have already been looking at how to harness the kindness and goodwill for the long-term. The council’s own registered volunteers had provided more than 25,000 hours of support by the end of May, dealing with thousands of requests for help. Other projects and informal support networks take that number far higher.

Here are contributions from some of the many people and projects pulling together around the city.

Mary Passeri & Sydnie Corley, York Food Justice Alliance

“We’ve had people come from all over, even from areas that people consider affluent, looking for food. There’s a lot of hidden poverty out there in York.

“We’ve had quite a few emails saying people are struggling, who don’t know the routes of how to get help or they have tried certain routes and not had any feedback or response because everyone is inundated with trying to help people they originally supported, or people who are in isolation.

“The best thing we’ve been able to do is to link up with other little informal groups. This is the beauty of the alliance; it’s made up of lots of different people in different areas of York. So if we get a load of bananas, we’ve been able to swap bananas for rice, for example. We share food out. It’s been amazing how supportive and how quickly people can get help and support.

“It’s put a mirror up to people that, you know what, this could be you. It could be anybody.

“We’re going to be supporting families for a very long time. Hopefully we can get our food market back up and running because we are supporting so many people that didn’t necessarily want to admit they needed extra food, and they may be people who are on the side now and not actually getting support. There’s still that stigma or shame unfortunately, which hopefully is breaking down now.

“It’s amazing how people have come together; people we thought would never support or even understand that food security was a problem have just come round and are offering to help all the time.”

Tony Carson, who lives in the city-centre

“We’re on Universal Credit. I think everybody knows it’s a very flawed system. We just about manage to get by. You certainly don’t live an extravagant lifestyle but we budget as well as we can; we limit ourselves to £2 per person per day food-wise so we can afford to keep up to date with the bills. That’s effectively how you have to exist.”

Tony and his partner Sue were homeless for seven weeks in 2018, but have been in a flat for the past 18 months, and Tony has been working as a cycle courier and advertiser. That work has dried up, so he is looking forward to finding work again, and to seeing Sue’s daughter’s new baby for the first time.

He hopes also that the drive to ensure nobody was sleeping rough during the lockdown can be a turning point:

“I’m not a great fan of our present Government but on this occasion I think they did a very good job and in actively seeking out the homeless and getting them indoors. There’s an argument to say it should have been done years ago…  It’s always been something people have turned a blind eye to. There are still people choosing to be outdoors; that’s their decision, but the greater majority of people who were homeless in the city are now in the Staycity [an aparthotel in the city centre]. It’s got to be a better solution, it’s obviously not a long-term solution, but let’s hope in the long run that lessons are learned by this.”

Nicky Gladstone runs Carecent, which provides hot breakfasts, showers, support and kindness to people who are homeless or otherwise in need

When lockdown began, Carecent switched to a delivery service, making packed lunches for their regulars who were temporarily in hotels and B&Bs, and liaising with other local organisations to ensure further support.

“At the highest point, we were making 50 packed lunches a day and then other amazing groups were providing food in the evenings… Our main volunteer group is largely made up of people from the slightly older section of society, so we appealed on social media and we were overwhelmed by the kindness of people who came forward and offered their help, people who had been furloughed, students who had come back, people who were out of work.

“In fact things changed so quickly that although we had this fantastic second body of volunteers, we were not able to use them and we have a tiny skeleton team of eight now, in teams of two, that make the sandwiches. We have kept it as small as possible to reduce any risk of infection. But we are hoping maybe to make use of some of that fantastic outpouring of goodwill as we look towards reopening.

“I do feel a real sense of positivity. We have all, across York, enjoyed such close collaboration, real partnership working with us, our friends at KEY and other food providers, Salvation Army, the Peaseholme, the council, Changing Lives; we’ve all worked together so closely and shared information where appropriate and looked after each other. I really believe that this is a new opportunity to work together, to work closely, to all pull in the same direction and really make some long-term differences.”

Nicky says co-production with people who are currently homeless is easy to overlook, while projects are rolling their sleeves up, but she says: “It is so important to work in co-creation and co-production with people who genuinely have lived experience and to find out what it is they want and need. So often it is easy to decide we know the answers, but we know there is no substitute for asking those questions and involving people who really know what they are talking about.

“We saw so clearly what was valuable in this lockdown; we’ve seen so clearly the things that matter, the people who really make a difference and it would be wonderful to think that we could hold on to that, that we could carry on celebrating the people who actually keep up going and keep the wheels of society turning – and it’s perhaps not who everybody thought it was to start with. We have looked after each other, haven’t we, and it would be wonderful to think that that could carry on.”

Rosie Wall, Chapelfields resident

Rosie has helped run the Chapelfields Community Association for many years. She has been shielding during the outbreak but her daughters and grandson have been running a pop-up food stall and delivering food to 71 homes locally.

“We are doing deliveries to a list of homes. We get food from various projects – Kitchen For Everyone York, Morrisons, Lidl, M&S and others. We give out what we can. Some weeks we can’t meet all the requests but we go as far as we can. A lot of people here, especially the elderly, are on their own and cannot get out, but we put food on the doorstep and they take it in.

“People have been really kind and some people have given donations so we can buy stuff to hand back out, and we have a facebook page so we can say if we need anything.

“I really hope the community stays like this. There’s a lot of kindness and it’s lovely when someone rings and chats. I don’t know when we’ll be able to open our regular hub again but we are keeping in touch with people. Sometimes if you speak to someone who is on their own, you might be their only conversation that day. So it’s not just about the food, it’s a friendly knock on the door and knowing there’s someone there to just chat to from a distance.

“My 13-year-old grandson, Leidan, has been helping a lot. He is autistic and this is keeping him busy, when his routine is out of synch.”

Hilary Platt, Bell Farm Community Hall

“Right from the start we have been providing food. We decided to release our funds from our charity to buy food because we knew it could be needed.

“A lot of people round here were stuck inside and did not have money or could not get out, but were not officially shielded, so were not getting deliveries. We have been helping a lot of people. People have been coming saying they have no food and we are providing parcels through the window. We’ve had people coming from all over York, it’s been very challenging. We struggled at first but we are keeping up now. The local Trussell Trust food bank has been very helpful and giving us donations as well.”

Food has been provided through Fareshare, KEY and others, as well as supermarkets, supplanting the tinned and dried items with fresh food.

“The public have been very generous since they’ve been able to go shopping properly again and the community response has been fantastic; if I say we need a volunteer, I have one within five minutes. We’ve always had a good community spirit. Of course some don’t want to know, but most are very supportive.

“We’ve had so many people saying they want to come and help, and we are asking them now to come and help once this is over, when we need to get the hall and the association back to life, and we need to fundraise and recover. We know this is going to last until at least next year and we probably won’t open the hall fully for a long time. The school holidays and Christmas will be tough. The school vouchers decision is good but a lot of people will not benefit. If you are applying now for Universal Credit, it will be five weeks until you get it and you won’t get the vouchers.

“I’ve had five people here recently who have lost their jobs and Universal Credit will not help them until next month at least. We had someone here who was doing fine. She lives on her own and had a good job, self-employed, but now has no money and no food, but she has realised now that food poverty can happen to anyone. We had a taxi driver as well, who had never struggled before but his wife had become ill and now he had no work, and they have a big family. It has completely changed the way they feel about everything. I think this will have a big change on people’s attitudes; it will change how they feel about people who are on benefits.

“York is expensive. We have people paying maybe £1,000 a month in rent, and Universal Credit does not nearly cover that. People who were maybe slamming others before are now realising they’re not able to get this, that or the other. A lot of the poorest already knew where to turn, but there are people who have never had to struggle before and who are finding it really difficult to access anything, and they’re saying “we’ve never had to do this before”. They feel shame and we’re trying to make them feel okay. We’ve been hearing of people at home for almost a week with no food. I was worried people were going to die. A lot of families are covered by other organisations but there are people without children who, if all their income is suddenly stopped, have nothing left. There’s nobody looking out for them; that’s who we have seen a lot of. But the community is pulling together.”

Maya James, Groves Groceries

Maya helps with Groves Groceries, which runs from St Thomas’s Church. The church website notes: “It’s often said that we are all in the same boat when it comes to the coronavirus crisis. But that isn’t really true. While we are all weathering the same storm, we are in a number of different boats.

“Some of our vessels are large, luxurious and relatively safe. Things may be tough for us but we’re unlikely to slip beneath the waves. Other vessels are small and barely seaworthy. They are being battered by the storm, their occupants clinging on for dear life.”

The project is closely supporting local people who might otherwise be unable to stay afloat, including some families from two local primary schools.

Maya recently shared her story with the city-wide volunteering network. She says: “One of the aims of this project was to provide food for families in real need during this time. Equally, we wanted to use this project as a way of staying in touch with people connected to St Thomas’s, who we might otherwise lose touch with as at the moment we don’t meet physically together on a Sunday or in our midweek groups.

“Just over half of the people we deliver to are within our parish. We also deliver five boxes of food each week to two primary schools in the parish. The other people we deliver to live relatively close by, and are either members of our church family or of the church community groups that we normally run, or they have been referred to us by local organisations.

“Over the last eight weeks we have delivered 419 bags of food, 283 separate deliveries and 28 crates of bread (to Door 84 and Tang Hall Primary School).

“We are working with ‘Your Café’ which hasn’t been able to operate during this time and they have long-standing links to the local supermarkets.

“We will run Groves Groceries until July 22nd. After this, Luke’s larder will recommence from July 28 (1pm to 2pm), from St Luke’s church hall on Burton Stone Lane.

“We believe this has been an enormous answer to prayer to us and we are so pleased we have been able to help so many people during this time.”

John McGall, community activist

John has immersed himself in helping anti-poverty groups in York, after an arm operation and then two rounds of heart surgery changed his outlook on life. He co-founded I Am Reusable, which collects and distributes donations to people on very low incomes across Yorkshire, and which also works to tackle plastic pollution and waste.

He has been shielding during the outbreak but has been coordinating city-wide donations, deliveries and distribution from his house and garage.

“As individuals and individual groups, we can do marvellous things, but as a consortium we can do even more – sharing items, looking for bigger items and trying to get one hub together. We all talk to each other every day and if someone needs something, a bed or whatever, we all try to help.”

He praised the Supper Collective, an alliance of some of the city’s best-known restaurants and cafes and 60 volunteers, who have cooked and delivered meals to NHS workers, people who are homeless, or people who are otherwise struggling, every day for three months.

“York has really pulled together and helped the community, it really has. Businesses, supermarkets, community projects have all come together. People who never talked to each other have been talking and there’s been a big rise in the community helping each other.”

John became involved in local community work after an arm operation just over ten years ago. He had been working for the NHS until then but was shocked to see how poor the support was for people unable to work. “People were being treated appallingly, and going from being a professional person to being unable to work was difficult for me, and there was no help there. If I hadn’t been married, and had my wife for support, I would have become homeless, so I started thinking that if I could help one other person every day, that would be good. My experience means I can help people who are looking to access help. Then after my first heart attack, I started wondering what I could do while sitting at home, but now my garage is full of stuff to share around.

“The big picture is still long-term, especially if we get a second wave. A lot of businesses have donated but we don’t how long that will carry on. Unemployment is going to go right up and with York being a big hospitality city, with low pay and with the hotels not yet open, there will be a knock-on effect. I can see more people needing support and we need to keep pulling together for each other. We will carry on and those most involved have become good friends. We know each other and if we do get back to some sort of normality, we will still carry on helping each other out.”

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Press play to listen:

Three women in north Sheffield share their lockdown insights, including on autism, friendly support, digital exclusion and staying connected

Carlie, left, and Charlotte, from Parson Cross in Sheffield

We all need to stay connected, now more than ever.

Church Action on Poverty and many of our partners have been finding new ways to ensure we sustain community, and even build new relationships that will outlast the coronavirus outbreak.

In the second episode of our new podcast, The Cast to End Poverty, we hear from three people in Sheffield, with particular insights into how the lockdown has impacted people who are most marginalised.

Charlotte works for the Parson Cross Initiative (PXI) in north Sheffield. She has already written two excellent blogs about the consequences of the outbreak in her neighbourhood, and she updates listeners on PXI’s work.

The project has always run groups around music, gardening, cooking, art and food, bringing people together through shared passions.

Charlotte says: “The social aspects of what we did have had to be put on hold, so it’s had a big impact. We’ve still been able to offer emergency food but people are missing the social contact, that’s the thing we’re really picking up on.

“We’ve set up something called keeping close with PXI because we wanted to say to people that we’re still there and that we still wanted to keep contact so people have been sharing their news and their craft projects they’ve been doing.”

On the podcast, Charlotte introduces two local residents: Carlie and Michelle.

The Parson Cross area of Sheffield

You're not on your own

Carlie lives alone with her two children, Isaac, aged six, and Lillie, aged 12, and she is also a co-founder of a support group, Autism Hope. Michelle works in local schools and with families that are on the margins.

Each of them had recorded conversations with Charlotte, which feature on the podcast.

Carlie tells listeners: “We’re coping; just about. There have been some extremely difficult times. Isaac, who has autism and severe learning difficulties struggles the most, so not being able to access school and having his routines taken away has had a huge impact on him. As the weeks have gone it is has got worse.”

She says Lillie has been amazing and weekly calls from school have been useful, but Isaac misses his grandma, his routine, and ordinary visits to the supermarket.

The greatest support has come from the autism support group, which has been keeping in touch online and through phone messages.

Carlie says: “You’re not on your own; other people do understand and are going through the same thing. One of my friends has two children with autism and has lost her own mum but has been sending little gifts to Lillie.”

She says:

“I think this has been a glimpse for everyone to see what it is like to feel isolated and to not be able to access things that other people can”.

She says she hopes that as society redesigns itself after this outbreak, families don’t have to get to breaking point before help is available.

Carlie at an Autism Hope event

Enduring support

Charlotte says: “There are obviously a lot of families who are really struggling with lockdown and they had been marginalised and felt isolated before and I think that’s what Carlie expresses really well.

“I also think what she expresses well is how they were supporting each other before, on facebook, calling one another – that support was happening before and has been going on throughout this and I took from our conversation what a strong group they are.”

You can hear Charlotte and Carlie’s full conversation on the latest episode of our podcast, Cast To End Poverty, available on all podcast platforms now. On the same episode, you can also hear Michelle talking about she and colleagues have responded to the crisis, including by providing laptops to help combat digital exclusion.

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From churches to the Government: end this great sibling injustice

A close-up of a camera lens

Good journalism can be undermined by damaging picture choice

by Gavin Aitchison, media unit coordinator at Church Action on Poverty

You will have seen them, though almost certainly won’t know who they are. Two young boys, kicking a football around in Glasgow.

They’re outside a building that has graffiti on it and there’s a shopping trolley in the foreground. It’s a brief snapshot in time, captured by a photographer on Tuesday, September 30th, 2008. But somehow, a few images of this fleeting moment have taken on a life of their own.

For more than a decade, these photos have been among the most-used stock images for media reports about poverty. Even when articles are nuanced, insightful and constructive, they are often accompanied by these clunking and misleading images. Now, as the impact of the coronavirus outbreak threatens to sweep many more UK families into poverty, they are back again.

On the off chance that you don’t know what pictures we’re talking about, you can see them on the website of Getty Images. Alternatively, conduct a google image search for ‘uk poverty’ and you’ll see them in results like this (the second, third and seventh shots on the top row are all from this shoot and appear countless times in media stories).

There are three principal things wrong with the way these images are used:

  1. They are very old and now out of date
  2. What is happening in the photos is hardly ever explained, and is not what you think
  3. They undermine and hinder attempts to tackle poverty in the UK

These pictures are undoubtedly striking and powerful, but they carry an othering effect that has grown with time. They are laden with visual tropes likely to prompt concern. There’s an abandoned trolley, unaccompanied children, a vandalised building, litter, unkempt paths. The message to viewers is: poverty exists in streets like this. And, therefore, not where you live. These scenes (even before we get to the misleading way the photos are used) display a particularly dramatised manifestastion of poverty, which skews and narrows public understanding of what poverty is.

It’s said that the camera never lies, but when you see these photos in newspaper after newspaper, they do not tell the truth.

Seeking the street

A Google Earth image of part of west Glasgow, near Govan. The frequently-used Getty photos were shot in the streets in the top-left corner

I decided to try to find where these photos were taken, to see whether they reflected reality. Then, when searching online, I found that Paul Climie, a blogger in Glasgow, had already done exactly that.

Thanks to a recognisable fence and petrol station in the background of one photo, he was able to use local knowledge to pinpoint the location. His compelling analysis show how false, dangerous and unhealthy these photos are. With Paul’s permission, I share extracts of his post below.

He writes:

“…The other thing I know about the type of tenements I recognised in these pictures, is that they too were demolished shortly after the pictures were taken in 2008.

Nobody lived in those boarded up flats. Nobody was there to care for the garden or keep an eye out for vandalism. The images fit a handy stereotype, which I believe is harmful and not particularly accurate or representative….

“These photographs of children playing amidst boarded up and vandalised houses are deceptive, … [they were] taken at a time when they were awaiting demolition and were empty… Yet every few weeks, these derelict tenements awaiting demolition are re-built in the pages and websites of the national media to illustrate ‘childhood poverty’.”

So points 1 and 2: The photos are now nearly 12 years old, and they do not show anyone’s homes, but rather a derelict building awaiting demolition on a site that was then redeveloped.

Getty, it should be said, includes this note on its site, stating that the buildings have since been demolished, but that point never appears when the photo is reused by other media. The unexplained photo remains a dominant but false characterisation of poverty. It misrepresents that neighbourhood, but the damage is much wider.

You might say it’s only an image, that lots of stock images are used by the media, and that people will read beyond headlines and photos. But no. We know pictures have an impact. People think in images and photos trigger ingrained thoughts and ideas that can help or hinder the way we see ourselves, others and our environment.

Here, the photos matter because they make poverty look remote, when we know it isn’t. Between a quarter and a fifth of people in Britain live in poverty. It is in every county, town and city in the country.

As Paul says:

“I would argue that the pictures used repeatedly to present an image of poverty reinforce this idea that the story is not about “people like me”. I don’t live in a house like that. I supervise my kids, clean my close and cut my grass. These images feed a narrative of “them and us”…

That’s the problem I have with these unsupervised children in a neglected building illustrating every single story we read on the topic, this “othering”. They are not like “us”, these poor people. We wouldn’t end up in that situation. It must be the fault of the parents, not society or government.”

Analysis of media coverage of poverty has repeatedly identified the ‘othering’ nature of reports. We aspire to be a society in which we all pull together to improve things, and where we draw on our shared humanity to tackle social injustice. Imagery that creates ‘us and them’ division undermines that. [See, for instance, work by Joseph Rowntree Foundation in 2008, the LSE in 2014, and Lankelly Chase in 2020]

The images above shows the 2008 scene, and the same spot in 2019, as captured by Paul. He writes:

“Here is the reality of that derelict street today. It may still be an area with problems, but I think we need to find a more nuanced way to talk about poverty. The stereotype we get accompanying these news stories is just that. A stereotype.”

What does poverty in the UK look like? It’s a class of primary school children, a quarter of whom will be held back by structures beyond their control and an economy that denies their family an adequate income. It’s a parent forgoing meals because even though they have several jobs, none offers enough hours in the week to cover the bills. It’s someone with long-term disabilities, who is suddenly expected to seek work they cannot manage, or see even more of their support removed by the state. It’s a child who cannot keep up with their friends during the coronavirus lockdown, because they are digitally excluded, unable to access online learning resources. It’s an underpaid worker in London, forced to compromise their safety in these worrying times, when others can choose not to. It’s a young couple who have had to move back in with parents, because the rents in their city have soared far faster than wages. It’s a hidden carer, looking after their elderly parents at the same time as caring for their own kids, so unable to pursue the opportunities that might otherwise open up.

Photos like the Glasgow ones mislead, stigmatise and stereotype, and in doing so they exacerbate ignorance. They reduce people’s ability to understand others’ lives, and therefore hinder attempts to bring people together and develop a shared understanding that can identify and bring about meaningful social change. From a journalistic perspective, these photos also hinder the very purpose of the news media, namely to inform and improve public understanding.

At Church Action on Poverty, we have spent the past five years working to challenge misleading and damaging media coverage of poverty, and we’re working with others now to press for more considered picture selection.

Others are raising similar concerns, such as here in the What’s The Problem? project.

On this particular issue, I’ve decided to act.  When I see that photo now, I will email the newspaper editor, point them to Paul’s blog post, and ask them to rethink the way the portray poverty in the UK.  It’s a small step, but it might just help us to end the stigmatisation of people in poverty.

If you see these photos, or other stock images that you feel exacerbate false stereotypes of poverty, let us know and you and we can together help work towards better coverage.

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SPARK newsletter, summer 2021

Building Dignity, Agency and Power Together

SPARK autumn 2024

Time to scrap the two-child limit

From churches to the Government: end this great sibling injustice

Our new Cast To End Poverty will bring stories and insights from across the UK, from people helping to create a more just and compassionate society

We work with some wonderful people and projects, who are making a huge difference in their communities, helping to loosen poverty’s grip and challenging unjust systems.

We always want to share these stories, and are always keen to find new ways to do so. That’s why, this week, we’ve launched our new podcast: the Cast To End Poverty.

In each episode, we will hear new stories and perspectives from across the movement to end poverty. Very often, we’ll hear directly from people with personal experiences of UK poverty, learning what exacerbates poverty and what can unlock it. And we’ll frequently highlight steps you can take, to help to create a more just and compassionate society.

Our first episode is online now, and you should be able to subscribe through your regular podcast platform within the next few days.

We’ll be chatting to a wide range of people over the coming weeks and months.

In our first episode, our director Niall Cooper talks with Hannah Lambie-Mumford from the University of Sheffield, about the social and economic implications of the coronavirus outbreak. They discuss the sudden increase in people needing support with food provision and discuss potential solutions and shared ideals.

Niall and Hannah discuss some of the ideas and suggestions raised by Niall in this article.

During the coronavirus outbreak, we have all been struck by the outpouring of kindness in neighbourhoods up and down the country. None of us wants to see our neighbours being cut adrift or left without access to good food. None of us is happy with families being swept into debt or children being held back in their schoolwork because they don’t have the same access to digital resources as others. 

The need for just and compassionate systems has been brought into sharp focus but the need existed before and will exist long after the outbreak. By listening to new stories and new insights, and by listening to new voices, we can all help create a better society.

This outrageous, counter-productive Budget marginalises people with least

A sermon for Church Action on Poverty Sunday

Stories that challenge: Emma’s road to church

Sheffield voices: We need higher incomes and more for young people

Cost of living scandal: 7 truly useful church responses

Stories that challenge: Alan & Ben

SPARK autumn 2024

Time to scrap the two-child limit

From churches to the Government: end this great sibling injustice

Sheena is involved with one of our SRG projects in Manchester. She's 96, and her views on the current tough times, and those that have gone before, give us some useful reminders.

In difficult times, it can be reassuring to recall the steadfast values that have served us well before.

Our staff team here at Church Action on Poverty and our partners have been busy in the past few weeks talking to the people we work with, finding out how they are getting on, trying to be community ourselves, and also seeing where systems could yet be improved, to ensure nobody is left adrift.

A recent chat with Sheena, through one of our Self-Reliant Groups, heartened us greatly and reminded us that no matter how confusing and difficult the current journey may be, kindness, community and communication can help us all. Sheena is 96, so can remember more than most, and we thought we’d share some of her thoughts on the current situation, and also her memories of the late 1930s and early 1940s, when the Second World War broke out.

“Something I always remember from the war is that people shared. I had a lot of rhubarb in my garden and I would always go with bundles to the neighbours, and we had a holly tree too, so at Christmas I would go round with holly, because we all shared what we had. Lots of people where we lived had a share in an allotment if they didn’t have a garden, and everyone grew vegetables and looked to share things. Rationing was very tight, and we shared. I think that time is comparable to this time, although at least then you knew what you were fighting. This is more an unknown quantity.”

Sheena was at school in Alloa near Stirling when the war started, but soon went to work in a bank after the male staff were called up. She later worked in a solicitor’s office and then the Post Office.

“The mail always had to get through, war or no war. It was very important. Letters were very important for people, whether you were in the war or not.”

Sheena married after the war and she and her husband, who had been in the Russian convoys, moved to Birmingham. Her husband went to work at the GEC, and Sheena worked as a hospital receptionist.

I loved working in the hospital and being able to help people, I remember I always said I would treat people exactly the way I would like to be treated.

I think that’s still true – sometimes people might just need a cup of tea or a phone call.

“I live at Limelight in Manchester now and am having to stay in my flat. My son lives not too far away and he does my shopping, and he has grandchildren as well, but it’s hard to get across to the children what’s happening. My great-grandchildren are two and four and it’s very difficult to tell children they cannot see people.

“I am glad to have lived this long and I am old now, but I would still like to survive and community is important. The telephone is so important for me. I did use a computer when I worked as a hospital receptionist but I didn’t carry it on and I couldn’t do it now. But good communication and kindness are important. Laura from the SRG is lovely to us. We’re in a good position here. People survive with support from one another, there’s no doubt about that. I think in a crisis, the best comes out in people. Just look how much money that man [Captain Tom Moore] raised in his garden – it brings out the best in people and we can pull together.”

Over the past month, we’ve seen a lot of pulling together. We know times are very strange and perhaps disconcerting at the moment, but if we pull together like we have done in the past, then we can pull through together.

Sheena’s memories of sharing surpluses, keeping open the vital lines of communication and treating others as we’d like to be treated are timeless, loving values. They’ve never been lost, but we see them very clearly now in the mutual aid and neighbourhood support groups that have sprung up all around us.

Our work at Church Action on Poverty is always centred around compassionate community, and communal campaigns. None of us should be left adrift. We all need one another, and we can all support one another. If we can do that now, and once this is all over, we’ll create lasting change.

This outrageous, counter-productive Budget marginalises people with least

A sermon for Church Action on Poverty Sunday

Stories that challenge: Emma’s road to church

Sheffield voices: We need higher incomes and more for young people

Cost of living scandal: 7 truly useful church responses

Stories that challenge: Alan & Ben

SPARK autumn 2024

Time to scrap the two-child limit

From churches to the Government: end this great sibling injustice