“A Picture of Poverty in Leicester”: Citizens Advice LeicesterShire Partners with De Montfort University
Citizens Advice LeicesterShire joined forces with the team at DMU Engagement to bring a diverse range of voices together for a vital conversation about the “devastating” reality of poverty in Leicester—and what we can do about it.
We’re proud that over 70 partners from different charities, organisations and disciplines attended our event. This included representatives from across Leicester, including Action Homeless, Leicester City Council and local schools, such as Spinney Hill Primary School. As Citizens Advice LeicesterShire, we were pleased to be part of this collaborative approach to understanding and addressing poverty in our community.
“Closing the Gap”
Vicky Gutteridge, CEO of Citizens Advice LeicesterShire, kicked off the discussions by talking through some of the data we collect from the people we help, painting a stark picture. She showed that Leicester ranks higher on the Indices of Deprivation (IMD) scale than Derby and Nottingham, also pointing out that, of the 192 neighbourhoods in Leicester, 80 were amongst the most deprived in England.
There was also an emphasis on how working does not necessarily protect people from poverty; 68% of working-age adults and 50% of children in poverty are in households where at least one adult works.
“Simply put, poverty kills dreams and cages the dreamers”, she stated.
At a panel discussion, Vicky also spoke passionately about the stigma facing people in poverty. “People think poor people are making bad choices but this is not the case,” she said. “You make each choice because you have to and while money makes money, debt works exactly the same way.”
Poverty and Health
Professor of Public Health and Social Determinants of Health at DMU, Ivan Browne, presented concerning statistics showing that more than 50% of Leicester’s children are affected by deprivation. While the national average for children under 16 in low-income families is 19.1%, in Leicester it stands at 39.5%. Crucially, like Vicky, Professor Browne highlighted that this isn’t simply an unemployment issue: “The actual number of people in work in Leicester is quite high, but the salaries are not,” he explained.
“People are working, but their families are still fighting with poverty. Poverty affects how you feel, how you are, where there is hope. You are in a position where the efforts you make to get out makes it even harder.”
He cut straight to the heart of the issue, demonstrating the link between health and poverty, by ultimately calling it “a matter of life and death”.
Deeper Discussions
Our Head of Income and Partnerships, Melissa March, chaired the second panel discussion, during which Catherine Stretton, Headteacher of Spinney Hill Primary School, highlighted critical barriers faced by families in poverty. “The things we don’t see are the ways in which it is so hard for families in poverty to access support and challenge their situation,” she said. “They might not know how to fight like people in more affluent areas of the city know how to fight. Who is their voice?”
Other panellists included Dr Victoria Knight from DMU, Edd Quick from Leicester City Council and Dilpreet Kaur, a student voice representative from DMU too.
Working together
At Citizens Advice Leicestershire, we see firsthand the challenges Leicester households face every day. This partnership with DMU represents our ongoing commitment to working collaboratively across the city to tackle poverty, challenge stigma and ensure every resident has access to the support and advocacy they need.
A report will be pulled together about the event and the outcomes from across five different workshops on themes, such as poverty in education or fuel poverty or how we can best support the most vulnerable tenants in our city. We were grateful to Grey Duguid from Leicester’s Homelessness Charter, Mark Grant from Action Homeless, Mark Oldman from TMET, Cath Lewis and Edd Quick from Leicester City Council and Dr Mark Charlton from DMU for facilitating such broad and interesting workshops.
Given the success of the event, and the broad range of different issues that were raised for partners across the VCSE at large, we are hoping to partner with DMU again next year for another event to spotlight the impact poverty has on the lives of people in Leicester.