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Frozen in the headlights: being poor in Newcastle

Frozen in the headlights: being poor in Newcastle. 6 November 2012. Changing social attitudes. British Social A ttitudes S urvey: signs of increasing social divisions, a hardening of attitudes towards welfare support, less tolerance of immigration

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Frozen in the headlights: being poor in Newcastle

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  1. Frozen in the headlights:being poor in Newcastle 6 November 2012 www.cvsnewcastle.org.uk supporting voluntary and community action in Newcastle

  2. www.cvsnewcastle.org.uk supporting voluntary and community action in Newcastle

  3. Changing social attitudes • British Social Attitudes Survey: signs of increasing social divisions, a hardening of attitudes towards welfare support, less tolerance of immigration • Scope: discrimination towards disabled people rising as a result of ‘benefit scrounger’ rhetoric, 46% of disabled people reporting attitudes towards them had worsened during the past 12 months www.cvsnewcastle.org.uk supporting voluntary and community action in Newcastle

  4. Context: the perfect storm • Coalition austerity policies • Reduced government investment • Shrinking public sector • Changes to benefit system • Changes to tax credits • Move to more part-time working www.cvsnewcastle.org.uk supporting voluntary and community action in Newcastle

  5. Where are the food banks? www.cvsnewcastle.org.uk supporting voluntary and community action in Newcastle

  6. Food Banks • Children’s Society, Brunswick Methodist Church • Missionaries of Charity, Durham Street • Newcastle East Food Bank, Elim Pentecostal Church, Heaton Road • Newcastle YMCA • St Andrew’s Church, Newgate Street • St Joseph’s Asylum Project, Armstrong Road • Storehouse, Tyneside Vineyard, City Road • Walking With, Wallsend www.cvsnewcastle.org.uk supporting voluntary and community action in Newcastle

  7. Other facilities • Blandford Square – Hot drinks and sandwiches, Saturdays • Peoples Kitchen, The Alison Centre - Hot meals and sandwiches and hot drinks: 4 sessions at Alison Centre plus 4 street outreach sessions • Summerhill Square, West Road - Hot meals and sandwiches, Sundays • The Cyrenians, Ron Eager House – Food and hot drinks: 5 projects in Newcastle, 1 in Gateshead • Walter’s Kitchen - Hot dogs, soup and pasta, St Andrew’s Church (Thursday) and Blandford Square (Sunday) • West End Refugee Service – Cash handouts for food • Edible Elswick, Elswick Community Garden – Run by West End Women and Girls www.cvsnewcastle.org.uk supporting voluntary and community action in Newcastle

  8. Findings • An increase in the number of families seeking help from food banks (number and testimony) • The demand is widespread and increasing but not overwhelming (at the moment) • A clear risk that food banks become part of the system instead of a supplementary support service to longer term solutions (policy and testimony) • Collaboration, and even co-location, between food banks and other services would improve the overall package of help for clients (testimony) • The hard work of food bank volunteers and the generous donations of the public have a huge impact on those affected (reported testimony) www.cvsnewcastle.org.uk supporting voluntary and community action in Newcastle

  9. Conclusions • Issue of poverty demonstrated by need • Issue of ‘rough sleeping’ further evidenced • Some evidence of increased need for food banks • Some evidence of increased demand for food kitchens • Food is a problem for families and individuals www.cvsnewcastle.org.uk supporting voluntary and community action in Newcastle

  10. “Demand has been steadily increasing and the most common reason we have noticed at our food bank is either debt or benefit changes.” – Food bank coordinator, Newcastle upon Tyne, October 2012. www.cvsnewcastle.org.uk supporting voluntary and community action in Newcastle

  11. Frozen in the headlightsthe key themes • Increasing anxiety due to welfare changes • Rising levels of personal debt and difficulties in managing debt • People disempowered from helping themselves by complex and demanding customer service systems • Steady and increasing demand on voluntary and community organisations for support and advice • Increasing pressure on individuals, communities and voluntary sector workers and volunteers www.cvsnewcastle.org.uk supporting voluntary and community action in Newcastle

  12. The perfect storm continues • Commission on living standards (Oct 2012) • ‘on the UK’s current path, come 2020 household incomes across the bottom half of the working age population look likely to be lower than they are today’ • JRF Universal Credit report (Oct 2012) • ‘low income families face a significant challenge, women likely to be affected disproportionately, needs to be a more visible ombudsman’ • Living Wage Week 4–10th November • ‘we believe that work should be the surest way out of poverty’ Living Wage Foundation www.cvsnewcastle.org.uk supporting voluntary and community action in Newcastle

  13. What can you do next? • What can your organisation do? • What can it do with partners e.g. other VCOs, city council, other public sector agencies, local businesses • And what type of support would you need from Newcastle CVS to achieve these actions? www.cvsnewcastle.org.uk supporting voluntary and community action in Newcastle

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