On Friday 25 January 2013 people from all walks of life met
in the Gorbals Parish Church for a conversation about life and poverty. The
event, organised by the Poverty Truth Commission (PTC), is the first in a
series of 6 ‘Poverty Truth Conversations’ seeking to bring together key
decision makers and public figures with people who have experienced social and
economic deprivation. The aim is to enlighten and allow those who have felt
marginalised to tell their story about what life is like in poverty in 21st
century Scotland. However, in addition to this, the conversations are about
establishing relationships and building friendships which, due to artificial
social and economic barriers, do not usually have the chance to develop.
Martin Johnstone, the Secretary of the Commission,
introduced the event by reminding the audience that although Scotland in many
ways has made large advances in the battle against poverty, there still remains
many concentrated pockets of deprivation, particularly in Glasgow. Although
some innovative strategies have been developed which have achieved partial
success, we still overlook a key ingredient in our approach to tackling poverty.
Those with the experience of the struggle, Martin highlighted, have rarely been
at the table.
A key goal of the series of conversations is to break down
the formal character usually prevalent in meetings and discussions about
poverty. This was helped in no small measure by comedy from Blair Green, one of
the PTC’s original commissioners. After just scraping past the PTC censor, Blair
covered a range of topical issues from horsemeat to coverage of poverty in some
newspapers. Intermingled in this, however, was the serious note that without
comedy, Blair would have struggled to survive the despair of poverty.
Then followed a presentation from two long-standing PTC
commissioners: Anne Marie Pfeffer (Buttle UK) and Donna Barrowcliffe. They
talked of their positive experiences working with the Commission through
developing positive human relationships between the marginalised and the
powerful. Donna talked of the incredible reactions she has had from civil
servants when telling them her story. She also talked of how, before participating
in the PTC, she felt that her voice had never been heard. Anne Marie and Donna
also showed how their speaking out had not only brought tangible success it had
also brought the two of them closer and they have developed a strong and lasting
friendship.
After that Elaine Downie of the PTC was in her element as
the post-it notes were out and the audience were invited to become active
participants, mingling with each other and telling their story of why they had
come along. A variety of responses were produced, from specific policy issues
such as kinship care and the living wage, to more general themes such as overcoming
obstacles, establishing relationships and seeing how the work of the PTC will
continue into the future. A similar exercise was then carried out asking what
area of concern the audience would like the Commission to address. This
generated interesting and diverse answers with many raising ideas such as child
poverty, the vilification of those in poverty by the media, local empowerment
and enabling the marginalised to have their voice rightly heard.
Then followed a film interview with Mari telling of her
struggle to survive on the minimum wage whilst providing for her child. The
film was introduced by Marie McCormack who talked of the difficulties in
interacting with the job centre. In the film, Mari talked of her love for her
job and her commitment to it but how she has received only the national minimum
wage for 6 years and this has barely been enough to survive on. She has had to
really on a caring network of family and friends in order to provide for her
child. In a very matter of fact and modest manner she talked of the great
personal sacrifices to ensure that her child did not go without.
A dynamic discussion then followed centred around the issues
raised in the film. Fred, Mari’s brother in-law, spoke at length about how she
was encouraged by the department of work and pensions to return to work but how
she now feels trapped. Blair picked up on this point, saying he feels the Job
Centre has lost its way and is now driven by statistics and not by treating the
individuals they deal with as human beings. A good point was raised by Andrea
Williamson, of GP’s at the Deep End, when she said the state is failing to
realise the interconnectedness of the problem and how it seems to just shift
the problem from one state department to another. The importance of early years
development of a child was also addressed, with many crucial elements of this
commented on, such as rising child care costs and poor provision for kinship
carers. Welfare reform was also discussed with Jim McCormack from the JosephRowntree Foundation stating that we need a different way of looking at its role
in society.
To round off the event was the first PTC film of 2013, a
Dickenzian Tale of the two sides of Glasgow. This was a music video by the hip hop artist and
new commissioner Ayesha Khan (also known as Deva One), expertly filmed by
Elaine. ‘We’ve forgotten who we are’ she sang as she raised themes of the stark
disparities in quality of life between those born in the deprived areas and the
expensive areas of Glasgow. Ayesha herself has lived in a variety of different
parts in Glasgow and has worked with Volition Scotland
which tackles the alienation felt by many youngsters in deprived areas and
seeks to steer them away from violence and find expression through music and
other art forms.
Just before the audience departed Martin left them one challenge: to find
another person in the room to arrange to meet up with independently of the
commission. This was enthusiastically received by the audience as they quickly
sought to build relationships and further the discussions of the day.
The Poverty Truth Commission would very much like to thank the
commissioners old and new for their attendance and the enthusiasm which they brought
to the event. The PTC is eagerly anticipating the next meeting on Friday, March
22.
Click here to view Ayesha's video
