ANNE RICHARDSON
his sister Courtney
Channel 4, 10pm
IT’S a scary statistic, but a tragic reality, that in Britain today, more than four million children are growing up in poverty.
Dispatches spent a year with three children and their families to get a sense of what these young people face every day, and what life is really like when there’s not enough money for the things most of us take for granted.
There’s eight-year-old Courtney, who lives with her younger brother NJ and mum in Cambridge. In Suffolk, 15-yearold Danielle shares a bedsit with her mum, a couple of miles away from younger brother Phoenix who lives with their dad. And nine-year-old Rose, living in Morecambe Bay with her mum, brother and sister.
How each of these families ended up in financial difficulties could so easily happen to any of us: relationship breakdown, bereavement and funeral expenses, domestic abuse, mental illness and problems with benefits.
The way each of the children copes with the toughness of their lives and talks about their experiences is extraordinary. Against the backdrop of empty fridges and cupboards, and sleeping in their coats, these kids are also having to cope with issues like being a young carer, trying to study for their GCSEs, dealing with grief and mental illness.
In a country like ours in 2019 food banks shouldn’t even need to exist, but thankfully they do. For the families featured they are a lifeline, meaning the parents don’t need to choose between heating and eating. This is a humbling, shaming and important watch.