Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
‘There’s so much poverty here, you don’t know where to start’
Families in the district’s poorest neighbourhood are struggling to “survive from day to day”, says a local vicar. New figures reveal one in six children across the Canterbury district is being raised in low-income poverty. And the issue is worst in the city’s Northgate ward, where more than a quarter of children are growing up in families taking home less than £295 per week.
The Rev Phil Greig, of All Saints Church in Military Road, says many people face an uphill battle to pay energy bills and provide for their children.
“Families are trying their absolute hardest to survive from day to day,” he said. “There’s so much poverty here that you almost feel helpless when you’re trying to help because you don’t know where to start.
“Very often
people don’t know what their circumstances are with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP); if there was a clear way of communicating with families what they’re entitled to, then they’d have a clearer picture of their finances.”
In total, 4,224 children in Canterbury, Herne Bay and Whitstable are being raised in low- income poverty - up from 3,164 in
April 2015, according to DWP statistics.
Rev Greig, who runs food banks and a range of community projects from his church, also says that a number of children are growing up without access to the internet. “That has an impact on education,” he added. “With more and more e-consultations being held with doctors, there’s going to be families in this community who won’t be able to have those appointments.” Elsewhere in the city, Barton ward has seen the largest jump in the number of children being raised in low-income poverty between the financial years 2014/15 and 2018/19, rising 76%.
Speaking to the Gazette, a single mum from Canterbury living below the low-income threshold says she has previously had to go without food in order to feed her daughter, aged two.
“I try not to think about how we’ll make ends meet when she’s at school because it’s a really stressful situation,” she said.
“I can’t treat my daughter as much.
“When I do get paid, I’ve got to make sure I’ve got all the food, and if I can’t do that, it messes me up for the month. “If the price of her nappies
is more expensive one week, I’ve got to cut into a bill. “As it gets colder, I’ll probably have to sacrifice something for me to try to pay for the heating.”
Meanwhile, Heron in the centre of Herne Bay has the most of any ward in the district, with 399.
The town’s MP, Sir Roger Gale, said: “I am genuinely surprised there are that many in the district.
“It’s clearly of concern. I think now, probably, the greatest impact is that you have the haves and the have-nots. So you have kids with Nike trainers and the latest electronic gizmos, and others who haven’t. “If their peers have something they haven’t got, then they notice it, and that’s probably the hardest single effect on children from low-income families.”
Gorrell has the highest number of impoverished children of any ward in ward in Whitstable, with 383.
In all, just three areas across the district have experienced falls in the levels of child poverty.
Blaming the overall rise across her constituency on Tory cuts, Canterbury and Whitstable MP Rosie Duffield said: “The impact of growing up in a low-income household can be huge, from parents being unable to provide regular nutritious meals, to being unable to pay for school uniform that fits properly,” she said.
“These children do not have the chance to join paid-for clubs or take part in sports outside of school, and many of them will also have to take on caring responsibilities for their siblings while parents are engaged in poorly paid shift work.
“Going forward, as the current Chancellor looks to balance the books post-covid, he must not put back the planned rise to the living wage, as to do so would only exacerbate this growing problem in our area and nationwide.”