15,000 children on the brink of poverty in Swindon

The startling figures have been released by children’s charity Barnados.

Penhill has the most shocking number of children with parents who do not work or on low income in Swindon, with 69 per cent of the 1,860 children living on the poverty line. In the Parks, 65 per cent of children come from low income families.

The number comes as no surprise to Penhill parent Kerry Thomas who says single parent families like her own have been struggling to keep their heads above water for years.

“Life is getting harder and harder for families here,” said Kerry, of Stockton Road.

“Many of us are living in council homes because we can’t get on the property ladder.

“We are not working because we are caring for our children full-time and we can’t afford child care.

“The other half of us are struggling to find a job because of the cost of child care or we can’t get the hours that will work around collecting our kids from school.”

Kerry, 33, has been out of work for four years, caring for son Kai until he started school this September.

Since then the young mum says job opportunities have been scarce either because of her recent working history or the lack of flexible hours.

“I am not one of these mums that’s happy to sit back and watch the benefits roll in, I want to be out there working but who wants to employ a woman who has been jobless for four years?

“I want to get out of Penhill and drag us out of this situation but until Government support and funding meets the need here in Penhill, that ideal is well out of reach.”

Like many others in the area Kerry is living on around £10 a day.

“If that’s just for food there would be no problem but I have just had to pay £200 for Kai’s school uniform, shoes, bags, pencil cases and when he grows a bit bigger I’ll have to do it all over again, how is £10 a day going to cover that?

“And if that’s not enough, I am supposed to be one of the better-off parents in Penhill, what about those with three kids?

“We have been forgotten and until we speak up and demand the support we need, our children will grow up in the same, if not worse, situation.”

'Issue is being addressed'

DESPITE today’s revelation, Swindon Council and Swindon Primary Care Trust says they are making a difference in poverty figures.

In the last year parent unemployment figures for Swindon have dropped by six per cent from 45 per cent in 2006 to 39 per cent in 2007.

In a joint statement from Swindon Borough Council and the Swindon PCT, a spokesman said: “Teams across Swindon Borough Council are working together with partner agencies to address the issue of poverty in Swindon to help make a positive difference to the lives of children and their families.

“As part of this, Swindon Borough Council and Swindon Primary Care Trust are working jointly through the local Sure Start programme, which provides support to children under five in Penhill, to address poverty affecting children in low income families.

“Job Centre Plus is also part of this project and it is actively working to encourage unemployed parents back into work. As a result of the programme, we have seen a reduction in the number of parents not in education, employment or training from 45 per cent in 2006 to 39 per cent in 2007. “In addition, the council jointly runs the North Swindon

Family Centre with the NSPCC which provides intensive support to children in Lower Penhill.”

'We should not tolerate this'

PENHILL residents are leading a poverty-stricken existence because of the stigma surrounding deprivation says lifetime resident and Labour councillor Paul Baker.

Coun Baker, 41, can still remember his mother’s struggles as she tried to get back to work after seeing her two children through to school.

“That was decades ago and here we are in 2008 witnessing the same problems,” he said.

“This is England, we are the fifth richest country in the world and some people in Penhill can’t even afford to feed themselves – it’s disgusting and not something our country should be tolerating.”

Coun Baker says that in some cases, the lifestyle Penhill residents are living is not fit for feral animals but a lack of national support means that things won’t get any better.

“When I was a kid I was having a kick-about in the playground with children who had holes in their shoes, but this is a modern age where no child in Swindon should be living in poverty, why are we still seeing this?

“Until parents shrug off the pride and admit ‘yes I am living in poverty’, ‘I need financial support, I need work’ we will not see a single change. I only hope we see a turnaround this decade.”