A PROJECT to tackle poverty in the borough has uncovered multiple ways to "change the story of poverty in Oldham for good".

The Poverty Truth Commission was launched by Action Together, the Shared Health Foundation and Oldham Council in September to create a clear manifesto on how to respond to poverty across Oldham.

It came after data by the End Child Poverty organisation revealed 38 per cent of children in Oldham live in poverty, an increase over the past five years and the second-highest in Great Britain- the national average is 19.1 per cent.

In four wards, including Coldhurst, child poverty is more than 50 per cent.

Between 2015 and 2019, Oldham’s ranking on the Indices of Deprivation declined from 34th to 19th worse of 317 local authorities and five wards were revealed to be in the most deprived five per cent nationally.

The year-long Poverty Truth Commission project, which is part of the national Poverty Truth Network, brings together a dozen people with lived experience of poverty in Oldham with a dozen civic, business, and voluntary sector leaders once a month to discuss the causes of poverty in the borough and what can be done about them.

Suggestions have so far included bringing in health visitors for new parents experiencing post-natal depression, introducing support for staff in health and social care services with financial worries, creating enterprise, employment, and training opportunities that are accessible through debt advice services, launching food clubs and the introducing resident-led community centres.

Robbie Cowbury, who is facilitating the Poverty Truth Commission on behalf of Action Together, said the project has identified three things to ‘change the story of poverty in Oldham for good’.

He said: “We can’t change something until we admit it exists, and there’s no denying that precariousness and a lack of resource means Oldham’s efforts to address poverty are struggling to deliver the desired results.

“Our project is about acknowledging that truth, and from the relationships and understanding built we’ve identified three things that we think could change the story of poverty in Oldham for good.

“Firstly, we need welcoming points of contact prioritising understanding and empathy whenever anyone reaches out to social support services. These need to reduce stigma and raise hope by meeting people’s immediate needs while offering pathways out of hardship, otherwise, neither will be as successful.

“Finally, we need to create supportive places of belonging where residents and professionals come together like gears rather than grind each other down like they too often do. Across all, we also need to live by the ‘nothing about us without us’ mantra and ensure we always do things alongside residents.”

A survey is also running to develop as full a picture as possible of poverty in Oldham. Answers to the survey questions will be collected anonymously by the project to help guide the project’s work.

For more information on the project visit www.povertytruthnetwork.org. To partake in the survey click here.