By Lucette Davies

This Saturday a short film was shown at Eastbourne’s Underground Theatre titled Poverty in Eastbourne.  The film focused on the work of a few of the agencies that exist in the town whose work is designed to offer support to anyone experiencing homelessness or poverty.  Many of the people who were there on Saturday came from those agencies but the film left me with a strong feeling that more people need to see it.

Film produced by Helen Owen Marketing Enterprises and Take Two Productions

Eastbourne exists in the so-called ‘affluent South-East’.  Perhaps a better description would be the ‘not quite so poor’ South-East, or the ‘life’s hard but it could be worse’ South-East’?  Make no mistake, we are better off than most northern towns and cities but that is little consolation for those people in the town, like Michael Baldwin in the film, who have to worry where they can sleep each night or where their next meal will come from.

Eastbourne has a much better economy than somewhere like Middlesbrough or Liverpool, we are close to London and close to Brighton with beautiful countryside surrounding the town.  The hotels are attractive places to stay and the seafront is smart and nicely maintained by the council.  But how much difference will all that make to a person who is sleeping underneath the pier or on a bench along the promenade?

Despite government claims that we are on the road to recovery many people are suffering from poverty in Eastbourne. The welfare changes brought in during the last parliament have hit women and the disabled hardest.  The introduction of the bedroom tax has affected many people, 2/3 of whom are disabled.  Women are more likely to rely on welfare  payments than men but poverty knows no bounds.  The people who rely on the services described in this film come from all walks of life, they can be male or female, young or old but none of them chose poverty.

During the last parliament the safety net that social security was designed to provide had big gaping holes cut into it.  The agencies shown in this film are not the only people left trying to catch the people who fall  through the holes.  The Citizens Advice Bureau, Step Change debt charity and The Samaritans are also there to catch those who just should not be falling in the first place.  But now the government is sharpening its scissors ready to cut a few more holes.

The right wing media has lambasted us with the idea of scroungers and lazy people who just expect something for nothing.  David Cameron has repeated endlessly that he is going to: “make work pay”.  But what he really means is he is going to make life without work unbearable.  For some workers, who live on zero hours contracts and minimum wage, work certainly does NOT pay.  They are among the people who rely on  agencies like the foodbank.

The amount of money that this government can save through welfare changes is insignificant to the amount of money that could  be saved by tackling tax avoidance and evasion that was not even mentioned in the Queen’s Speech.  David Cameron is set to throw away £13bn of tax payers money when he sells of shares in RBS.  If the government can afford to throw away £13bn then it is morally reprehensible to cut £12bn from the welfare budget causing untold amounts of suffering to the lives of the most vulnerable.

The film shown at the Underground Theatre aimed to help raise awareness of the work of each of the agencies and awareness of the problems in Eastbourne.  They are hoping to both co-ordinate better the work of all the agencies and make information about the services that exist widely available to members of the public

I feel, that there is another hugely important point to make.  There are many people who would not have any idea that such poverty exists in a town like Eastbourne.  The various agencies rely on the public for both donations and for volunteer workers.  It is vital  to their survival that the population of Eastbourne knows what they do and why.

The population of Eastbourne are also voters.  This is not designed to be a political point scoring exercise but I would be surprised if anyone could know about the rise in poverty and still say that the economic policy of the previous government worked.  I would be even more surprised if they said that they feel Britain needs ‘more of the same’.  I believe we have a moral responsibility to not just vote according to which party is going to fulfill our own needs, but to consider the needs of other people, in particular those who are most vulnerable.

Please do watch the video I have shared on this site.  Speak to the people you know, share it with others and open up a discussion about poverty and responsibility with as many people as you can.