Bishop Debbie speaks in the House of Lords as part of the debate on Child Poverty.
My Lords, I too am grateful to the noble Baroness for securing this important debate. At a time when the cost of living continues to rise and so many families struggle to meet their most basic needs, children often feel these burdens most strongly. Along with voluntary groups and other faith groups, many churches and Church schools are already working to support children most impacted by this crisis. Legislative change is needed but, like other noble Lords, I highlight and recognise the vital role that voluntary groups play in bringing people together, promoting hope and engaging in acts of care—all means of supporting children in poverty.
According to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, food is now the most common essential that low-income households are going without. Children living in poverty report exclusion from social activities and feel embarrassed to invite schoolmates to their home. Without a secure roof over their head or a hot meal on their dinner table, daily life becomes a struggle for survival, one that children are least equipped of all to bear. Child poverty, then, is not just an issue of economics but a crisis of human dignity and a moral challenge to the kind of society we wish to build.
Social stigma around experiences of poverty can cut whole families off from their support networks, yet it is these very community institutions which have such great potential to help lift families out of poverty and to provide a sense of belonging. I draw attention to one charity in my diocese which has served on the front lines of this poverty crisis for several years. Woodford Halse, near Daventry, is a large rural village with higher deprivation levels than its surrounding neighbours. Much of this need is hidden, but the head teacher of the local Church of England primary school became aware that children and families were struggling and began to find ways to help. This led to the forming of the Community Larder, situated within the school playground and providing affordable food to families struggling to make ends meet, along with ensuring that all children had a good breakfast each morning.
Crucially, this enterprise provides dignity to people by offering them choice. Rather than preparing food parcels, quality food is sold at a fraction of supermarket prices, through £5, £10 and £15 shops. The larder operates within a network of community support, receiving referrals from local schools, GP surgeries, health professionals and other agencies. The service, in distributing food, is essential for keeping families afloat, but so too are the personal connections it is able to foster. One service user found himself a single parent after the death of his wife from cancer. Left to care for his two young sons alone, he was struggling with both grief and the practical challenges of feeding his family. As volunteers helped him select fresh food from the larder, they discovered that he had never learned how to use these ingredients to prepare a meal, so they prepared simple recipe cards for him, providing the ingredients to make each meal, and over time, he and his sons began to cook together. This demonstrates that effective community support is about far more than providing bare resources; it is about helping people to rebuild confidence, develop life skills and regain hope during some of the most difficult periods of their lives.
Volunteer groups work hard to bring isolated families back into community life, but they find their efforts stifled by lack of investment in infrastructure. I strongly welcome the Government’s child poverty strategy, especially its acknowledgement of the connection between poverty and place. I ask the Government, recognising current budget restraints, to commit to long-term investment in community institutions. Without this, services such as Woodford Halse Community Larder are less able to play their part in helping to alleviate child poverty at grass roots.