Unlocking community power to tackle hardship

Everyone should have someone or somewhere to turn to in a crisis. But high levels of hardship in the UK leave people facing personal crises every day – being unable to afford to feed their family, stay warm, replace a broken appliance, or find the help they need.

Clearly the Government needs to act to address the root causes of hardship, such as making sure our social security system provides enough to cover life’s essentials, and that housing is genuinely affordable. But even with this in place people will still face crises.

This is where local community organisations and services play a key role. By offering mutual support, building trust, and helping people connect with other people and the support they need to get back on their feet.

To give voice to this work, we filmed alongside people involved with 4 organisations: People Focused Group in Doncaster, Back on the Map in Sunderland, The Annexe in Hartlepool, and Changing Futures Northumbria. These organisations have stories to tell about:

• the sheer power of kindness and people helping people
• how addressing immediate material needs enables people to be connected to wider support
• how local services can be wrapped around individuals
• how organisations can work with people to redesign local services.

Watch the series in full on YouTube.

Many community organisations are overwhelmed by high levels of hardship, unable to focus on long-term work. Some areas lack this support entirely and, while a few local services are testing innovative ideas, they remain on the margins.