3 November 10.00 – 12.30 (lunch at 12.30)

North Shore Academy, Talbot Street. Stockton on Tees. TS20 2AY

The Poverty Truth Commission is a unique and powerful way of developing new insights and initiatives to tackle poverty, developed in Glasgow and Leeds over the past six years.  

The key principle behind a Poverty Truth Commission is that decisions about poverty must involve people who directly face poverty.  Its uniqueness is derived from the fact that half of its members are people with senior roles in civic and business life in the city – and the other half are people with direct personal experience of what it is like to live in poverty in the city.  The process is a culmination of relationship building, fact finding and deep thinking over a 12 month period between people with a direct experience of poverty and civic and business leaders within the city. 

The aim is to ensure that people who have experienced poverty first-hand are at the heart of how the borough thinks and acts in tackling poverty and inequality.

Whilst Stockton is experiencing regeneration, it is also experiencing increasing inequality.  The Council faces huge challenges with continuous and sustained reductions to local authority and other public sector budgets, whilst at the same time demand for services continue to rise.

What can be done to ensure that the wealth and opportunities that are being brought to the Borough provide real and lasting benefits to those experiencing entrenched poverty?  How can those who live with poverty on a daily basis become genuine stakeholders in shaping the future of the Borough?  The Poverty Truth Commission will provide a space for those who play key roles in civic and business life in the city to work alongside those whose voices and insights are rarely heard in seeking to find common solutions, over a 12 month period.

Both MP’s Paul Williams and Alex Cunningham along with the Bishop of Durham have agreed to act as ‘conveners’ for the Commission, and we are now in the process of recruiting around 15 members each from grassroots and public life

For more information on the Commission and the event, please contact:

Tracey Herrington

Stockton Poverty Truth Steering Group Member

Tel: 01642 678811

Email: traceyherrington@thrive-teesside.org.uk