The Austerity Uncovered Bus was back in the Midlands today, visiting Ilkeston and Nottingham - We then set off for nearby Ilkeston high street, what was once a thriving town, is now very bare indeed. We spoke to a small group of local business owners who were very clear that government cuts coupled with a lack of growth strategy has left their high street suffering. And it is, we saw boarded up shops and cash for gold ‘outlets’ and bookies in abundance, whilst Paul who ran a smoothie café has moved premises three times in his desire to succeed. Ilkeston illustrates what happens when shopping habits change couple with consumer demand being sucked out of an area. Well-known high brands have deserted this high street and have yet to be enticed back. We then travelled to St Ann’s in Nottingham, an exceptionally deprived area even before the crash and recession. Everyone tells us how much worse everything is now. I was shocked that every single shop bar a bookies and a charity shop had closed in what was once a busy little centre of the community. It looked bleak, and things worsened when the Coop pulled out of the area, meaning the nearest supermarket is now over 5 miles away. We met Chris from the advice centre, who ‘s care for the people he works with and the work he does is evident, he is angry about what he is witnessing in austerity Britain. We met Steph, one of the advisers doing at least four people’s jobs due to lack of funds. She runs the independent food bank in her ‘spare time’. This food bank deals with families in absolute crisis, with little or no income, they feed about 50 people a week but have to turn anyone but the most severe cases away. Her passion and determination was incredible, I challenge anyone to go and see her and not end up donating or volunteering. This summed up how precarious the situation can be for anyone, “Family circumstances can change very quickly. I know a couple who a year ago both had full-time jobs and who had been on holiday in Orlando. They were both made redundant and just twelve months later had to come to this food bank. Loads of people have had the rug pulled from under them.”
Posted on: Tue, 25 Jun 2013 22:07:21 +0000
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