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NEW RESEARCH REPORT – ‘Desperation of Poverty Life’ project.
We’re delighted to announce the successful completion of the ‘Desperation of Poverty Life’ Research Project, in partnership with Healthwatch York and funded by the Lloyds Bank Foundation.
This research project focused on the Local Welfare Safety Net in York – a collection of locally designed schemes that support households facing financial hardship beyond the mainstream benefits system.
Over the past year, local people with lived experience of financial hardship have worked alongside partners from across York to explore how the city’s Local Welfare Safety Net supports people facing poverty. Together, they have shared their experiences, identified barriers within the welfare system and offered recommendations for improving local support.
Community Researchers with direct experience of the welfare system designed, facilitated and analysed the research themselves. This ensured the findings authentically reflect the experiences of those most affected by financial hardship, while providing valuable insights to inform improvements to policy and services.
Throughout the project, workshops at St Denys Church Hall on Walmgate brought people together in a welcoming safe space to explore issues through creative methods including mapping exercises, spider diagrams, role-play activities, Snakes and Ladders and Roses, Buds and Thorns discussions. These activities helped identify both the strengths of York’s welfare support and the areas where change is needed.
The project also featured a successful public engagement event as part of the Festival of Social Science, Breaking Down Barriers – Exploring Access to Local Welfare Support in York, hosted at York Medical Society. The event welcomed members of the public and partner organisations to explore the research through interactive activities, encouraging conversations about poverty and local welfare support. We’d like to thank everyone who attended and contributed to making the event such a success.
The research highlights practical improvements that could make local welfare support more accessible, compassionate and easier to navigate, while also identifying wider policy changes needed to tackle the root causes of poverty. Recommendations focus on simplifying processes, improving communication, valuing lived experience and creating systems built on trust, dignity and fairness.
You can view the full research report on the DOPL webpage – designed by the group here.
This project was a partnership between the University of York, City of York Council, Age UK York, Citizens Advice York, York Foodbank, Peasholme Charity and the Welfare Benefits Unit.
We’d like to thank Healthwatch York for co-facilitating the workshops, the Welfare Benefits Unit for hosting the Festival of Social Science event and Crisis and Resilience Fund event and the Lloyds Bank Foundation for making this important research possible.
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