The Disengaged Preach at the Trapped....an open Letter to John Hutton MP...
Dear John, 18/12/06
A few questions: Would you consider yourself amongst the disengaged or the trapped when referring to income and ability to engage with society; Could you remind me of the exact percentage your last rise was; Do Your recent comments hope to bridge the gap between those who are socially excluded: ‘The Trapped” and the disengaged, those in receipt of an income far above the average wage? And most importantly: Do we have any idea just how socially excluding the limited budget of £57.45p a week really is? I have had the misfortune to fall ill, burn out and exhaustion from ‘over-commitment’ and I have applied for approximately 260 posts, in my professional field – Community Development work. I believe health issues, and now age are major factors in the barrier I face – outlined later within this correspondence!
A commonly used measure of relative poverty is those living on less than 60% of median disposable income, adjusted for family size. This amounts to £98 per week for a single person with no children, £182 for a lone parent with two children ( aged 5-11) and £210 for a couple with one child. These figures are taken from the recent report on Poverty in the UK by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. I exist on £57.45 per week, I face all but one of the Bills you face, including a mortgage. The United Nations Development Programme defines poverty more widely, “as the lack of ability to live a long, healthy and creative life; to be knowledgeable, and to enjoy a decent standard of living; to enjoy dignity, self respect, and the respect of others.” I hope the reader of this will understand that my purpose in raising the issues I raise is not to indulge in a personal ‘pity-party’, but to seek to place on the agenda an insight and reflection of the stories of all who find themselves socially excluded, and cannot afford to attend meetings and conferences, but no worries, for they are seldom invited! I make no apologies for repeating sections of an articles and arguments I have forwarded to Church action on Poverty, and other church related groups. Endeavouring to raise awareness of the gap between the disengaged and the Trapped, and seeking to share – from the inside – the psychological and physical/health related effects of social exclusion
“If anyone wants to make themselves invisible, there is no surer way than to become poor”
(SW)
The Psychological effects of Social Exclusion
Context…context…context…
Is Anybody Listening? This is a question all raise when exhaustion becomes married to an endless feeling banging our head against a wall, the wall of indifference. The following reflection is shared in the hope that it will find an echo in the experiences of all those who seek to reconcile the disengaged and the trapped within our communities – it is a sigh, and a growing sense of alienation from this government that draws me to offer my reflects. Hopefully not out of malice, or bitterness, but rather as a reminder that poverty does not exclude one from reflection and observation. I offer only my experience and a few insights into the effect social exclusion as upon an individual – there are no easy answers, no pre-packed easy solutions. Forgive me for being personal, sharing my thoughts and experiences – my aim was/is merely to raise the sense of powerlessness when faced by a system that is forever professing to tackle social exclusion, and to promote community without grasping the need to recognise the individual. It is the regeneration of the individual; the restoration of hope for them; that we will witness the sustainability of genuine community regeneration, community development. Briefly, I wish to share with you my context – ‘where I am coming from’ then I want to share with you the psychological effects of social exclusion, the experience of becoming invisible!
I could write of many experiences through working with communities who are socially excluded, individuals whose life’s were blighted and restricted by poverty; and expound the various strategies adopted to tackle their situation. I could write of my commitment to challenging all forms of exclusion; of my experiences of fighting discrimination and striving to restore the dignity of the community, the individual, I have worked with in establishing a community based advice & information project on a ‘sink estate’. I could explore and expound upon the theory and practice of my many years in community development work; I could highlight the problems faced when seeking to bridge the gap within the community - the gap between the disengaged and the trapped. All of the above is embedded within my many years experience both as a ‘professional’ – paid community development worker; and many years as a voluntary activist.
However I truly believe the most important experience I have are the experiences of being ‘surplus to requirement’; of being unemployed and struggling on a ‘sink estate’ – struggling against the labelling; and the most wicked system that sort to use unemployed people to keep inflation down. All of my working experience is fuelled by my experience of being socially excluded – and more importantly of experiencing the pain of not being able to contribute to my family, my community – being robbed of the gift of giving! This is a most profound and life-changing experience – a lack of adequate income reinforced by feelings of inadequacy and rejection. And how quickly this can happen to an individual – I had been working on a ‘sink estate’ since 1989 until October 2003; through burn out; and several key life experiences my health failed and after long-term sick leave my contract was terminated. Three years or so down the line I am facing life on £57.40p a week – I do not need to spell out to yourselves the pattern reinforced by such a pitiful income – I am being forced further and further into debt – not because I do not want to meet my commitments but because I simply cannot meet them. And this testimony to my experience and vocational reasons for tackling social injustice/exclusion – this is my background – ‘this is where I am coming from’ The experiences and impact of key life events is well rehearsed in our age, and I do not wish to exercise the long, profound and bitter road to restoration such events impose upon our lives, upon my life. It is sufficient to note that I experienced the ‘top-three’ life challenging events within a three month period, on top of the every day stresses and strains of front line community development work something had to give, and it did. However, any hope of being able to enjoy a ‘retreat’ or ‘sabbatical’ from stress have been exploded by the relentless decline into invisibility. The more we become vulnerable the more society seeks to label – ‘depressed, deprived,’ At the heart of the matter we know there are many complex reasons that effect health and well-being. Dignity and worth are not measured by status – or are they? The ability to be heard, to be recognised, acknowledged, listen to, the ability to give, to contribute rather than be constantly labelled and thereby ignored or categorised. Once again such labelling allows society to reinforce the gap between the disengaged and the trapped, to allow – even condone a Victorian mindset of ‘the helper’ and ‘the helped’ – and never the twain should meet, thus we continue to have our conferences, and our forest of reports – but, Is anybody listening to the voiceless?
No matter how much we study the subject, how many reports are written, how many words are spilled upon the page, until you have experience of social exclusion we will never know what it really feels like, and the sword like impact it has upon our health and well being. You see, poverty is only an issue an opportunity to campaign; it is never a disabling problem until you experience the relentless effects. The effects upon your confidence and competence – the myriad of ‘helpers’ can, and do sometimes disable – charity is not the right virtue for tackling poverty, justice is – the first step for any who would enable and encourage is to – stop – Stop! And listen! The most important questions at the beginning of any conference related to social exclusion are:
What is Happening here?…and,
Who is it Happening for?
Where are the voices of the poor?
Often, far too often, the voices of the socially excluded are confined to statistics, dry statistics that over time we do become immune to, our minds wander for such statistics seldom reflect the stories of the lives they hide, thus enabling us to be suitable ‘shocked’ whilst remaining virtually unmoved – I mean if we were to take such stories on board we would run the risk of losing our lives to such stories, and that would not do would it?
A 50% increase in fuel prices sweeps through, outrageous at it is, we accept the adverts that are akin to extortion they promise protection for those willing and able to pay. Who keeps a record of the weak and vulnerable for they already pay more for their fuel? Does the church raise its voice? Does it complain? Does it even see the connection between such morally bankrupt actions and a campaign to make poverty history? Do we recognise that such rises in fuel have a profound impact upon the health and well being of the socially excluded? Who is my neighbour?
Poverty drastically reduces mobility. Our ability to attend events, even events where ‘we’ are the subject being debated simply reinforce the gap between the disengaged and the trapped – How can any one on a budget of £57.45p a week hope to attend, the cost of travel and the event itself are restrictive, they socially excluded. I know I am not alone when I state that I do not have a budget for new clothes that become worn remain worn, I cannot replace them. My contacts with a local church suffer for such unnoticed events. Poverty can and does bring a growing sense of low esteem, and anger that finds no home with the disengaged who appear far too willing to categorise, and use has a form of charity. Personhood is under enough attacks without having to guard against such well meaning and demeaning. I don’t think people believe that there are many within the community who do not have any money – I have £2.50 a fortnight on my shelf, which I use for bus fare to sign on! I survive because my brothers assist me where and when they can.
Every morning I dread the post arriving, what bills and demands will it bring, the pressure crushes your dignity and effects the way the day may develop – fear is a dreadful thing. Please do not misunderstand me; I have never sought to adopt the ostrich approach to problems. I have been engaged with the Bank, ( I wrote to the bank several months before the financial issue arose, I kept up contact with them for 18mths, before finally approaching the Ombudsman – who found that they had not provided a satisfactory service and had treated me in a manner well below the standards that a customer should and could expect!.) I also contacted the various advice groups, MP’s, and any other support group.
I witnessed simply represent the disengaged situation of many of our churches who simply hold fast to the idea of ‘the helper’ and the ‘helped’, Victorian charity seldom engages with the injustice of poverty and social exclusion. (This requires ‘understanding’ – and deeper exploration – its not meant to be judgement, but it is a criticism of our tendency to be caught up with business…busy ness!)
I know that with the horrendous rise in fuel bills and the severe limitations of my budget I cannot hope to meet the coming bills and demands – to change to a card meter is to accept another injustice, for the poor pay more for their fuel this way – I will be faced with a decision very, very soon, to do this,, or to simply face disconnection. I hope it is a mild winter. My telephone company (NTL) recently raised the cost of line rental from 7.50 to £11.00; and because I do not/cannot pay by direct debate they raised this charge some 300% - from £1 to £4 per month. I could carry on with such information but I fear you would simply draw the conclusion that I am an ‘inadequate’ – I can only hope to assure you that I am not – I am a person who worked for 25yrs in the vulnerable area of the voluntary sector – a professional community development worker who faced three life-changing events: the break-up of a thirty year marriage; the death of a parent, and a vicious attack that left me hospitalised, with pins in my leg. All within the space of three months. I did return to work, but 16months later I was mugged in the City centre, received a fractured cheek bone and was put on the sick for a further period of time – then the ‘dam burst’. Burn out ensued and after a long-term on the sick I my post was terminated…and a further spiral began. For the last two years and 10 months I have been unemployed – JSA, my income £57.45 per week – and no parachute!
In such a situation, how do I fight back? I am not sure that I know. Employment is obvious; I have applied for over two hundred posts in the last two years – ‘burnout’, angina (even though I worked for ten years with the condition) and unemployment appear to be determined ‘prison guards’ that keep me in the grips of social exclusion. I watch with a growing despair, and reflect upon, the surfeit of reports conferences and retreats on the subject of social exclusion and I cannot avoid the sharpness of the irony that excludes me from attending.
Until, or unless, employment greets me once more I used to think that the only real resource I had to fight back with was to develop and use my personal resources. The past two years have been a deeper journey into the gift of faith, the connection of faith and affliction are well recorded. My personal experience over the past two years has been that the search for meaning can only be from God, through God and to God. This does not mean that there is a sudden ‘glow’ about my situation, there isn’t, but it has been a great comfort to me that by studying the Word my faith journey have been deeper and essential to my survival. I wish I could say the same of my contact with the church, in general, but sadly the mindset that constantly repels me – God help me to understand the weakness and frailty of those who believe that charity and ‘good works’ brings them closer to serving/loving God and the neighbour. Of course I am in pain, and I must recognise that my vision may be distorted forgive me if I appear to be far too generalistic and unkind in my views of the church. I love it so, but I find no home there at this time. My many years, a quarter of a century, of community development work has made me sensitive and allergic to lip service – I do not need Jobs comforters. – I will not and cannot explore the pain such poverty brings me in any greater detail, only to say that it has a profound effect upon my life. I do not wish to reveal the true depth of despair that social exclusion brings lest I run the very real risk of indulging in a pity-party. My story echoes the stories of so many within our communities, “…so many people where do they all belong”.
Social Exclusion: The Centrality of ‘Things’
For anyone trying to understand social exclusion – the effects upon the health, well being of the individual and community development - it is essential to grasp the centrality of ‘things’. Community engagement is about ‘things’, it is about being excluded from ‘things’, because of a lack of money, low self-esteem. It is about not having ‘things’ like a job, self-respect, self-confidence, or any plans for the future. But also, it is about having ‘things’ like isolation, depression, loneliness, ill-health,! Where would You begin to tackle such issues? Would such ‘things’ enable and encourage you to attend Social exclusion related Church & Community events? Even if you could afford them! Would You have the resolve, the confidence, the heart, to face a room full of confident-professionals who speak of ‘empowerment and social exclusion?’
The failure to acknowledge the centrality of ‘things’ has been and sadly remains the major barrier to engaging those who are trapped by such ‘things’, and likewise challenging those who are disengaged from such ‘things’ to realise that : “apathy” is an overused excuse to describe and dismiss those who are trapped by ‘things’ such as an environment that closes in on them, or ‘things’ that overwhelm and dispirit such as when ‘things’ breakdown or get damaged, they remain broken and damaged.
Many people are being trapped by their situation and discounted as apathetic, ‘rough & ready’, scroungers, poor, and disadvantaged, is it any wonder that they become ‘excluded’. A sense of self-worth is vital to our life’s; too often this is neglected and undermined by a paternalistic approach that reinforces the gap between the ‘helper’ and the ‘helped’. It can lead to a relationship that disables and dismantles self-worth, ‘brick-by-patronising-brick’. Affirmation is the tool to address the needs we find within our communities, not a Victorian-style-charity which keeps the poor, the rough & ready, the scroungers in a prison of benevolent charity. Which serves only to make the ‘helper’ feel good, and the ‘helped’ still dependant. This dependency destroys self-worth, reinforcing a sense of helplessness. A government that becomes wise it its own eyes will disintegrate, so many within the party have more interest in media image and climbing the greasy pole – a reminder; the further the monkey climbs the tree the more you see its arse!
I could enclose a library of information outlining my search for work, but what’s the point you won’t read it, and more to the point you will not engage with genuine hurt caused by social exclusion. Cash for honours, obscene pay rises for MPs, the gap widens as I watch a party that promised so much spiral into terminal decline. I never thought I would witness a LABOUR Government aping the Thatcher regime, or echo the words of Tebbit. The Labour Government is now riddled by MPs striving for top jobs and You have let the hope crash, you fool only yourselves with the constant release of budgetary figures as if to say – “look we are doing something”; money may buy you honours it will not buy back those who are disillusioned and feel betrayed. Your words reveal the ‘virus of disengagement’ that now grips this government, such a disgraceful lack of engagement truly disturbs me. Shame on You, and Your government! Remember this, No lie can last forever.
Yours, with a poignant sense of betrayal.
Adrian Wait.
ministers@dwp.gsi.gov.uk
A few questions: Would you consider yourself amongst the disengaged or the trapped when referring to income and ability to engage with society; Could you remind me of the exact percentage your last rise was; Do Your recent comments hope to bridge the gap between those who are socially excluded: ‘The Trapped” and the disengaged, those in receipt of an income far above the average wage? And most importantly: Do we have any idea just how socially excluding the limited budget of £57.45p a week really is? I have had the misfortune to fall ill, burn out and exhaustion from ‘over-commitment’ and I have applied for approximately 260 posts, in my professional field – Community Development work. I believe health issues, and now age are major factors in the barrier I face – outlined later within this correspondence!
A commonly used measure of relative poverty is those living on less than 60% of median disposable income, adjusted for family size. This amounts to £98 per week for a single person with no children, £182 for a lone parent with two children ( aged 5-11) and £210 for a couple with one child. These figures are taken from the recent report on Poverty in the UK by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. I exist on £57.45 per week, I face all but one of the Bills you face, including a mortgage. The United Nations Development Programme defines poverty more widely, “as the lack of ability to live a long, healthy and creative life; to be knowledgeable, and to enjoy a decent standard of living; to enjoy dignity, self respect, and the respect of others.” I hope the reader of this will understand that my purpose in raising the issues I raise is not to indulge in a personal ‘pity-party’, but to seek to place on the agenda an insight and reflection of the stories of all who find themselves socially excluded, and cannot afford to attend meetings and conferences, but no worries, for they are seldom invited! I make no apologies for repeating sections of an articles and arguments I have forwarded to Church action on Poverty, and other church related groups. Endeavouring to raise awareness of the gap between the disengaged and the Trapped, and seeking to share – from the inside – the psychological and physical/health related effects of social exclusion
“If anyone wants to make themselves invisible, there is no surer way than to become poor”
(SW)
The Psychological effects of Social Exclusion
Context…context…context…
Is Anybody Listening? This is a question all raise when exhaustion becomes married to an endless feeling banging our head against a wall, the wall of indifference. The following reflection is shared in the hope that it will find an echo in the experiences of all those who seek to reconcile the disengaged and the trapped within our communities – it is a sigh, and a growing sense of alienation from this government that draws me to offer my reflects. Hopefully not out of malice, or bitterness, but rather as a reminder that poverty does not exclude one from reflection and observation. I offer only my experience and a few insights into the effect social exclusion as upon an individual – there are no easy answers, no pre-packed easy solutions. Forgive me for being personal, sharing my thoughts and experiences – my aim was/is merely to raise the sense of powerlessness when faced by a system that is forever professing to tackle social exclusion, and to promote community without grasping the need to recognise the individual. It is the regeneration of the individual; the restoration of hope for them; that we will witness the sustainability of genuine community regeneration, community development. Briefly, I wish to share with you my context – ‘where I am coming from’ then I want to share with you the psychological effects of social exclusion, the experience of becoming invisible!
I could write of many experiences through working with communities who are socially excluded, individuals whose life’s were blighted and restricted by poverty; and expound the various strategies adopted to tackle their situation. I could write of my commitment to challenging all forms of exclusion; of my experiences of fighting discrimination and striving to restore the dignity of the community, the individual, I have worked with in establishing a community based advice & information project on a ‘sink estate’. I could explore and expound upon the theory and practice of my many years in community development work; I could highlight the problems faced when seeking to bridge the gap within the community - the gap between the disengaged and the trapped. All of the above is embedded within my many years experience both as a ‘professional’ – paid community development worker; and many years as a voluntary activist.
However I truly believe the most important experience I have are the experiences of being ‘surplus to requirement’; of being unemployed and struggling on a ‘sink estate’ – struggling against the labelling; and the most wicked system that sort to use unemployed people to keep inflation down. All of my working experience is fuelled by my experience of being socially excluded – and more importantly of experiencing the pain of not being able to contribute to my family, my community – being robbed of the gift of giving! This is a most profound and life-changing experience – a lack of adequate income reinforced by feelings of inadequacy and rejection. And how quickly this can happen to an individual – I had been working on a ‘sink estate’ since 1989 until October 2003; through burn out; and several key life experiences my health failed and after long-term sick leave my contract was terminated. Three years or so down the line I am facing life on £57.40p a week – I do not need to spell out to yourselves the pattern reinforced by such a pitiful income – I am being forced further and further into debt – not because I do not want to meet my commitments but because I simply cannot meet them. And this testimony to my experience and vocational reasons for tackling social injustice/exclusion – this is my background – ‘this is where I am coming from’ The experiences and impact of key life events is well rehearsed in our age, and I do not wish to exercise the long, profound and bitter road to restoration such events impose upon our lives, upon my life. It is sufficient to note that I experienced the ‘top-three’ life challenging events within a three month period, on top of the every day stresses and strains of front line community development work something had to give, and it did. However, any hope of being able to enjoy a ‘retreat’ or ‘sabbatical’ from stress have been exploded by the relentless decline into invisibility. The more we become vulnerable the more society seeks to label – ‘depressed, deprived,’ At the heart of the matter we know there are many complex reasons that effect health and well-being. Dignity and worth are not measured by status – or are they? The ability to be heard, to be recognised, acknowledged, listen to, the ability to give, to contribute rather than be constantly labelled and thereby ignored or categorised. Once again such labelling allows society to reinforce the gap between the disengaged and the trapped, to allow – even condone a Victorian mindset of ‘the helper’ and ‘the helped’ – and never the twain should meet, thus we continue to have our conferences, and our forest of reports – but, Is anybody listening to the voiceless?
No matter how much we study the subject, how many reports are written, how many words are spilled upon the page, until you have experience of social exclusion we will never know what it really feels like, and the sword like impact it has upon our health and well being. You see, poverty is only an issue an opportunity to campaign; it is never a disabling problem until you experience the relentless effects. The effects upon your confidence and competence – the myriad of ‘helpers’ can, and do sometimes disable – charity is not the right virtue for tackling poverty, justice is – the first step for any who would enable and encourage is to – stop – Stop! And listen! The most important questions at the beginning of any conference related to social exclusion are:
What is Happening here?…and,
Who is it Happening for?
Where are the voices of the poor?
Often, far too often, the voices of the socially excluded are confined to statistics, dry statistics that over time we do become immune to, our minds wander for such statistics seldom reflect the stories of the lives they hide, thus enabling us to be suitable ‘shocked’ whilst remaining virtually unmoved – I mean if we were to take such stories on board we would run the risk of losing our lives to such stories, and that would not do would it?
A 50% increase in fuel prices sweeps through, outrageous at it is, we accept the adverts that are akin to extortion they promise protection for those willing and able to pay. Who keeps a record of the weak and vulnerable for they already pay more for their fuel? Does the church raise its voice? Does it complain? Does it even see the connection between such morally bankrupt actions and a campaign to make poverty history? Do we recognise that such rises in fuel have a profound impact upon the health and well being of the socially excluded? Who is my neighbour?
Poverty drastically reduces mobility. Our ability to attend events, even events where ‘we’ are the subject being debated simply reinforce the gap between the disengaged and the trapped – How can any one on a budget of £57.45p a week hope to attend, the cost of travel and the event itself are restrictive, they socially excluded. I know I am not alone when I state that I do not have a budget for new clothes that become worn remain worn, I cannot replace them. My contacts with a local church suffer for such unnoticed events. Poverty can and does bring a growing sense of low esteem, and anger that finds no home with the disengaged who appear far too willing to categorise, and use has a form of charity. Personhood is under enough attacks without having to guard against such well meaning and demeaning. I don’t think people believe that there are many within the community who do not have any money – I have £2.50 a fortnight on my shelf, which I use for bus fare to sign on! I survive because my brothers assist me where and when they can.
Every morning I dread the post arriving, what bills and demands will it bring, the pressure crushes your dignity and effects the way the day may develop – fear is a dreadful thing. Please do not misunderstand me; I have never sought to adopt the ostrich approach to problems. I have been engaged with the Bank, ( I wrote to the bank several months before the financial issue arose, I kept up contact with them for 18mths, before finally approaching the Ombudsman – who found that they had not provided a satisfactory service and had treated me in a manner well below the standards that a customer should and could expect!.) I also contacted the various advice groups, MP’s, and any other support group.
I witnessed simply represent the disengaged situation of many of our churches who simply hold fast to the idea of ‘the helper’ and the ‘helped’, Victorian charity seldom engages with the injustice of poverty and social exclusion. (This requires ‘understanding’ – and deeper exploration – its not meant to be judgement, but it is a criticism of our tendency to be caught up with business…busy ness!)
I know that with the horrendous rise in fuel bills and the severe limitations of my budget I cannot hope to meet the coming bills and demands – to change to a card meter is to accept another injustice, for the poor pay more for their fuel this way – I will be faced with a decision very, very soon, to do this,, or to simply face disconnection. I hope it is a mild winter. My telephone company (NTL) recently raised the cost of line rental from 7.50 to £11.00; and because I do not/cannot pay by direct debate they raised this charge some 300% - from £1 to £4 per month. I could carry on with such information but I fear you would simply draw the conclusion that I am an ‘inadequate’ – I can only hope to assure you that I am not – I am a person who worked for 25yrs in the vulnerable area of the voluntary sector – a professional community development worker who faced three life-changing events: the break-up of a thirty year marriage; the death of a parent, and a vicious attack that left me hospitalised, with pins in my leg. All within the space of three months. I did return to work, but 16months later I was mugged in the City centre, received a fractured cheek bone and was put on the sick for a further period of time – then the ‘dam burst’. Burn out ensued and after a long-term on the sick I my post was terminated…and a further spiral began. For the last two years and 10 months I have been unemployed – JSA, my income £57.45 per week – and no parachute!
In such a situation, how do I fight back? I am not sure that I know. Employment is obvious; I have applied for over two hundred posts in the last two years – ‘burnout’, angina (even though I worked for ten years with the condition) and unemployment appear to be determined ‘prison guards’ that keep me in the grips of social exclusion. I watch with a growing despair, and reflect upon, the surfeit of reports conferences and retreats on the subject of social exclusion and I cannot avoid the sharpness of the irony that excludes me from attending.
Until, or unless, employment greets me once more I used to think that the only real resource I had to fight back with was to develop and use my personal resources. The past two years have been a deeper journey into the gift of faith, the connection of faith and affliction are well recorded. My personal experience over the past two years has been that the search for meaning can only be from God, through God and to God. This does not mean that there is a sudden ‘glow’ about my situation, there isn’t, but it has been a great comfort to me that by studying the Word my faith journey have been deeper and essential to my survival. I wish I could say the same of my contact with the church, in general, but sadly the mindset that constantly repels me – God help me to understand the weakness and frailty of those who believe that charity and ‘good works’ brings them closer to serving/loving God and the neighbour. Of course I am in pain, and I must recognise that my vision may be distorted forgive me if I appear to be far too generalistic and unkind in my views of the church. I love it so, but I find no home there at this time. My many years, a quarter of a century, of community development work has made me sensitive and allergic to lip service – I do not need Jobs comforters. – I will not and cannot explore the pain such poverty brings me in any greater detail, only to say that it has a profound effect upon my life. I do not wish to reveal the true depth of despair that social exclusion brings lest I run the very real risk of indulging in a pity-party. My story echoes the stories of so many within our communities, “…so many people where do they all belong”.
Social Exclusion: The Centrality of ‘Things’
For anyone trying to understand social exclusion – the effects upon the health, well being of the individual and community development - it is essential to grasp the centrality of ‘things’. Community engagement is about ‘things’, it is about being excluded from ‘things’, because of a lack of money, low self-esteem. It is about not having ‘things’ like a job, self-respect, self-confidence, or any plans for the future. But also, it is about having ‘things’ like isolation, depression, loneliness, ill-health,! Where would You begin to tackle such issues? Would such ‘things’ enable and encourage you to attend Social exclusion related Church & Community events? Even if you could afford them! Would You have the resolve, the confidence, the heart, to face a room full of confident-professionals who speak of ‘empowerment and social exclusion?’
The failure to acknowledge the centrality of ‘things’ has been and sadly remains the major barrier to engaging those who are trapped by such ‘things’, and likewise challenging those who are disengaged from such ‘things’ to realise that : “apathy” is an overused excuse to describe and dismiss those who are trapped by ‘things’ such as an environment that closes in on them, or ‘things’ that overwhelm and dispirit such as when ‘things’ breakdown or get damaged, they remain broken and damaged.
Many people are being trapped by their situation and discounted as apathetic, ‘rough & ready’, scroungers, poor, and disadvantaged, is it any wonder that they become ‘excluded’. A sense of self-worth is vital to our life’s; too often this is neglected and undermined by a paternalistic approach that reinforces the gap between the ‘helper’ and the ‘helped’. It can lead to a relationship that disables and dismantles self-worth, ‘brick-by-patronising-brick’. Affirmation is the tool to address the needs we find within our communities, not a Victorian-style-charity which keeps the poor, the rough & ready, the scroungers in a prison of benevolent charity. Which serves only to make the ‘helper’ feel good, and the ‘helped’ still dependant. This dependency destroys self-worth, reinforcing a sense of helplessness. A government that becomes wise it its own eyes will disintegrate, so many within the party have more interest in media image and climbing the greasy pole – a reminder; the further the monkey climbs the tree the more you see its arse!
I could enclose a library of information outlining my search for work, but what’s the point you won’t read it, and more to the point you will not engage with genuine hurt caused by social exclusion. Cash for honours, obscene pay rises for MPs, the gap widens as I watch a party that promised so much spiral into terminal decline. I never thought I would witness a LABOUR Government aping the Thatcher regime, or echo the words of Tebbit. The Labour Government is now riddled by MPs striving for top jobs and You have let the hope crash, you fool only yourselves with the constant release of budgetary figures as if to say – “look we are doing something”; money may buy you honours it will not buy back those who are disillusioned and feel betrayed. Your words reveal the ‘virus of disengagement’ that now grips this government, such a disgraceful lack of engagement truly disturbs me. Shame on You, and Your government! Remember this, No lie can last forever.
Yours, with a poignant sense of betrayal.
Adrian Wait.
ministers@dwp.gsi.gov.uk
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