Poverty and inequality indicators for London have been updated. The Lambeth data set can be seen and explored here. The news is not encouraging, and most of these indicators will worsen, at least in the short term, as a consequence of the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Lambeth is worse than the London averages in infant mortality, premature mortality, qualifications at 19, income inequality, poverty rate, housing affordability, rough sleeping and unemployment rates.  It is London-average in evictions, housing delivery, temporary accomodation and pay inequality.  It is better than average in GCSE attainment and in the % of those without qualifications.

Our focus is in helping low-income Lambeth citizens improve their whole-life earning capacity. We do this by funding a wide range of activity and opportunity - you'll find details on our website. Can the situation improve? Of course.  A first step is for us all to be aware of how things stand now for so many of our fellow citizens.

We have been able to make a grant to Lambeth Larder to urgently fund an expansion of their information portal showing where local food help and provision is available within the borough during the public health emergency.

Some of the projects we are funding have already told us about the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on their work. If you are a project we fund, please see our message here. We want to help you get through this and continue to have a benefcial impact on those you serve.

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation has published its annual report on UK poverty. Key headlines -

• In-work poverty is increasing
  More than half of all people in poverty are in a working family – 56% compared to 39% 20 years ago
• Social security is an essential public service: it should provide the anchor that we all need in tough times and should stop us getting swept into poverty
• We all need somewhere to live – somewhere to call home – so it’s unacceptable that many of us are shut out of having a secure, affordable home
  Housing costs have risen since 2000/01 for households on low incomes who rent in the private and social rented sectors, while a raft of changes to social security policy have been underway since around 2010, making housing less affordable

Both the Summary and Full Reports can be downloaded here

7 January 2020
We are saddened to learn of the death of Gerald - Gerry - Bowden, a former longstanding Governor of the Walcot Foundation. He was 84.
Gerry's service to the Foundation was extensive and significant. Altogether he served as a Governor for 40 years, retiring in 2014.  His approach to the finances and investments of the Foundation over those years helped increase our capacity as a grantmaker. We owe him a great deal. His wikipedia entry may be viewed here
His farewell letter on retirment from the Foundation

Update 16/1/2020
Gerry's funeral will take place at 11.30 am on Thursday 23 January 2020 at St Agnes Church, Kennington Park, 37 St Agnes Place
London SE11 4BB

It will be followed by a reception in the Church Hall. His body will be interred at the Church of St Osmund, Melbury Osmond, Dorset
on Friday 24 January. Donations in Gerry’s memory are being accepted
towards the work of the “Pancreatic Cancer Research Fund” PO Box 47432, London N21 1XP (020 8360 1119)

Read the report on our work in 2018/2019.
Click here, or on the image.

If you'd prefer a hard copy, please call us, and we'll get one in the post to you: 020 7735 1925

New Living Wage rates have been announced by the Living Wage Foundation. See their press release here and their video, below -

We recently invited some of the students we are supporting to come to our offices for drinks and tell us how they are doing. Governors and staff were delighted to catch up with them, and to hear their news. Many said how essential our bursaries, usually over three years, are in helping them stay afloat.

Last year we made grants to 148 Lambeth students, totalling £238,477. They are following courses at a wide range of universities across the United Kingdom. Subjects studied include Chemical Engineering, Medicine, Law, Psychology, Criminology, History and Nursing.

We are developing the support we offer our Walcot Students. From this year, through our grant to Power2, they are able to access careers advice, mentoring and help in arranging placements.  We want to help students to make the most of their time at university so as to increase what is often termed 'social/cultural capital'. Our aim, through our grants and support, is to give our grantees from low-income Lambeth households the best possible chance of gaining properly paid jobs that fit in with their career plans. We're really proud of them!

We are celebrating Living Wage Week

We are currently seeking someone to join us on Mondays and Tuesdays 0900-1700 (14 hours PW) as Estate and Governance Administrator. Starting salary on range of £10,663-£11,282 pa (full time equivalent £26,658-£28,206 pa). Details here

See our Annual Review 2017/2018, Unfinished Business, online.
Printed copies are available on request. We'll be glad to send you a copy. Call us during office hours on 020 7735 1925 or email office <at> walcotfoundation.org.uk

Read our interview with a modern day benefactor of the Walcot Foundation - here

There have been dramatic cuts to London's youth services since 2016 according to a briefing paper by Sian Berry, a Member of the London Assembly. She highlights these main findings for the period 2011/12 to 2017/18

• At least £39 million has been cut from council youth service budgets across London
  
• Overall, there has been a 44 per cent youth service budget cut, with the average council taking £1.5 million out of youth services over this time
• Across 25 councils with like-for-like data, 81 youth centres and major council-supported youth projects have been cut
  
• Across 22 councils with like-for-like data, 800 youth service full-time posts have gone. At least a further £1.2 million is being cut from 15 councils in 2018/19 budgets
• Since 2011, the cumulative amount not spent on services for young people in London is now more than £145m

The briefing shows these figures for Lambeth (the area we serve) -
Change in funding youth services 2011/12-2018/18 -£2,499,000, a reduction ob this period of 53%
These reductions - part of the wider, severe cuts to public spending - have had a major impact on a range of provision that offered support and engagement to young people. The long term costs of this are likely to be significant.

Founded in 2017 by actor and activist Michael Sheen, the End High Cost Credit Alliance formally launched on 20 March 2018 at the Responsible Finance conference in Glasgow. The Alliance seeks fair, affordable credit products for those who need them.  A key requirement is clarity about the true cost of borrowing. In this video, Michael Sheen tells a pub story to show hidden high APR costs...

Our advertisement in Lambeth Talk's Winter edition

The latest data for London's Poverty Profile (from 2016 and 2017) shows a mixed picture. In some ways, London is better off than it was before the financial crisis. Employment rates are ar peak, at least as far back as 1992, at over 73% of the working-age population. This is 4.5%s higher than a decade earlier. This also translates to a record low in the number of workless households in London. However, while the overall poverty rate has fallen slightly in recent years, it remains higher than the rest of the country; and the proportion living in 'deep poverty' has increased.  Follow 'read more'

We were delighted to support Victoria and the social enterprise she established, Iconic Steps.  See her video...

We have posted revised designs for the exterior elevations of the Foundation's proposed Walcot Mews development. More

This latest annual report from the New Policy Institute brings together the most recent data to present a comprehensive picture of poverty in the UK. Key points -

• In 2014/15, there were 13.5 million people living in low-income households, 21% of the UK population. This proportion has barely changed since 2002/03.
• The proportion of working-age adults in employment is at a record high. Full-time employees account for 62% of the growth in jobs since 2010. The proportion of young adults who are unemployed is the lowest since 2005.
• The number of people in poverty in a working family is 55% – a record high. Four-fifths of the adults in these families are themselves working, some 3.8 million workers. Those adults that are not working are predominantly looking after children.

More (external site)

Our Grants Committee recently received a progress report on our Step Up programme - a joint initiative between the Walcot Foundation and Trust for London. Low pay in London is growing and is a major contributor to poverty in the capital. The London Poverty Profile shows that in 2013 there were 640,000 low paid jobs in London, an increase on the 2007 figure of 420,000. LSE findings show that in 2013 23% of London workers earned less that the Living Wage. Despite all this, there has been little focus to date on programmes to help people to escape low pay. The Step Up programme is funding pilot schemes.  The aim is to discover the best ways of helping this large number of our fellow citizens move into better paid work.

The End Child Poverty coalition has published new figures providing a new child poverty map of the UK. The data is available by parliamentary constituency, local authority and ward. Lambeth details can be accessed here.

Among the twenty local authorities with the highest levels of child poverty, eleven are in London. Of the ten London Local Authorities with the highest levels of child poverty, eight are in Inner London. In the table below are Lambeth's Wards. After housing costs are factored in the percentage of child poverty reaches an astonishing 46.17% in Coldharbour Ward. Seven Wards have rates of child poverty in excess of 40%: Ferndale, Stockwell, Prince's, Vassall, Larkhall, Tulse Hill and Coldharbour.

We are an accredited Living Wage Employer. This week the Living Wage in the UK has increased to £8.45ph, and in London to £9.75ph. Find out more from the Living Wage Foundation

Click image to be taken to online version.  We are glad to supply hard copies: please call the office

A report commissioned by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and conducted by Heriot-Watt and Loughborough Universities claims that the effects of poverty in the UK cost the average taxpayer £1,200 a year, and the UK £78bn in total. It identifies -

• £29bn on treating health conditions associated with poverty
• £10bn on schools providing initiatives such as free school meals and pupil premium for poorer students
• £9bn on the police and criminal justice systems dealing with the higher incidence of crime in more deprived areas
• £7.5bn on children's services and early years provision, such as free childcare for deprived two-year-olds
• £4.6bn on adult social care
• £4bn on housing
  

For more, follow this link to the JRF site