Poverty Truth Commission
Peterborough’s first Poverty Truth Commission ran from January 2023 through to our celebration event in February 2025. You can find a leaflet telling the story of that first commission and what we achieved together at this link, view the video highlights of our celebration event here, and find more information further down this page.
Just because our first commission has come to a conclusion does not mean that the work has finished. From April 2025 the Poverty Truth Community in Peterborough will be working for six months to embed the learning from the commission within local organisations and continue to promote the Poverty Truth way of working. Keep your eyes on the PCVS website for further updates!
What is a Poverty Truth Commission?
‘Nothing about us, without us, is for us,’ is the ethos of every Poverty Truth Commission. The idea is simple; that lasting social change only happens when those who experience the struggle take part in generating that change.
A Poverty Truth Commission begins by putting those with direct experience of poverty first and asking them to share their knowledge about what’s truly needed to make change. These people are known as Community commissions who build strong connections with Civic commissioners, who are local leaders in the city on many of the services and decisions which affect people’s lives.
Why is it important?
Because it is important to hear from those people who have direct experience of poverty, whose voices are not always heard.
But if you'd like some stats:
According to the Indices of Multiple Deprivation, Peterborough has some of the most deprived neighbourhoods in the country, with Central, Dogsthorpe, and North being particularly deprived.
By the same measure, Peterborough is in the worst 10% of the country for Education and Skills, Crime, and Housing.
Constituency level data shows that Child poverty is increasing, data from 2014 to 2020 shows relative child poverty going from 28.2% to 34.7% in Peterborough.
Do you think any of these issues have become better with the cost of living crisis?
Digital exclusion update!
As a result of the issues identified during the Poverty Truth Commission work, JobSmart Peterborough now offer one to one support at a weekly drop in session to support and help anyone struggling with filling in electronic forms.
Need more Information?
Get in touch
For more information on Peterborough’s Poverty Truth Commission please contact our friendly team James or Cheryl