This town is beautiful, isn’t it? The countryside, the sea, the Arts and entertainment scene, the food, the shops.. one could go on. I’ve not known anywhere else that maintains such a strong tradition of waving ‘thank you’ to motorists paused at a pedestrian crossing. We’re fortunate for sure. A splendid place to
live – no doubt about it.
However, were the town as a whole represented as a human body, we’d have to honestly say that Bridport is beautiful but limping, the reason being that two of it’s toes are broken – namely the
areas of Court Orchard and Skilling. This is the ‘elephant in the room’ – that for quite some time these two areas have been listed on the National Indices of Deprivation as being the highest
ranking in the whole of Dorset. The whole of Dorset. Not many people know this.
It can be easy to point fingers and rail against this and that but, in all honesty, I feel that it’s not a situation that willbenefit from political agitation and great debate. The causes are diverse, many and deep. Some are external, some internal. Accompanying low income (and when I say ‘low’ I mean lower than you likely imagine) is a huge lack of dignity. Poverty is absolutely not a nice experience – at all. As a community worker on the barest income I’ve ever had, I can speak to the experience. It strips you to the bone and limits a person in so many ways that you might find surprising, some obvious and some far less so.
Many negative assumptions are made of the spending habits of those living in poverty. For a great commentary on that point, I recommend listening to Lemn Sissay’s current ‘Social Enterprise’ series on Radio 4; episode two covers that point well. Many negative assumptions are made of poor people’s willingness to engage in processes of change. I can confidently vouch that the willingness is definitely there but the opportunities to engage in a long term and sustainable means of change are distinctly
lacking. Some in positions of authority and governance feel frustrated, admitting a lack of traction in those areas. Political apathy is often cited as a prime cause for this deficiency of cohesion, but I’d like to once again pinpoint the lack of dignity that underpins the disinterest in political engagement. There’s guilt and shame on both sides of the perceived wealth divide. This is the first obstacle to conquer.
There’s no need to spiral into harsh judgement of this or that – I don’t know if any of us intended it to be like this! We just need to, first, get beyond the fears that limit interaction and drop our many assumptions. Not an easy ask, but only then can we meet in the middle. Poverty and abundance of wealth are both ‘othering’ to some extent, both extremes. It’s a town of strong contrast – many never experience the fine things on offer and likely never will while others enjoy it all as their daily fare. It’s not at all an unusual situation but, if we want Bridport to truly prosper, is it a situation that we want to maintain? Do we want yet another high ranking year on the deprivation indices*? I suspect not.
Well.. what are we going to do then? I mean actually do? Is it sufficient to keep on massaging the already healthy areas of the ‘body’ as a whole while neglecting the gammy toes? The elephant is
certainly in the room. The perceived divide is, actually, an illusion - one that we can choose to perpetuate indifferently or work on changing with genuine sincerity. Whether we like it or not, we are all connected to this situation - even if not directly responsible, even if comfortably housed, well fed and safe at home. We are all connected. Guilt will get us nowhere. Action will get us somewhere.. where’s it to be?
Jonathan Scott
*Indices of Multiple Deprivation:
"The Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) is the source used for deprivation information, as it is published by the MHCLG. It analyses deprivation using small geographical areas called Lower Super Output Areas (LSOAs), and takes account of a range of factors including income, employment, education, health, crime, housing, and living environment. It was last updated in 2019, and seems to be refreshed every four years so it is expected it to be renewed sometime this year. For now however, the Skilling area (part of LSOA West Dorset 008A) is in the lowest 30% for overall deprivation, and Court Orchard (part of LSOA West Dorset 006B) is in the lowest 20%. The only LSOAs in the Dorset Council area with higher overall deprivation are in Weymouth. The factors with the greatest adverse impact on deprivation in both Court Orchard and Skilling are employment, and education/skills/training.
Public transport spending in Dorset was reduced by 63% between 2010 and 2019. If you are too poor to own a car, or can't drive and living in Bridport, a rural market town, your employment opportunities, and your access to education and training are severely curtailed by the absence of buses. There are few if any dentists accepting NHS patients in the area, so if you can’t afford private dentistry you have no access to treatment except in an emergency. In terms of housing, there are over 400 people on the local housing waiting list, and barely any affordable housing is being built. These are just three examples of how a relatively wealthy population across Dorset that can afford cars, houses and private dentists are placing poorer citizens at a much-increased disadvantage."
HOME in Bridport
https://dclgapps.communities.gov.uk/imd/iod_index.html
live – no doubt about it.
However, were the town as a whole represented as a human body, we’d have to honestly say that Bridport is beautiful but limping, the reason being that two of it’s toes are broken – namely the
areas of Court Orchard and Skilling. This is the ‘elephant in the room’ – that for quite some time these two areas have been listed on the National Indices of Deprivation as being the highest
ranking in the whole of Dorset. The whole of Dorset. Not many people know this.
It can be easy to point fingers and rail against this and that but, in all honesty, I feel that it’s not a situation that willbenefit from political agitation and great debate. The causes are diverse, many and deep. Some are external, some internal. Accompanying low income (and when I say ‘low’ I mean lower than you likely imagine) is a huge lack of dignity. Poverty is absolutely not a nice experience – at all. As a community worker on the barest income I’ve ever had, I can speak to the experience. It strips you to the bone and limits a person in so many ways that you might find surprising, some obvious and some far less so.
Many negative assumptions are made of the spending habits of those living in poverty. For a great commentary on that point, I recommend listening to Lemn Sissay’s current ‘Social Enterprise’ series on Radio 4; episode two covers that point well. Many negative assumptions are made of poor people’s willingness to engage in processes of change. I can confidently vouch that the willingness is definitely there but the opportunities to engage in a long term and sustainable means of change are distinctly
lacking. Some in positions of authority and governance feel frustrated, admitting a lack of traction in those areas. Political apathy is often cited as a prime cause for this deficiency of cohesion, but I’d like to once again pinpoint the lack of dignity that underpins the disinterest in political engagement. There’s guilt and shame on both sides of the perceived wealth divide. This is the first obstacle to conquer.
There’s no need to spiral into harsh judgement of this or that – I don’t know if any of us intended it to be like this! We just need to, first, get beyond the fears that limit interaction and drop our many assumptions. Not an easy ask, but only then can we meet in the middle. Poverty and abundance of wealth are both ‘othering’ to some extent, both extremes. It’s a town of strong contrast – many never experience the fine things on offer and likely never will while others enjoy it all as their daily fare. It’s not at all an unusual situation but, if we want Bridport to truly prosper, is it a situation that we want to maintain? Do we want yet another high ranking year on the deprivation indices*? I suspect not.
Well.. what are we going to do then? I mean actually do? Is it sufficient to keep on massaging the already healthy areas of the ‘body’ as a whole while neglecting the gammy toes? The elephant is
certainly in the room. The perceived divide is, actually, an illusion - one that we can choose to perpetuate indifferently or work on changing with genuine sincerity. Whether we like it or not, we are all connected to this situation - even if not directly responsible, even if comfortably housed, well fed and safe at home. We are all connected. Guilt will get us nowhere. Action will get us somewhere.. where’s it to be?
Jonathan Scott
*Indices of Multiple Deprivation:
"The Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) is the source used for deprivation information, as it is published by the MHCLG. It analyses deprivation using small geographical areas called Lower Super Output Areas (LSOAs), and takes account of a range of factors including income, employment, education, health, crime, housing, and living environment. It was last updated in 2019, and seems to be refreshed every four years so it is expected it to be renewed sometime this year. For now however, the Skilling area (part of LSOA West Dorset 008A) is in the lowest 30% for overall deprivation, and Court Orchard (part of LSOA West Dorset 006B) is in the lowest 20%. The only LSOAs in the Dorset Council area with higher overall deprivation are in Weymouth. The factors with the greatest adverse impact on deprivation in both Court Orchard and Skilling are employment, and education/skills/training.
Public transport spending in Dorset was reduced by 63% between 2010 and 2019. If you are too poor to own a car, or can't drive and living in Bridport, a rural market town, your employment opportunities, and your access to education and training are severely curtailed by the absence of buses. There are few if any dentists accepting NHS patients in the area, so if you can’t afford private dentistry you have no access to treatment except in an emergency. In terms of housing, there are over 400 people on the local housing waiting list, and barely any affordable housing is being built. These are just three examples of how a relatively wealthy population across Dorset that can afford cars, houses and private dentists are placing poorer citizens at a much-increased disadvantage."
HOME in Bridport
https://dclgapps.communities.gov.uk/imd/iod_index.html