On Monday 8 July 2024 a unique gathering of policymakers and those with lived experience of poverty came together to reflect on a shared journey of change and celebrate progress made.
Across the UK, Poverty Truth Commissions (PTC) bring together two groups: people with lived experience struggling against poverty, who are known in the process as Community Commissioners; and people who are decision-makers or policymakers from civic or business life who are known in the process as Civic Commissioners.
In Hull, these groups came together over a period of 2 years to listen to each other’s experiences and build relationships. They met as humans, not job titles, and they shared their stories and agreed priorities for a local area with the aim of improving the lives of people in poverty.
Perhaps uniquely, the Hull PTC has been joined by two academic researchers, Dr Gill Hughes, Senior Lecturer at the University of Hull and Y-PERN Policy Fellow Dr Juan Pablo Winter, who have attempted to capture some of the learnings from the journey to take forward. They have drawn on methods including Participatory Action Research (PAR) and Transformative Participatory Evaluation (TPE). This aligns with the ethos of the Poverty Truth Commission and responds to a long-term relationship between the commissioners, facilitators and evaluators, based on trust, commitment, and mutual respect, valuing everyone’s unique perspectives and contributions.
The evaluation team commissioned My Pockets, a film production company and arts organisation based in East Yorkshire, to tell the story of the first Hull Poverty Truth Commission.
Community commissioners have experience of poverty, and civic commissioners are leaders in organisations within Hull and East Yorkshire, who have access to systems and services that can sometimes impact experiences of poverty. Together their voices narrate this film. Relationships and trust grew supported by facilitation from The Forum, Timebank and Groundwork, who were part of the consortium of the voluntary and community sector, which convened the commission.
The film was premiered at the Hull PTC ‘awakening’ event on the 8 July, and the team are proud to share that more widely now:
