“Ground-breaking” Tale of Two Cities fund aims to tackle Derby’s shocking poverty gap
A host of Derby’s best-known firms have formed a unique partnership to help raise thousands of pounds for nine local community nurseries in a bid to stop the city’s most vulnerable children from being left behind.
The Tale of Two Cities Early Years initiative, a ground-breaking social impact project which is being spearheaded by YMCA Derbyshire, has been launched to help change the lives of hundreds of nursery-aged children growing up in Derby’s most deprived areas.
It seeks to address the huge inequality that exists in the city, whose workers take home the highest average salary outside London - £36,696, compared to a national average of £29,617 - but whose streets hide some of the highest levels of poverty in the whole of the UK.
And it is calling on local firms and residents to sign up to a simple pledge – to donate just £4 a month to help make a difference to the city’s youngest and most in-need generation.
The Tale of Two Cities campaign was launched as a response to findings which show that, despite the city’s high income levels, 38% of children living in Derby are classed as living in poverty – higher than the national average.
While such figures are shocking, it is the knock-on effect for the children themselves which are so catastrophic.
According to the Government’s Child Poverty Strategy, a five-year-old who is eligible for free school meals is already five months behind their classmates when it comes to their educational development, and this disparity grows to 19 months by the time they are 16.
The gap is due to a combination of factors associated with poverty, including a poor diet, increased stress and less time being read to by an adult.
The effects are most acute in a child’s pre-school years, when despite the fact that 519 out of 540 children attending the city’s nine community nurseries would be eligible for free school meals, nurseries are struggling to give them what they need.
In particular, unlike schools, they do not provide free meals, putting a financial burden on already cash-strapped families, who are often unable to pay.
This has resulted in some of Derby’s community nurseries being forced to close their kitchens, alongside making a number of cost-cutting measures in the face of rising costs – further compounding the challenges faced by their young people.
These are the issues the Tale of Two Cities is seeking to address, by raising £438,000 each year over the next three years to fund hot meals, speech and language therapy, outdoor activities and equipment and storytelling programmes for all nine nurseries.
And it has enlisted the help of 20 different organisations across the city, including city sportswear firm HUUB, Derby County Football Club, Salloway Property Consultants, Derby City Council, the University of Derby and heating systems manufacturers Vaillant.
Gillian Sewell, CEO of YMCA Derbyshire, said “It’s shocking to think that, living alongside some of the best-paid worked in the country are hundreds of young children for whom these are most definitely the worst of times.
“We cannot afford to ignore this any longer.
“This isn’t about playing the blame game, we need to play the taking action game. Derby’s economic future depends on bringing through a new generation of young people through our education system who can join our world-class companies one day.
“For too many children growing up in our city, any dreams they might have of doing just that die before they even start school.
“That’s something everyone in the city should be concerned about, which is why our unique partnership will make it possible for everyone in the city to be able to make a difference.”
The fund is asking businesses to support the initiative and encouraging the city’s workers to commit to its £4 a month pledge which, if every one of Derby’s 47,000 employees were to sign up, would reach the £480,000 target in just nine weeks.
Dean Jackson MBE, founder and CEO of Derby performance sportswear brand HUUB said: “We’re supporting this pledge because everybody deserves the right to maximise every opportunity that life gives them.
“No matter how young they are, or where they are on their life journey, they just have to grasp those opportunities and be supported every single step of the way.”