{"id":78786,"date":"2026-03-23T17:01:04","date_gmt":"2026-03-23T17:01:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sheffieldwire.co.uk\/?p=78786"},"modified":"2026-03-23T22:34:26","modified_gmt":"2026-03-23T22:34:26","slug":"sheffield-poverty-truth-commission-the-charity-putting-peoples-voices-at-the-forefront-to-create-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sheffieldwire.co.uk\/index.php\/2026\/03\/23\/sheffield-poverty-truth-commission-the-charity-putting-peoples-voices-at-the-forefront-to-create-change\/","title":{"rendered":"Sheffield Poverty Truth Commission: the charity putting people\u2019s voices at the forefront to create change"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

One in four people in Sheffield is living in poverty and the city has one of the highest rates of child poverty in the UK.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The South Yorkshire city has some of the poorest neighbourhoods in the country with 31.2% of children experiencing poverty compared to a national average of 18.9%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Martin McKervey, civic and business commissioner for the Sheffield Poverty Truth Commission (SPTC), said: \u201cThose statistics anger me. I don\u2019t feel a sense of frustration, I feel anger and agitation, that in 2026, we live in a city that seems to think this is acceptable and normal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAt the commission, there is a very singular focus, we have to do something about this.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a bid to help those in need, the SPTC has published a new report recommending public services use simpler language when offering support to residents who are struggling financially.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The brown envelope code focuses on clear communication around bills, benefits, debts, and services, to combat the intimidation and confusion many in poverty can feel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are creating hope and helping to make Sheffield a better place,\u201d said Mr McKervey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The recommendations come after a year and a half of discussions, where community commissioners with lived experience of poverty told of their struggles in accessing information and support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The SPTC have become a key voice in how the council makes decisions around poverty after being regularly invited to Sheffield City Council meetings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are Poverty Truth Commissions?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Poverty Truth Commissions (PTCs) are community-led initiatives designed to tackle poverty by bringing together people with lived experience of poverty and local decision makers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The motto that underpins PTCs is, \u201cnothing about us, without us, is for us\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PTCs are split up into regional poverty truth commissions, with the SPTC established in September 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first meeting brought together community commissioners, people who have faced the struggle of poverty, and civic commissioners, who have had influential roles within South Yorkshire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The SPTC\u2019s report, entitled Finding the Root Cause,<\/em> was brought forward for discussion in February this year, and has already impacted policy implementation by Sheffield City Council.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the Council introduced \u00a310m for the Crisis and Resilience Fund (CRF) over the next three years<\/a>, the report was credited with \u201chighlighting the need for more compassionate, dignified, and person-centred services\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Part of the CRF was a \u2018no wrong doors\u2019 model, allowing residents to get help online, by phone, or through trusted places such as Family Hubs, a policy introduced to create person-centred support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What else does the SPTC focus on?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As well as recommending changes to the system in place for people living in poverty to get help, Finding the Root Cause<\/em> focuses on poverty-proofing education, and prioritising the impact poverty can have on people\u2019s mental health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finding the Root Cause<\/em> says: \u201cThere are strong societal forces that trap people in poverty, including the availability of secure work, housing costs and government choices on benefit levels and eligibility. Yet, poverty is not inevitable. We know that policy decisions can and do influence poverty rates.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through recommending city-wide implementation of the brown envelope code, and influencing the council in replacing the former Household Support Fund (HSF) with the CRF, they are going some way to changing how poverty is discussed in Sheffield.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr McKervey said: \u201cThis commission has been one of the most rewarding and important things I have ever taken part in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe take our lanyards off at the door, there is no power in this commission. The community commissioners are at the centre of everything we do, because that lived experience must be the leading voice, the determining voice in all that we discuss.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, Mr McKervey acknowledges poverty is a deep-rooted issue with no short-term fix, and change will not happen overnight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat our commission cannot be is just a conversation over a year, we all have a good time together, and then we all disappear into the ether,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe must be very comfortable in the fact this is a long-term project, there is no quick fix in this.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Inequality is another factor that plagues the city. If you were to take the 83 bus route from Fulwood in the west to Burngreave in the east, which takes approximately 40 minutes, female life expectancy drops by ten years from 87 to 77.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Douglas Johnson, Green councillor for City ward, sat on the Strategy and Resources Policy Committee that heard the SPTC\u2019s report in February.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said: \u201cThe SPTC was a chance to get under the skin of what poverty really looks like in Sheffield and how it holds the city back. It was also a chance for all the sectors in Sheffield – public, private, and voluntary – to think how they can help tackle poverty, or alternatively, how their actions make things worse for people on very low incomes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEveryone, especially in official bodies like the council and NHS, can help address poverty and hardship by being kind and trying to understand where individual people are coming from when they use our services.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Video: What does Sheffield think of poverty in the city?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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