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| A tale of two cities: London’s rich and poor in Tower Hamlets | A tale of two cities: London’s rich and poor in Tower Hamlets |
| (about 3 hours later) | |
| Canary Wharf’s corporate towers look down on food banks in ‘borough of contrasts’ | Canary Wharf’s corporate towers look down on food banks in ‘borough of contrasts’ |
| Jane and Noel have never met. They probably never will, even though they go about their lives within sight of each other. | Jane and Noel have never met. They probably never will, even though they go about their lives within sight of each other. |
| Jane is a 30-year-old mother of five. On the Thursday before Christmas, Jane walked through the pouring rain to a food bank in a Salvation Army church in Poplar, east London. She is unemployed and has had her benefits stopped as she waits to be transferred on to the government’s “simplified” universal credit system. She won’t get her first payment until 20 January. | Jane is a 30-year-old mother of five. On the Thursday before Christmas, Jane walked through the pouring rain to a food bank in a Salvation Army church in Poplar, east London. She is unemployed and has had her benefits stopped as she waits to be transferred on to the government’s “simplified” universal credit system. She won’t get her first payment until 20 January. |
| Noel Quinn is the interim chief executive of HSBC. He spent his Thursday morning running one of the world biggest banks from his office on the top floor of HSBC’s global headquarters in adjacent Canary Wharf. Quinn is the frontrunner to be appointed permanent CEO. His predecessor, John Flint, was paid £4.6m last year, and was in line to collect a maximum of £11.9m this year. | Noel Quinn is the interim chief executive of HSBC. He spent his Thursday morning running one of the world biggest banks from his office on the top floor of HSBC’s global headquarters in adjacent Canary Wharf. Quinn is the frontrunner to be appointed permanent CEO. His predecessor, John Flint, was paid £4.6m last year, and was in line to collect a maximum of £11.9m this year. |
| The panoramic view from Quinn’s luxurious office suite takes in the Salvation Army church, where Jane is telling her life story to case workers at the First Love Foundation food bank as other volunteers pack up bags of food to help her through the next month with no money coming in. She turned down some of the more expensive foods on offer, saying: “There are people more in need of it than me, save it for them.” | The panoramic view from Quinn’s luxurious office suite takes in the Salvation Army church, where Jane is telling her life story to case workers at the First Love Foundation food bank as other volunteers pack up bags of food to help her through the next month with no money coming in. She turned down some of the more expensive foods on offer, saying: “There are people more in need of it than me, save it for them.” |
| Jane, who recently had a miscarriage and suffered years of domestic abuse, is living in a two-bedroom flat. “The two little ones are in with me,” she says. “The boys share the other room, and my eldest daughter is on a pull-out bed in the lounge.” Her daughter suffers from congenital incontinence, and hasn’t had a dry night in a decade. | Jane, who recently had a miscarriage and suffered years of domestic abuse, is living in a two-bedroom flat. “The two little ones are in with me,” she says. “The boys share the other room, and my eldest daughter is on a pull-out bed in the lounge.” Her daughter suffers from congenital incontinence, and hasn’t had a dry night in a decade. |
| The father of her 10- and nine-year-old boys took his own life a month after the younger boy was born. Jane says he was struggling with self-esteem issues because he thought he couldn’t properly provide for his family. The father of her youngest two children subjected her to years of domestic abuse, and stole child support income to feed his heroin and crack cocaine addiction. He is now in jail. | |
| The local authority, Tower Hamlets, began public law outline (PLO) proceedings, the start of the formal process to consider taking her children into care. She fought back, and has kept custody of them, but social workers still make regular assessments. | The local authority, Tower Hamlets, began public law outline (PLO) proceedings, the start of the formal process to consider taking her children into care. She fought back, and has kept custody of them, but social workers still make regular assessments. |
| When Jane is switched over to universal credit she is likely to be hit by the benefit cap and see the total she receives fall by £346 a month. Jane will also be hit by the two-child limit on child benefits. She is already struggling to pay her rent and is thousands of pounds in arrears. | When Jane is switched over to universal credit she is likely to be hit by the benefit cap and see the total she receives fall by £346 a month. Jane will also be hit by the two-child limit on child benefits. She is already struggling to pay her rent and is thousands of pounds in arrears. |
| She is on the council’s waiting list for a four-bedroom home, but has been told to expect a 14-year wait. More than 20,000 families are on the waiting list in Tower Hamlets – almost one in six of all households in the borough. A more realistic option, for Jane and others with larger families, is to arrange a housing swap with a council outside London. | She is on the council’s waiting list for a four-bedroom home, but has been told to expect a 14-year wait. More than 20,000 families are on the waiting list in Tower Hamlets – almost one in six of all households in the borough. A more realistic option, for Jane and others with larger families, is to arrange a housing swap with a council outside London. |
| Jane had stopped eating in order to scratch together enough money to feed her children. It shows. She is painfully thin and has lost several of her teeth, a sign of malnutrition. “I go without food,” she tells Denise Bentley, the co-founder and chief executive of the First Love Foundation. “You’ve got to sacrifice to ensure your children don’t go hungry.” | Jane had stopped eating in order to scratch together enough money to feed her children. It shows. She is painfully thin and has lost several of her teeth, a sign of malnutrition. “I go without food,” she tells Denise Bentley, the co-founder and chief executive of the First Love Foundation. “You’ve got to sacrifice to ensure your children don’t go hungry.” |
| Jane tells Bentley that she has gone for weeks at a time only eating bread, because it momentarily makes her feel full. | Jane tells Bentley that she has gone for weeks at a time only eating bread, because it momentarily makes her feel full. |
| Tower Hamlets has the capital’s highest level of child poverty, at 43%. This is despite hosting many of highest-paid people in the world, working in the headquarters of banks including HSBC, Barclays, Morgan Stanley and JP Morgan in Canary Wharf, a 10-minute walk away from the food bank. | Tower Hamlets has the capital’s highest level of child poverty, at 43%. This is despite hosting many of highest-paid people in the world, working in the headquarters of banks including HSBC, Barclays, Morgan Stanley and JP Morgan in Canary Wharf, a 10-minute walk away from the food bank. |
| More than 3,500 bankers – mostly working in Canary Wharf or the City of London – are paid more than £850,000 a year, according to data published by the European Banking Authority (EBA). Thirty bankers were paid more than £8.5m and one asset manager collected £35m. | More than 3,500 bankers – mostly working in Canary Wharf or the City of London – are paid more than £850,000 a year, according to data published by the European Banking Authority (EBA). Thirty bankers were paid more than £8.5m and one asset manager collected £35m. |
| HSBC said it supports community investment programmes across the UK, including the East London Business Alliance and Cardboard Citizens, which are based in Tower Hamlets. It did not state how much money or time it contributes. Barclays said its staff volunteer for the First Love Foundation and had donated 50,000 food items. | HSBC said it supports community investment programmes across the UK, including the East London Business Alliance and Cardboard Citizens, which are based in Tower Hamlets. It did not state how much money or time it contributes. Barclays said its staff volunteer for the First Love Foundation and had donated 50,000 food items. |
| Bentley, who founded the First Love Foundation in 2010, used to work in the City. “I was one of them,” she says gesturing to the towers. “I worked as a forex [foreign exchange] trader until I was made redundant in the [2008/9] financial crisis,” she says. “What is happening to people here is horrendous, and I had to do something.” | Bentley, who founded the First Love Foundation in 2010, used to work in the City. “I was one of them,” she says gesturing to the towers. “I worked as a forex [foreign exchange] trader until I was made redundant in the [2008/9] financial crisis,” she says. “What is happening to people here is horrendous, and I had to do something.” |
| The First Love Foundation provides food to 150 people in crisis every month. An additional 200 people will receive a cardboard box Christmas hamper and presents for children. “But our mission is to not have any more clients to feed,” Bentley says. “We want to solve the underlying problems that have led people into crisis.” Most of the problems, she says, are caused by the introduction of universal credit and public spending cuts. At the centre, clients are given help and support with housing and ensuring they are getting all the benefits they are entitled to. | The First Love Foundation provides food to 150 people in crisis every month. An additional 200 people will receive a cardboard box Christmas hamper and presents for children. “But our mission is to not have any more clients to feed,” Bentley says. “We want to solve the underlying problems that have led people into crisis.” Most of the problems, she says, are caused by the introduction of universal credit and public spending cuts. At the centre, clients are given help and support with housing and ensuring they are getting all the benefits they are entitled to. |
| Rachel Blake, the Labour deputy mayor of Tower Hamlets, says the crisis facing Jane and thousands of others in the borough and across the county is due to “the Conservative government’s decade of austerity and cuts”. | Rachel Blake, the Labour deputy mayor of Tower Hamlets, says the crisis facing Jane and thousands of others in the borough and across the county is due to “the Conservative government’s decade of austerity and cuts”. |
| “The benefit system is completely and totally broken, and we have a housing crisis,” she says. “Universal credit should be scrapped, now.” | “The benefit system is completely and totally broken, and we have a housing crisis,” she says. “Universal credit should be scrapped, now.” |
| Blake says the council is “taking a stand for our residents” and has pumped £6.6m into a “tackling poverty fund” supporting 834 people with housing payments and with cash to help those struggling with the five-week wait to switch to universal credit. | Blake says the council is “taking a stand for our residents” and has pumped £6.6m into a “tackling poverty fund” supporting 834 people with housing payments and with cash to help those struggling with the five-week wait to switch to universal credit. |
| “The food banks are papering over the cracks, but residents should not be reliant on the kindness of strangers,” Blake says. “We need a social security system that works for everyone. | “The food banks are papering over the cracks, but residents should not be reliant on the kindness of strangers,” Blake says. “We need a social security system that works for everyone. |
| “We know we are a borough of contrasts,” she says when asked about the proximity of the global banking headquarters to the food bank. “The characterisation of London being wealthy doesn’t ring true to our residents – the inequalities could not be starker.” | “We know we are a borough of contrasts,” she says when asked about the proximity of the global banking headquarters to the food bank. “The characterisation of London being wealthy doesn’t ring true to our residents – the inequalities could not be starker.” |
| Jane hasn’t really considered the gleaming towers of Canary Wharf that are literally casting shadows over the food bank as she makes her way home with a trolley full of food. “I know they must be making a lot of money up there, but they must have worked very hard to get there and have good qualifications,” she says. “Good luck to them, I say. Merry Christmas.” | Jane hasn’t really considered the gleaming towers of Canary Wharf that are literally casting shadows over the food bank as she makes her way home with a trolley full of food. “I know they must be making a lot of money up there, but they must have worked very hard to get there and have good qualifications,” she says. “Good luck to them, I say. Merry Christmas.” |
| The First Love Foundation has been overwhelmed with long-life foods, but financial donations can be made here. | The First Love Foundation has been overwhelmed with long-life foods, but financial donations can be made here. |
| Jane’s name has been changed. | Jane’s name has been changed. |