You Can’t Change What You Don’t Understand

To people in power, poverty can look like a figure in a report. Crime can become a statistic. Desperation can be discussed in a meeting and then forgotten when everyone goes home.

But in a community, these things are real.

Poverty can mean an empty fridge, an unpaid bill or a parent lying awake wondering how to make things stretch. Crime can grow where people feel trapped, ignored or without choices. Desperation can push someone towards decisions they may never have made if they had felt supported.

I go to work every day. I have been in the same job for seven years, but with rents and the cost of living rising, I am only just keeping bread and jam on the table for my family.

At home, the dog next door barks all day and through the night. The neighbour’s garden is full of rubbish. I have tried speaking to them, but it feels pointless. My family is being driven round the bend, and the council keeps saying they will help—but nobody ever shows up.

What are we supposed to do? People talk about supporting communities, but sometimes all we need is for someone to listen, turn up and help solve the problem before it becomes a crisis.

Perhaps our new Prime Minister will understand that these are the realities people are living with—not just statistics.

Let’s hope this message reaches the people making decisions, and that listening to communities becomes action, not just another promise.

I take inspiration from Gerald on Clarkson’s Farm. He just gets on with it, usually with a smile. Maybe that is all we can do—keep going, keep speaking up and hope that, one day, someone listens.