– From right to left, in the front row are: Councillor Soraya Adeljare, Mayor Zoe Garbett, Angela Babb, and Fran Bennett

As a member of 4in10: London’s Child Poverty Network, ATD Fourth World took part when on 19 August the network met with Zoe Garbett, the newly elected Mayor of Hackney, and Soraya Adejare, the Hackney Council cabinet member for children, young people and early intervention.

The aim was to follow up a commitment these officers had made to work towards a child-poverty free London if they were elected. In Hackney, more than 1 in 2 children live in poverty, not just 4 in 10 which is the London average.

Angela Babb, an ATD expert by experience who lives in Hackney, vividly described her own experiences of homelessness and called for action to tackle it. She also stressed the importance of always treating unhoused people with respect, as she does.

She said that others could survive and regain their confidence, as she had — but it is not survivors’ responsibility to find the answers. What is needed is a whole-system solution, not a sticking plaster.

Fran Bennett, a long-term ally of ATD Fourth World, highlighted ATD’s long experience having people with lived experience of poverty deliver anti-poverty practice training, including in a current six-month project for the London Borough of Newham. She suggested to the Mayor that Hackney could invite ATD Fourth World to do the same.

Several other people from 4in10 member organisations introduced their work and concerns. 4in10 described the meeting afterwards as ‘a wide-ranging and powerful conversation’ and plans to follow it up with further contact.

To read more about 4in10’s calls for action to drive down child poverty rates across London, please click here.