Look to the past to revive the north-east | Letter

Mon, 06 Jan 2025, 16:40
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Admirers of Ken Loach will have seen Horden in his film The Old Oak, along with other parts of the north-east that were devastated economically by the loss of industry (

‘Take this house or you’re homeless’: families sent to a Durham town from London, 31 December

). In the film, a pub landlord enables the integration of a refugee family; in reality, it’s more likely to be charities or councils, which are already on their uppers.

Why, when a house can cost as little as £16,000, is anyone living in temporary accommodation? Thatcherite dogma decreed that only the private sector could fix any problem, and John Prescott’s

Pathfinder

programme led to the demolition of thousands of “market failure” houses in areas like these. But why cannot councils acquire these redundant houses? Why is it left to private investors to make money out of these situations?

Two possible solutions come to mind. One is the settlement movement of the late 19th century, when young men from universities

went to deprived areas

to live among poor people and help in various ways. Many of them were intended for the church; they would be missionaries in the nation’s slums first.

Toynbee Hall in Whitechapel

and Oxford House in Bethnal Green, east London, are two surviving examples, still doing valuable community work. Students now pay huge sums to work on sometimes questionable overseas projects in their gap years. Why not a gap year in the north-east doing something constructive, including perhaps breaking down prejudices?

The other solution is an outfit I worked for years ago, which sadly no longer exists: the Young Builders Trust. Young people who had experienced homelessness or were not in education, employment or training were taught to construct or repair the housing they would then be allocated. They gained qualifications and a place to live. Each scheme partnered with a local college. It was largely funded by the European Social Fund, but there is no reason why something similar couldn’t be designed in places like Horden.

Any investment along those lines, diverting the millions being paid to firms such as

Reloc8 UK

, would represent a huge saving in money and misery. Students at Toynbee Hall included Clement Attlee and William Beveridge. What a model for a rebuilt welfare state.

Judith Martin


Winchester

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