What is a Poverty Truth Commission?
A Poverty Truth Commission begins by putting those with direct experience of poverty first, and asking them to share their knowledge about what’s truly needed to make change. They set the agenda.
It acts as a vital link between those with experience and decision makers in the area, building real relationships and real trust. It also removes labels such as ‘service user’ and ‘professional’, and humanises the system which is currently in place to tackle poverty.
Finally, it’s a power-dynamic equaliser, all people within the PTC should be heard, and everyone’s opinions are valued.
Pledge your organisation’s support to adopt and implement the Charter for Organisational Standards
‘To be treated with kindness, understanding, honesty and respect when accessing services’, was chosen by the Community Commissioners as the issue that would make the most difference to them whilst experiencing poverty.
Both Community and Civic Commissioners worked together to see how this could be achieved practically within an organisation and not just become a token policy. From these discussions the York Poverty Truth Commission produced the following set of four organisational standards that if embedded into practice will make a significant difference to the people of York and beyond.
Sign the pledge and adopt the four organisational standards
Standard #1 - We listen
1. Ensure that feedback systems are varied and accessible
2. Openly and constructively engage with the feedback you receive
3. Explore ways to involve people with experience of poverty in your employee and service reviews
4. Establish feedback as a top three indicator of success
5. Establish ways to proactively involve and listen to people who have experienced poverty as part of your decision-making processes, where those decisions are likely to impact people living in poverty
6. Understand a person’s situation and respond in a supportive and proportionate way if the person appears stressed, frustrated or anxious
7. Ensure you have processes in place that allow other people to speak on a person’s behalf
Standard #2 - We are understanding
1. Ensure you are not making assumptions about individuals or their situation at the start of your interactions
2. Take time to really listen to a person and understand their unique situation
3. Frequently check you are correctly understanding what you are being told by asking questions (it may help to explain why you are doing this so it doesn’t appear as though you are interrogating the person or trying to trip them up)
4. At the end of your interactions, check if people felt understood and whether you have responded to their needs
5. Support everyone in your organisation to attend training or experiences that will help improve their understanding of poverty
Standard #3 - We are respectful and friendly
Although approaches should be responsive to the personal and cultural preferences of individuals, it is likely that being respectful and friendly would include:
1. Introducing yourself
2. Making eye contact
3. Smiling
4. Using good manners
5. Adopting an appropriate and friendly tone of voice
6. Being conscious of what we say, how we say it, the words we use and the impact that these may have on people
7. Asking if it’s ok to make notes while speaking to a person
Standard #4 - We are responsive, honest and care about getting you the right support
Although approaches should be responsive to the personal and cultural preferences of individuals, it is likely that being respectful and friendly would include:
1. Adopt an empowering and engaging approach in your interactions, with an emphasis on helping people to find solutions that are right for them and their circumstances
2. Ensure your teams have the skills and capability to make decisions and resolve the issues people need help with
3. Empower colleagues to use their discretion to give people the support they need and find solutions
4. Recruit, train and support colleagues so that they have both the right skills and the right values
5. Acknowledge when you don’t understand or have made a mistake
6. Be open about what you can and can’t do. If you can’t do something explain the reasons why and, where possible, help the person identify someone else who can help
7. Ensure you leave people with appropriate contact details at the end of your interaction
A guiding statement for all Poverty Truth Commissions is:
‘Nothing about us, without us, is for us’
The York Poverty Truth Commission Timeline
April 2024
Phase 3 of the York Poverty Truth Commission process began with a successful Celebration and Next Steps event held at The Priory Street centre on the 24 April 2024.
As well as celebrating both personal and organisational impact to date, the ‘Charter for Organisational Standards – Together promoting dignity and respect for those facing poverty’ was launched. The desire for such a Charter came from the PTC’s Community Commissioners, whose stated priority was to be treated with dignity and respect by the organisations they were dealing with whilst facing poverty.
Civic Commissioners publicly pledged to adopt and integrate this Charter into the working practices of their respective organisations and challenged others to do the same.
Coming soon will be a space on this site to see which organisations have accepted the challenge to adopt and implement the Charter.
The Community Commissioners are becoming increasingly involved in training/discussion events with organisations within the City in order to promote awareness of the Charter and how a real difference can be made on a daily basis.
If you would like to explore further how you can join in making York a kinder place for those facing poverty by adopting the Charter please email: ptc@yorkcvs.org.uk and we will get back to you.
March 2023
The York Poverty Truth Commission official launch was held on 9 March 2023. The ‘York Poverty Truth Commission’ video captures some of the inspiring moments of Community Commissioners sharing some of their experience of living in poverty. Their honesty, wisdom and resilience was appreciated by all of the 70 plus guests.
October 2021
In October 2021, we held two initial meetings (online and in person) to begin to understand what might be needed for a York Poverty Truth Commission (PTC). You can read the notes from the meeting here. The notes capture people’s responses to the question ‘what excited and concerned people about a Poverty Truth Commission in York?’
Get in touch
How the Poverty Truth Commission will work…
The York Poverty Truth Commission will move through the phases below. If you have any questions about the York Poverty Truth Commission, or you want to get involved, please get in touch with Gary by emailing: ptc@yorkcvs.org.uk
Phase 1
Approximately 15 Community Commissioners are recruited who have a direct experience of poverty. They meet regularly for a sustained period of time (about 6 to 8 months) to get to know each other. They explore their experiences and decide what they would like to communicate about poverty to their area.
About the same number of Civic and Business Commissioners are recruited to form the other half of the commission.
This phase ends with a public event in which the Community Commissioners share their experiences of poverty.
Phase 2
All the commissioners start meeting regularly for full commission conversations to build relationships with each other and identify issues that they would like to address.
Issue groups are formed to explore the issues the commission wants to address.
One-to-one meetings enable commissioners to encounter and understand each other’s world.
Phase 3 – Current Phase
A closing event is held to communicate the findings of the commission with the wider public. This will include the work done in issue groups and the effect that the process has had on commissioners.
Work continues to help commissioners to embed what they have learnt into their communities, organisations and institutions.
This project has been funded by: Centre of Applied Human Rights, City of York Council, Joseph Rowntree Foundation and York CVS
