Like other Poverty Truth Commissions, Poverty Truth Ilfracombe seeks to discover the answer to the question, ‘what if people who struggled against poverty were involved in making decisions about tackling poverty?’

The commissioners for each Commission comprise two groups of people. Around half of the commissioners are people with a lived experience of the struggle against poverty. The other half are leaders within the town and region. Collectively they work to understand the nature of poverty, what are some of the underlying issues that create poverty and explore creative ways of addressing them.

For more information see (and share) the:

Poverty Truth Ilfracombe Launch Video – September 2024

Poverty Truth Commission Newsletter – February 2025

Poverty Truth Commission Newsletter January 2025

Poverty Truth Commission Newsletter December 2024

Poverty Truth Commission Newsletter November 2024

Want to be involved?

Call, email or text James – james.lander2@nhs.net – 07491581962 and he will reply asap

We are looking for:

  • Adults over 18 years
  • with personal experience of struggling against poverty / financial insecurity
  • Live or work in the Ilfracombe area
  • A willingness, with support, to share experiences of struggling with poverty at an event with local/regional civic/business leaders.
  • The desire to build relationships with decision makers and other people experiencing poverty, working closely with them to explore the potential for how to implement positive change
  • Able to commit to meeting twice monthly 1000-1330 (Thursdays). Participants will receive a free meal and expenses to attend each session

Recruitment (Oct 2023-Feb 2024)

8-12 Community Commissioners are recruited who have a direct experience of poverty and want to share their stories to help create positive changes within organisations, services, policies and the wider system.

Phase 1 – Prepare  (March-Sept 2024)

Community Commissioners meet regularly for a sustained period of time (twice monthly for 3 hours) to get to know each other. Together, they will explore their experiences and decide what and how they would like to communicate about poverty to their area. We will:

  • Share a meal together 
  • Get to know each other and build a supportive group 
  • Explore ways of communicating experiences of poverty in a safe way 
  • Work together to decide which civic/business leaders we need to invite to join the commission and what we want the opening event to be like 

Civic and business Commissioners are recruited to form the other half of the commission based on the experiences and hopes of the community commissioners.

This phase ends with an Opening event (Sept 2024) Community Commissioners share their experiences of poverty with civic and business leaders and the full commission is formed (both groups working together) and officially begins.

Phase 2 – Engage, Explore & Experiment (Oct 2024-Oct 2025)

Oct 2024-March 2025 – meeting monthly: All the commissioners start for conversations to build relationships with each other and identify issues that they would like to address.

March-Oct 2025 – meeting twice monthly: Themed working 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. Working groups will create recommendations, co-design and find ways to implement change

Phase 3 – Embed (Nov-Dec 2025 and beyond)

Work continues to find ways for commissioners to embed what they have learnt into their communities, organisations and institutions.

A closing ‘celebration’ event (Dec 2025) will be held to communicate the findings of the commission. This will include the work undertaken by task groups and the effect that the process has had on all involved.

Based on the Poverty Truth Network’s experience of over 14 years, the ‘Poverty Truth’ way of working has three key distinctives that the Network seeks to harness. All three are inter-related and combine to form the approach.

  1. Poverty Truth starts with the direct experience of people who know what it means to struggle against poverty. It is these experiences that initiate the conversation and concerns that set the agenda. Through this wisdom, the important issues are articulated. Crucially, these concerns, experiences and wisdom remain throughout all Poverty Truth work.
  2. Poverty Truth builds powerful relationships between those who have experienced the struggle and decision-makers. Difficult conversations only happen when trust is built, and relationships are the soil in which trust grows. So, poverty truth insists that we take time to pay attention to one another. We listen deeply with our hearts and our heads rather than rushing to fix problems.
  3. Poverty Truth seeks to humanise people and systems. We meet one another as human beings not merely professionals or service users. As we do this, we will see more clearly the causes of poverty recognising that whilst they are systemic, we can find long-term solutions where we all flourish.

Those who have been part of Poverty Truth Commission’s across the UK talk about how they are changed by becoming involved as well as the changes in policy and practice that have resulted from the work of their commission.

Civic and Business leader feedback includes:

  • Slowing down and listening to support more effective decision-making
  • Sense of purpose by working directly with beneficiaries
  • Deeper understanding of the experience and barriers to those in poverty
  • Importance of building relationships as a foundation to good collaboration
  • Encouraged to be the change you want to see in your own organisation and community

Community participants with lived experience feedback includes:

  • Realise that your voice is meaningful and your experience has great value
  • Support decision makers to improve services
  • Be part of a space that values each member as a human with no hierarchy
  • Relationships built on trust, shared learning and mutual respect
  • Collaborate to bring about positive social change

Individual Impact

Other community commissioners have consistently spoken about how being involved has changed them:

  • increased confidence
  • support work skills
  • new friendships
  • more motivation
  • fresh ways of understanding difficult problems

Organisational Impact

The organisations most impacted are, unsurprisingly, the ones that have got most involved. Commissioners take what they have discovered back to their organisations and communities. In this work we encourage people to be the change that they want to see in their own organisations and neighbourhoods

  • West Cheshire, a social housing provider has reported a 75% reduction in evictions since it changed its approach to managing tenancies. The organisation moved from a reprimand approach to offering a well-being service which focuses on early intervention and supporting people to sustain tenancies.
  • Wolverhampton, a Mental Health Community Partner said, “the service going forward will be person-centred. The expert is the person sitting in front of you…put the computer aside and have a conversation with the person sitting in front of you.”

Policy Level Impact

Changing policy often takes a long time and involves many people working together to bring it about. So the direct link between the work of a Poverty Truth Commission and a change in in policy is not always easy. Some of the changes we have seen happen include:

  • Morecambe Bay, over 100 travellers were saved from potential eviction by working through the Poverty Truth Commission to change attitudes towards loss of a site they had lived on for over 30 years.
  • Scotland, the Commission instigated a mentoring programme for civil servants through which those who have direct experience of poverty coached senior policy leaders. This programme is now being developed more widely.

Wider Societal Impact

Poverty Truth Commissions are helping to change the public debate about poverty across the UK. The expertise of commissioners is often also drawn into other events.

  • Birmingham commissioners have spoken about the Poverty Premium at the 2018 Conservative Party Conference; were interviewed by The Sun; and have been featured on BBC Panorama.
  • Leeds, working with True North, commissioners produced ‘Fighting Shame’ a film about their experiences of poverty. This was featured on the Guardian website and premiered at the Sheffield Documentary Film Festival.

Poverty Truth grew out of a belief that the wisdom, experience and understanding of people who struggled against poverty was vital in making decisions about poverty.

In 2009, the first Poverty Truth Commission was launched in Glasgow, Scotland

15 people stood and told stories of their struggle against poverty through drama, dance, speech and poetry. There was laughter, hope and a recognition that whilst life had been tough, they were still standing. As Public leaders reflected on what they had just seen, they acknowledged that if positive change was to be made, they needed to work with those who stories they’d heard over the coming months.

For 18 months the commissioners met regularly to consider the ‘real’ issues that people were experiencing when facing poverty. They built relationships, listened well and learned much. At the end they shared challenges for organisations, institutions, communities and society as a whole about how change might happen. They also acknowledged the ways that they had changed.

In February 2014, the first place outside of Scotland where a commission emerged was in Leeds.

Joseph Rowntree Foundation had been involved in Scotland and were now engaged in Leeds. A ‘what if’ conversation between them and people who were involved in both commissions ended up in a commitment to supporting others around the UK who might want to establish Poverty Truth Commissions where they were. Effectively, the Poverty Truth Network was born.

Between 2015 – 2020, 10 new locations hosted commissions

In 2019, the Poverty Truth Network became a separate charity

Poverty Truth grew out of a belief that the wisdom, experience and understanding of people who struggled against poverty was vital in making decisions about poverty.

In 2009, the first Poverty Truth Commission was launched in Glasgow, Scotland

15 people stood and told stories of their struggle against poverty through drama, dance, speech and poetry. There was laughter, hope and a recognition that whilst life had been tough, they were still standing. As Public leaders reflected on what they had just seen, they acknowledged that if positive change was to be made, they needed to work with those who stories they’d heard over the coming months.

For 18 months the commissioners met regularly to consider the ‘real’ issues that people were experiencing when facing poverty. They built relationships, listened well and learned much. At the end they shared challenges for organisations, institutions, communities and society as a whole about how change might happen. They also acknowledged the ways that they had changed.

In February 2014, the first place outside of Scotland where a commission emerged was in Leeds.

Joseph Rowntree Foundation had been involved in Scotland and were now engaged in Leeds. A ‘what if’ conversation between them and people who were involved in both commissions ended up in a commitment to supporting others around the UK who might want to establish Poverty Truth Commissions where they were. Effectively, the Poverty Truth Network was born.

Between 2015 – 2020, 10 new locations hosted commissions

In 2019, the Poverty Truth Network became a separate charity