The needs of the poorest and most vulnerable people living in the Northumberland countryside are ignored by the UK Government in a way that would not be acceptable in urban areas, academics say in a new book.
Rural Poverty Today, which has been penned by researchers from Newcastle University, Scotland's Rural College (SRUC) and Inverness Impact-Hub, aims to hone in on the issues facing the poorest people living across the British countryside, with the North Tyne Valley one of three areas under the microscope. Its authors say that voluntary groups, charities and communities are left to fill the gaps left by the UK Government's neglect of rural communities in its policies.
ChronicleLive has recently revealed that children are washing in streams and using head torches to do homework in areas of rural Northumberland that are not connected to the electricity grid, and being quoted tens of thousands of pounds by power companies just to be connected. Northumberland Log Bank is coming out of its fourth winter supplying logs to those in fuel poverty, whilst there are several food banks delivering food parcels to families in need throughout the county.
