Café owner Colin Wood looks up at his faded sign, his eyes squinting beneath the bright February sun. “I can’t even afford a new one,” he says. “Everything is going up so much.”
Colin knows his café can’t survive much longer. Tucked away in the most deprived part of Manchester, it’s unlikely the Longsight diner will see Christmas.
“I’m just living day to day,” the 56-year-old told the Manchester Evening News. “It’s constantly on my mind. Things have got to change.”
READ MORE: Life on the streets where people dread the day when help with energy bills stops
People living in Longsight are struggling with the rising cost of living more than anywhere else in the borough of Manchester, new research has revealed. Looking at employment, education, health and housing levels, figures released by the Office of National Statistics show Longsight East has the highest number of people living in deprived circumstances, followed by Victoria Park and Longsight West.
The statistic doesn’t come as a surprise to Colin. Having owned his café for more than a decade, he’s seen massive changes in the inner city area over the years – from poor footfall to general neglect.
“There are more cars on the road and people park everywhere,” he said. “There are holes all over the road, it’s been like that for years.
“If the area was done up more – the market – we would have more customers coming. On my days off, I’ve seen people I haven’t seen for years. They say they can’t park so they don’t come to this area.
“It’s not just a normal café, it’s a community and it’s vital. I’m absolutely getting down about it [the cost of living crisis].
“I won’t get rid of any staff. But it’s affected my wage – and the minute I touch my wages, I’ll have to walk away. It’s not good.”
Great-granddad John Lengden is another Longsight resident struggling with the rising cost of living. While he would normally stock his cupboards whenever his grandchildren stay over, now he can only afford to buy food day to day.
“It’s hard,” the 79-year-old told the M.E.N. “I live on my own and I’ve never struggled like this before with food and bills – it's terrible.
“I get what I need day by day. I can’t go out and buy a lot. I just get what I need. I used to stock cupboards whenever my grandkids used to stay with me, I can’t do that anymore.
“You just have to go with it; there’s not much you can do. You just plod on, I’ve been doing it for 50 years. I’m OK because I’m on my own. I get by, but not as well as I used to.”
Having lived in Longsight for more than 40 years, John says some parts are better than others. “You come here and you only have to walk around [to see] it’s like a dustbin. Housing wise, it’s better. They should brighten up the place up but no one bothers.”
Elsewhere in the borough, Crumpsall North and Heaton Park also have high levels of deprivation, coming in at around 36.7 per cent.
At the other end of the scale, the least deprived areas of Manchester are Deansgate, Castlefield and West Didsbury.
Showing how the city of Manchester is changing, a number of formally deprived areas near the city centre such as Collyhurst, Piccadilly and Ancoats, New Islington and Bradford and Miles Platting are now among some of the lowest ranked neighbourhoods in the city for deprivation, perhaps owing to the level of gentrification currently taking place.
Maria Traziza has lived in Longsight for 17 years, having moved to Manchester from Australia. “It’s not a bad area,” the 45-year-old said. “But it’s very rough and very dangerous. I live down the road and the crime over there, the substances people take. It’s so bad.”
Maria believes the area could benefit from more local amenities. Pointing to a nearby gambling shop, she said: “That used to be a bank, now it’s a bookies.”
And she’s also struggling to keep her head above water as the cost of living crisis continues to cripple the nation. “It’s terrible,” Maria added. “It’s extremely hard.
“It’s everything – rent, bills, you go into shops and prices change continuously. You go in and there’s hardly anything there. I have severe damp [in my house]. I sit and freeze, I can’t keep putting the heating on.”
Maria’s dire situation is one taxi driver Musassar Mehmood knows all too well. “Obviously everyone is in the same boat,” the dad-of-three said.
“Electric and gas, that’s the major hit. We have to turn [the heating on] if it’s cold, maybe for an hour.”
Musassar says he’s been forced to make cutbacks in order to afford the necessities, like buying his children new clothes. “It’s hard, but at the same time, my way of thinking is slightly different.
“I know it does stress you out when you hear the news, but you just have to cope with it. You just have to work hard and get on with it.
“Everybody is the same – I'm the same, you’re the same, everybody here is the same. There’s nothing you can do. Obviously we want the government to make the right decisions, but I can’t force them.”
The Manchester Evening News approached Manchester Council regarding all of the concerns about the area raised in this article.
Addressing Colin's concerns about the number of cars on the road, Coun Tracey Rawlins, Executive Member for Environment and Transport at Manchester City Council, told the Manchester Evening News: “In Manchester our overriding goal is to try and move away from a car-dominated mode of transport to other more accessible and environmentally friendly ways.
“We recently published our Active Travel Strategy which sets out how over the next five years the Council want to improve the overall network and encourage more people to walk or cycle short distances.
"However, where necessary the Council is directing resource across the city to improve carriageways and repair defects so that those who need to drive can do so.”
Regarding rising market stall prices, the council added: "We are currently in consultation with Longsight traders regarding costs to trade at the market in light of increasing operational costs to the Council. However, this consultation is not due to finish until the beginning of March at which point we will review in conversation with the traders.
"We have also recently consulted with stakeholders regarding the future of the market and a possible redevelopment plan, and there are no plans to shut it down.
"It should be noted that the café has been charged considerably less than the market rate for his business due to a historical agreement and we are in contact with the trader to discuss his concerns."
Coun Lee-Ann Igbon, Executive Member for Vibrant Neighbourhoods said: “The Council is aware of the range of issues which affect residents in Longsight. The tackling of anti-social behaviour is an issue the Council takes very seriously, as no one should have to live in an area where they feel intimated or unsafe.
“We work with a range of partners including registered housing providers and Greater Manchester Police to investigate issues and work towards resolutions which make residents feel safe. However, we know there are still issues to address.
“The Council has, in the past, taken action to clamp down on known areas of crime and ASB, for example using closure orders to close shops or residential properties which are known to be focal points for this kind of behaviour.
“I would always urge our residents to contact the Council to report any problems they have so that together we can work to make our communities stronger and neighbourhoods safer.”
Regarding work going on in the area a council spokesman said green spaces are being developed to provide sustainable areas for the community, such as the community garden in Slade Lane.
The Local Investment Fund is being used to revitalise a building in Crowcroft Park, providing a much-needed space for community groups.
Strategies are being worked up to provide sustainable solutions for areas suffering from waste and recycling problems.
Several community groups and residents have been supported through the Neighbourhood Investment Fund, enabling them to generate change in the local area, he said.
The M.E.N. has approached GMP for comment about residents' concerns over crime.
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