Walking the poverty tightrope

I was in Manchester on Friday for the first ever North of England ‘poverty summit’. This year’s summit, held at the Contact Theatre, Manchester was attended by almost 200 people.

It was a circus themed event hosted by Save the Children but thought of and performed by the young people we’ve worked with on our poverty kills childhood campaign this year.

The young people, known as Young Ambassadors from the project In My Backyard, showcased their different campaigns on how local communities and lives can be improved. It was aimed at decision makers and MPs in the local area and it was great to see Kate Green MP, former Chief Executive of the Child Poverty Action Group, at the event.

The circus had a poverty tightrope and circus workshops and the young Ambassadors performed rap, dance and acrobatics as well as play back theatre – where the guests get to be part of the performance.

But most importantly there was an elephant with a ‘peanut pledge card’ where you could attach your promise on how you would end child poverty in the future. So watch this space as an elephant never forgets.