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People in poverty must be heeded, not just heard

A creative project in the North East has been capturing people's hometown stories. Now, organisers want to ensure the stories also have an impact.

Thrive Teesside had recently completed an exciting new project, when the pandemic began.

So, undeterred, they went back and did it all again.

Thriving Teesside, published in December 2019, had brought together stories, artwork, poetry and photography by local people, reflecting on their town and lives. But when the first coronavirus lockdown began in spring 2020, they realised there were many new stories and perspectives to be told.

The team went back to the people they had worked with and gathered more contributions, and a few weeks ago they relaunched a special edition of the book.

In the latest episode of The Cast To End Poverty, Tracey Herrington and Dylan Eastwood from Thrive talk about where the idea had come from, how they brought it to fruition, and what they hope the book will achieve. It’s not enough just to be heard, Tracey says – the messages from people in poverty must be acted upon.

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A creative project in the North East has been capturing people's hometown stories. Now, organisers want to ensure the stories have an impact.

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