Shaw Road second in poverty list

PART of Higginshaw is one of the most deprived areas in the country, according to a Church of England charity.

The Church Urban Fundis online poverty indicator has revealed that the Shaw Road area ranks second in the top 10 of the poorest communities in England.

As many as 57 per cent of children are thought to be living in poverty and there is a predicted male life expectancy as low as 69 years.

The online tool was launched by the charity, which works to tackle deprivation in England.

Based on the CofE parish system, the online tool allows anyone to look up their local communityis level of deprivation as well as its regional and national ranking.

Using a combination of government poverty indicators, including life expectancy and child poverty, the tool has also reaffirmed the existence of a North-South divide and demonstrated the alarming disparity between the richest and poorest neighbourhoods.

In Oldham, the charity supports a community development worker who works within the Coldhurst community to help adults access education and training with the aim of getting them back into employment.

Paul Hackwood, the chairman of trustees at the Church Urban Fund, said: "While the poverty statistics do paint a bleak picture of these areas, what they don't show is the strength of the community and the work so many people are doing to support those th at have fallen on hard times."



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