Channel 4 has produced a ten-minute news piece on poverty in rural Britain as part of its Breadline Britain series.

The video emphasises that while the countryside is often idyllic looking, severe areas of poverty also exist which often pass unnoticed. In particular, ‘in-work’ poverty is prevalent and several interviewees said that they feel they are simply to working to survive.

Cuts to essential services like buses contribute to a feel of isolation. It highlights a new volunteer-run community bus service in West Dorset that operates on weekends which has been hailed as a life-line for local residents.

One in four children in West Dorset live in poverty, and the piece concludes with local MP Sir Oliver Letwin being questioned on rural poverty who said it is ‘probably not on the agenda as much as it ought to be’.

Full article:

→ Channel 4 - Trapped on the breadline in rural Britain