As someone raising secondary school age children in Bradford I was gutted to read the Children’s Commissioners latest report, which lists our precious city as the third most challenging place to be a child in the UK. Dame Rachel de Souza said that she sees the current situation of services for children in England as “a national emergency”.
Some of the standout nationwide statistics were:
- More than one in ten children in the UK said they did not feel safe in their local area.
- A million people in the UK aged 16-24 are not in employment, education or training.
- Over a million children in the UK were referred to mental health services in 2024-25.
- 55% of children do not achieve the desired standard in mathematics or English at GCSE level.
Bradford is marked out for the low levels of educational attainment and lack of hope or advice for future career and life options. Tragically we also have high rates of child mortality and elevated rates of both childhood obesity, and underweight children.
But in amongst this doom and gloom are the stories of my children, and their friends and neighbours, and the beauty that we find here in the city. Our teenage neighbour Callum said:
“I like living in Bradford because it’s more than a community, it’s like a family…I enjoy going to youth groups and church because I get to meet new people and learn new things.”
His sister Cara, who has just turned 18 enjoys the park at the end of our street, the community garden and the friendly people. And when thinking about church and youth work, she said “everyone is there for you when you need the support.”
The focus of the Childhood Lottery Report is how children will fare in the move towards more devolved power in the UK, and analysed the impact of children’s place of birth on their health, safety and ability to play, amongst other measures. Dame Rachel said, “I have called the report the Childhood Lottery, because of the enormous disparities I have found – both between places and within an area.”
Despite the overall low scores for Bradford, it does feel like we punch above our weight for amazing youth work and churches who love and serve their communities well. The city is also the home of Christians Against Poverty, and TLG (Transforming Lives for Good) was founded here in 1998.
I lead an odd life, straddling two very different worlds. I live, grow and love in central Bradford, but my work in the media takes me to television sets, radio studios and this
weekend even a celebrity dressing room! I’m therefore often struck by the huge disparity in the circumstances in which people live. And whilst I don’t think wealth is the answer (you see just as many miserable celebrities as you do normal people) money certainly does help improve children’s life chances, health and wellbeing. I believe a Christian approach to poverty and its related issues has to include the involvement of Christians in politics and campaigning, as well as service where we live. This report should be a reminder that the bigger picture matters, and nudge us all to write to our MPs, to get involved in local politics where we can and to join in with anti-poverty work in our area. System change, as well as local support.
“This report should be a reminder that the bigger picture matters”
But local support is vital. My children have lived in urban areas all their lives, and one great resource when I first became a mum was the Sure Start centre a short walk from our then home in Salford. So I was delighted to hear recent news that the government is planning to open a thousand Best Start Family Hubs in England. Our Sure Start hub offered toddler groups, dental advice, health visitors, maternity services and most importantly of all, a place to meet other parents and toddlers and discover you are not alone. It was so important to me when I had a 4 year old, 2 year old and a baby. There are many charities and churches already offering these services for children, including the wonderful BD4 Community Trust in my area, and they are a lifeline to many parents.
These glimpses of change on a larger scale are encouraging. As Dame Rachel told the BBC, “there is a poverty issue, but there are also service issues, and capacity issues…what I want to see is rocket-boosted support for these places.” She wants minimum set of standards for levels of education, policing, youth and health services as well as testing to ensure that any policies and investment are having the desired impact.
There are food pantries, community lunches, holiday lunch clubs and uniform swap shops all over the country caring for those parents and children in our country who are not having their basic needs met. This is a national emergency, and therefore we need an emergency response. Fast, effective and patient centred. Let’s celebrate the good being done locally and nationally to tackle this “Childhood Lottery” and let’s push for further and faster change so that all our children can live healthy and fulfilling lives.
References
Best Start Family Hubs (2026) Best Start Family Hubs (Accessed: 10 November 2026).
Children’s Commissioner (2026) Childhood Lottery Report (Accessed: 10 November 2026).