Carole BERTINET - Self-authored

Dispatches Growing Up Poor: Britain’s Hidden Homeless Kids

Channel 4 spent a summer term with three boys from the same class, struggling with poverty, homelessness and overcrowding.

These three kids speak for over 4 million children growing up in poverty, and the three quarters of a million that are homeless or in over-crowded housing in Britain today. As the safety net of the temporary universal credit uplift disappears, the furlough scheme now over, fuel prices at an all-time high, and landlords once again able to evict tenants, homelessness is threatening some of Britain’s most vulnerable children. Children’s charities warn a perfect storm is coming.

Farley Junior Academy is on the edge of Luton, in one of the most deprived wards in Britain. During the pandemic the partial closure of the airport – the biggest source of jobs in the area – hit the town hard. Schools across Luton found families were struggling more than ever.

PRODUCER:
Carla Grande

DIRECTOR:
Jezza Neumann

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER:
Brian Woods

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Dispatches Growing Up Poor: Britain's Breadline Kids

BAFTA nominated for Best Current Affairs programme

In Britain today 4.1 million children are growing up in poverty. Narrated by Sheridan Smith OBE actress and singer and from BAFTA-winning director Jezza Neumann comes a Dispatches special. As Channel 4 spent a year with three children and their families to show what life is like when you don’t have enough money for essentials. Told first hand through the children’s perspectives who are growing up in poverty, this is their story, in their words.

"A devastating indictment of 2019 Britain that should be watched by every politician in this country" iNews
“The most articulate film about poverty I’ve ever seen ” Broadcast
"Channel 4’s shocking Dispatches on child poverty is the reality check this election needs" New Statesman
“Watching the Channel 4 Dispatches’ Growing Up Poor, you could be forgiven for thinking it was a historical piece about child poverty in Victorian times. The documentary revealed the desperate reality confronting families up and down the country." Jenna Norman - Huffington Post
"Why isn't this issue front and centre of the election agenda?" Keith Watson - Metro
"It is a documentary to inspire fury. It is full of stories that should inspire fundamental change. Britain’s Breadline Kids are the children that Prime Minister Boris Johnson cannot deny…"Adrian Lobb - The Big Issue
"The documentary feels like a landmark moment in mainstream social affairs reporting, and not just for its unusual online reach ahead of the programme airing. It avoids all the pitfalls of the genre that’s come to be known as 'poverty porn'." Anoosh Chakelian
"You would call Growing Up Poor: Britain’s Breadline Kids (Channel 4) Dickensian if the word didn’t carry connotations of picaresque charm and a notion that things would come right in the end. ★★★★☆" Lucy Mangan - The Guardian
"This one-off documentary from the Bafta-winning director Jezza Neumann - just in time for the festive season - should shame us all." The Times
“ "Austerity's shocking impacts exposed." ” Ammar Kalia - The Guardian

Producer:
Amy Richardson & Alice Rowsome
Director:
Jezza Neumann
Executive Producer:
Brian Wood

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Dispatches: Britain’s Covid Jobs Crisis

Dispatches: Britain’s Covid Job Crisis tracks a single minimum wage job, advertised in Manchester in September, following some of almost a thousand hopeful applicants. And an exclusive survey by Britain’s biggest jobsite, Indeed reveals the human cost of Covid’s devastating impact on the job market.

"One post, 947 applicants: restaurant’s story reveals the depth of UK jobs crisis" Jamie Doward, The Guardian
"An advert for a job as a waiter on the minimum wage attracted almost 1,000 applicants, exposing the full depth of Britain's employment crisis." Jane Wharton, Mail on Sunday

Producer:
Kiran Sira
Director:
Rachel Cumella
Executive Producer:
Brian Woods

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