The Queen of North Shields

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:00:15. > :00:20.People here can't get a job. The north-east is probably the worst

:00:20. > :00:24.place in Britain to get a job. you think of yourself as poor?

:00:25. > :00:30.poor. No, you're not poor.I feel sorry for some people, I really do.

:00:30. > :00:35.I think, you know what they gev you to live on, how do you do it.

:00:35. > :00:40.There's nothing called benefits in Africa. I'm worth more dead anyway.

:00:40. > :00:44.I've been rich before my mam well. The children are different because

:00:44. > :00:51.of their culture. They are growing up into. They live fast, die young

:00:51. > :00:57.and have a gd looking corpse. good. You are making a difference

:00:57. > :01:04.to my area. Thank you. I'm The Queen of North Shields. It just

:01:04. > :01:09.feels so good. Josephine moved to the meadow Well estate in North

:01:09. > :01:16.Shields as a refugee from Zimbabwe 13 years ago. Her husband, Michael,

:01:16. > :01:20.works as a nurse. They send home between �400 and �700 a month to

:01:20. > :01:30.support their extended family. would like to send some money to

:01:30. > :01:36.

:01:36. > :01:42.Zimbabwe. Half an hour.Thank you so much. I have written "father

:01:42. > :01:47.it's Queen Makoti. They call me Queen. They called call mi the

:01:47. > :01:50.white person. That means you are a provider. A provider or you are

:01:50. > :01:55.rich. Although they are seen as rich by their family in Africa,

:01:55. > :01:59.they live on one of the most deprived estates in Britain, Meadow

:01:59. > :02:06.Well. A stigmatised estate, particularly after the riots in

:02:06. > :02:11.1991, the charity shop here supports the local community. It's

:02:11. > :02:15.run by volunteer Jackie with some help from Audrey, who has lived on

:02:15. > :02:20.Meadow Well for 80 years. I think everyone is struggling. I think the

:02:20. > :02:23.poverty line at the minute is just, like, people that son the dole.

:02:23. > :02:28.People that have got children. Can't afrd to buy Christmas

:02:28. > :02:32.presents. That is why we keep the shop. Unemployment on Meadow Well

:02:32. > :02:36.is more than double the national average. I think because nobody's

:02:36. > :02:39.quite sure what next year is going to bring we are all

:02:39. > :02:44.approximatelying our horns in this year. People are talking about fuel

:02:44. > :02:48.prices up, petrol is up. Nobody knows what is round the corner for

:02:48. > :02:57.everybody's jobs. So play it easy. Everything is going up mind, isn't

:02:57. > :03:07.it though? I mean bread, milk. Some shops the milk is �1 for four pints

:03:07. > :03:07.

:03:07. > :03:12.some shops it's �1.20. Josephine's family have a Rosie eyed view of

:03:12. > :03:16.life in Britain. In Britain you get money and everything you wan. If

:03:16. > :03:22.people ask you for anything they get. It they don't know that we go

:03:22. > :03:28.to charity shops. We work hard. Now my washing machine isn't working. I

:03:28. > :03:34.do hand wash. I do the business the hair. Everything, trying to make

:03:34. > :03:42.all the ends meet. I feel sorry for some people, I really do. They give

:03:42. > :03:45.you to live on, how do you do it. They say find work. Where is the

:03:45. > :03:52.work. Comet is closing down. There is another load of people out of

:03:52. > :03:55.work. They are telling people to go out and find work. There is poverty

:03:56. > :04:00.everywhere. It doesn't get easy when you are poor. Been there done

:04:00. > :04:05.it. Have you to pick yourself back up. There are these people who

:04:05. > :04:09.don't have the oomph to sort themselves out. People can't afford

:04:09. > :04:12.to feed their kids through no fault of their own. There are hundreds of

:04:12. > :04:19.empty houses. People are sleeping on the streets because they can't

:04:19. > :04:24.get a place. In some ways poverty is tougher in Britain. A nurse in

:04:24. > :04:31.Africa has a higher status in here and can employ a maid. In Britain

:04:31. > :04:39.they do everything themselves. Africa think when you are in the UK

:04:39. > :04:49.you are in heaven. They don't believe how much work the UK woman,

:04:49. > :04:52.

:04:52. > :05:01.Queen, has. I'm doing this washing because my washing machine broke. I

:05:01. > :05:06.have sent money last week, �300. I could have bought a new one.

:05:06. > :05:12.Michael's job as a nurse means working five or six nights a week

:05:12. > :05:22.in care homes. Your trousers are as if they have been in the mouth of a

:05:22. > :05:23.

:05:23. > :05:31.cow! Takes forever. That's why I hate this job! He earns �12 an hour.

:05:31. > :05:41.Bye. Michelle, daddy is going to work. Bye. Bye. You don't want a

:05:41. > :05:42.

:05:42. > :05:46.hug? Yeah.Yeah. See you tomorrow. The long hours mean he's relatively

:05:46. > :05:52.well off for the community he lives in, but sending a third of his

:05:52. > :05:57.earnings home makes him feel poor. I drive back tomorrow morning at

:05:57. > :06:01.8.00 am. That is when when I finish my shift. Sometimes he's so tired

:06:01. > :06:04.he doesn't have a social life because he has to sleep during the

:06:04. > :06:11.day when everybody else is just having a nice time. Then he wakes

:06:11. > :06:15.up. He has to d his duties as a father. Then has to rush to go to

:06:15. > :06:20.work. He drives for hours. Michael supports 20 people in Zimbabwe.

:06:20. > :06:26.They think I'm rich. Some of them think as soon as you get here it's

:06:26. > :06:34.easy to get a job and get loads of money. It's not like, that you have

:06:34. > :06:44.to work for the money. He will come home and phone me being sick from

:06:44. > :06:50.adult nursing. I send �400 to �500 a month. When it gets a bit

:06:50. > :06:57.difficult for them I always put an extra �200, which makes it normally

:06:57. > :07:01.�600 to �700 a month. I have to work very hard to get that kind of

:07:01. > :07:05.money. Josephine was first housed on the Meadow Well in temporary

:07:05. > :07:10.refugee accommodation. After eight years, she became a British citizen

:07:10. > :07:13.and was given a council house that no-one else was bidding for, at the

:07:13. > :07:18.least popular end of the estate. She used her right-to-buy and took

:07:19. > :07:23.out a mortgage on the house, making her one of only 10% of Meadow Well

:07:23. > :07:28.residents that own their own homes. In this country people don't know

:07:28. > :07:33.what poverty is. They think if they don't have pizza that night, then

:07:33. > :07:41.they are poor. Or maybe if they can't afford to take their children

:07:41. > :07:46.to a cinema or something, then they are poor. They haven't seen poverty.

:07:46. > :07:52.I survived with �3. �3! For the whole week. Josephine's neighbour

:07:52. > :08:01.John was a taxi driver before he lost his job. He is now retirement

:08:01. > :08:07.age, Josephine finds it hard he smokes when he doesn't work. Have

:08:07. > :08:11.you started smoking again? Course I vfplt You are not serious.Live

:08:11. > :08:18.fast, die young and have a good- looking corpse. Two out of three

:08:18. > :08:22.ain't bad. He's going to die, very, very soon. Doesn't make any

:08:22. > :08:27.difference. I'm worth more dead anyway. John, honestly, sit down.

:08:27. > :08:31.We have to talk about this seriously. No. I'm going to finish

:08:31. > :08:37.my cigarette off. I've started smoking again because my chest is

:08:37. > :08:41.bad. John, seriously, don't take life as a joke. If you don't take

:08:42. > :08:51.life easy what is the point of living? I don't smoke but I take

:08:51. > :08:55.life easy. I take life easy.If you are making yourself useful not

:08:55. > :08:59.staying at home doing absolutely nothing you wouldn't be thinking

:08:59. > :09:03.about... I don't do anything when I'm at home. All I do is cook their

:09:03. > :09:06.teas. Cooking, cooking, cooking. I think this benefits system

:09:06. > :09:10.everybody know that is if you don't have any money at all the

:09:10. > :09:12.Government will intervene somehow, somewhere to help you. In African

:09:12. > :09:18.countries there isn't anything like. That if you don't have, you don't

:09:19. > :09:23.have. If you don't work, you don't get. That's simple. Keep your feet

:09:23. > :09:30.still Geordie, hinny, let's be happy for the night. For we may not

:09:30. > :09:35.sob happy through the day. Give us this bit comfort, keep your feet

:09:35. > :09:40.still Geordie and drive me bonnie dreams away. You have never heard

:09:40. > :09:44.that one before have you? I will have something nice to remember

:09:44. > :09:54.when you are gone. You will really soon if you keep on smoking.

:09:54. > :09:56.

:09:56. > :10:06.are a long time dead. Josephine's and Michael's daughter was born in

:10:06. > :10:10.Britain. The aspirations of a British child are new to them.

:10:10. > :10:18.# Wuh uh oh uh uh oh uh uh oh wuh uh oh!

:10:18. > :10:24.# If you like it you should have put a ring on it... #

:10:24. > :10:27.We will get you an outfit. There is a difficult balance to be struck

:10:27. > :10:36.between helping family back home and giving Michelle a normal

:10:36. > :10:41.childhood in Britain. Our expenses are so scary. Gymnastics. Then

:10:41. > :10:45.break dancing. I don't even want to calculate how much it is. Very,

:10:45. > :10:55.very expensive. You have to do it for them, because we didn't get

:10:55. > :11:17.

:11:17. > :11:27.that chance when we were growing up. #colouryellow he wants a new

:11:27. > :11:29.

:11:29. > :11:38.generator. Probably the best one will be �500. Michel's idea of

:11:38. > :11:48.poverty is different from her African born relatives. Disneyland

:11:48. > :11:48.

:11:48. > :11:56.is not a necessity. Disneyland is when everything else has been done.

:11:56. > :12:03.How about that. My friend has a playroom and a bedroom. She has got

:12:03. > :12:10.a Sky age D television in her REM. Some of her cousins cannot afford

:12:10. > :12:20.to go to school. They think if they do not have an Nintendo Wii or an

:12:20. > :12:22.

:12:22. > :12:28.XBox or a Sky television, they are poorer. You are telling me now.

:12:28. > :12:33.Children here are different because of their culture. We did not have

:12:33. > :12:43.individual beds, but we were were not poor. Josephine, were we pause

:12:43. > :12:51.

:12:51. > :12:53.or? There were poorer people than ours. Josephine it was a nurse in

:12:53. > :12:59.Zimbabwe but found her qualifications were not recognised

:12:59. > :13:03.by the NHS. She took a degree in social work but has yet to find a

:13:03. > :13:13.job. The Cedarwood Centre help some of the poorest residents of Meadow

:13:13. > :13:15.

:13:15. > :13:25.Well, offering a free Pep best and bingo on Thursdays. -- breakfast.

:13:25. > :13:42.

:13:42. > :13:46.cannot play. You shout house! All Blacks, 22. All the threes,

:13:46. > :13:56.still she think she is poor because you cannot afford to go to

:13:56. > :14:01.

:14:01. > :14:11.Disneyland. I am polar. I am on the breadline. She is not poor, she is

:14:11. > :14:18.

:14:18. > :14:24.in between. Have you got a car? are not poor. I class people as

:14:24. > :14:33.poor, who are unemployed, they live on the breadline, they're in a

:14:33. > :14:38.council flat. They have not got a job. They have got no savings. They

:14:38. > :14:48.do know where their next penny is coming from. Somebody who has got a

:14:48. > :14:59.

:14:59. > :15:05.bought house and cars, they are not poor. Meanwhile, Michelle's

:15:05. > :15:15.expectations remain high. How was Disneyland? Good.Did you see

:15:15. > :15:17.

:15:17. > :15:27.Minnie Mouse? Yeah.I will be rich before my mum. I'm more successful.

:15:27. > :15:27.

:15:28. > :15:34.What? I do not do African things. They eat nearly everything they get.

:15:34. > :15:38.I am very choosy. They do not have all the new clothes and I cannot

:15:38. > :15:46.live without getting something you at least, because I like the new

:15:46. > :15:52.things. You are scared to be African. I am a quarter Geordie,

:15:52. > :15:58.quarter from London and have African. I wish there was have the

:15:58. > :16:03.American, like Beyonce. Josephine is focused on improving the

:16:03. > :16:09.situation of her family back home. She is planning to send a generator

:16:09. > :16:15.in a big shipment with clothes and shoes for her family and friends.

:16:15. > :16:21.Roughly we are looking at �400. It should be able to provide

:16:21. > :16:27.electricity for them. We are looking for a diesel one if

:16:27. > :16:35.possible, because it will be cheaper for them. We do not have

:16:35. > :16:42.any generators. Could we order one in? We want one which will give

:16:42. > :16:51.them electricity for the house? For the French, lighting and the

:16:51. > :16:55.television. -- French. Michael has received a video of his dad showing

:16:55. > :17:05.in the new pigsty he is building. They want him to have his own

:17:05. > :17:14.

:17:14. > :17:22.projects so he can support themselves in future. -- himself.

:17:22. > :17:32.It is interesting to see him, at the age of 85. He is doing very

:17:32. > :17:42.

:17:42. > :17:48.well. If you tell him to slow down, he will not. He will say OK, he

:17:48. > :17:53.will do the plaster in, he will not get anyone to do it. I tell him he

:17:53. > :17:57.is 85, look for someone else. It makes him feel better when he is

:17:57. > :18:03.doing things. If they get the generator, they will have

:18:03. > :18:08.electricity at home. If she buys it over there, it means that transport

:18:08. > :18:12.is there already. They decide it would be better for Josephine to

:18:12. > :18:21.fly back and sort out the generator as the cost of the shipping is

:18:21. > :18:25.almost as much as a flight. A low. How are you? The just the thing is

:18:25. > :18:31.a regular in the charity shop which means that she supports the local

:18:31. > :18:41.community and benefits from it. needed to pack some staff, but I

:18:41. > :18:41.

:18:41. > :18:49.will need a huge discount! We will try and do you add this account.

:18:49. > :18:59.There are loads of clothes. What do you want? Little boys and girls.

:18:59. > :19:02.

:19:02. > :19:09.Sort out what you want and we will do a deal. One OK. How about all of

:19:09. > :19:16.them of for �10? The go on then.It must cost you more to ship over.

:19:16. > :19:23.it is very expensive. How are you. I wanted to do your hair. The shop

:19:23. > :19:33.is a good place to do some local business. Cut and blow-dry.

:19:33. > :19:36.

:19:36. > :19:43.much is it? In Edinburgh, I pay �15. How about �10? That is fine. Where

:19:43. > :19:51.were you doing it? To you a house? I have not got any carpets. We are

:19:51. > :19:58.still moving in. No carpet?We could do it in the public. We could

:19:58. > :20:01.do it in the other room. Maggie and her husband came down from Scotland

:20:01. > :20:10.to run the pub on the estate when its reputation got so bad that no

:20:10. > :20:16.one else would take it on. We do not look after our own people. That

:20:16. > :20:21.is a fact. Charity begins at home. We should not be giving countries

:20:21. > :20:26.abroad. We should be looking after our own people. Look at this estate.

:20:26. > :20:31.Look at the unemployment, the poverty. The people you cannot get

:20:31. > :20:39.jobs. It is probably the worst place in Britain to get a job. Look

:20:39. > :20:46.at us, we do not take a wage from here, we cannot afford to. We break

:20:46. > :20:53.even. That is basically how we are doing it. If we took a weight, we

:20:53. > :20:58.would have closed down. This government is more interested in

:20:58. > :21:06.foreigners. This it is cheap labour. That is why the country is in MS.

:21:06. > :21:14.Too many foreigners. That will always be the case. They're getting

:21:14. > :21:20.a better life. More stop the people here would not want to work for it

:21:20. > :21:30.little money. They do not want to do care work or cleaning jobs. As a

:21:30. > :21:51.

:21:51. > :21:54.result, the foreigners, they take anything. They will do anything.

:21:54. > :22:00.Descended to other countries, but they do not realise there is more

:22:00. > :22:05.poverty in any other countries. At the North East, the poverty is 100%

:22:05. > :22:13.are really down. People go to Tesco's, the reduce it, the amount

:22:13. > :22:18.of people that are there to get a reduced need and back to bed in a

:22:18. > :22:23.battered tins because they do not have the money. In Africa, they

:22:23. > :22:29.understand what they have got. I never thought I would live in a

:22:29. > :22:33.society where we would have to beg for food. That is why it is a

:22:33. > :22:41.community shop. In two or three years' time, you will find

:22:41. > :22:47.everybody shopping in at charity shops. It will get worse. These are

:22:47. > :22:57.men's clothes and then girls. I have collected shoes. I bought them

:22:57. > :22:57.

:22:57. > :23:02.for about �1. I love that the little shoes. I am always thinking

:23:02. > :23:10.about other people and for me to be seen throwing away a valuable shoes,

:23:10. > :23:14.I have got the feeling that God would punish me. It is not a good

:23:14. > :23:22.thing to hoard staff. Throwing a waste of is the worst, if you would

:23:22. > :23:26.be knowing how other people would feel like appreciating that.

:23:26. > :23:33.Josephine flies to Zimbabwe with the clothes she has collected and

:23:33. > :23:43.money they have saved for a generator. She has not seen her

:23:43. > :23:43.

:23:43. > :24:51.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 68 seconds

:24:51. > :25:01.family for 13 years. She is able to give them the clothes herself. She

:25:01. > :25:20.

:25:20. > :25:26.also goes to the City to buy a generator for granddad. -- city.

:25:26. > :25:35.The cost of the generator is equal to 56 hours of nursing for Michael

:25:35. > :25:45.in Britain. The Josephina Lisa cousins with a Pep top. -- Joseph

:25:45. > :25:45.

:25:45. > :26:59.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 68 seconds

:26:59. > :27:04.been it leaves her cousins with a In our culture, you do not need be

:27:04. > :27:10.invited to go to someone's house. You can walk in and you are allowed

:27:10. > :27:14.to eat. I wish this community would be like that. It would be fantastic.

:27:14. > :27:18.Getting to know the locals has helped Josie to see that poverty is

:27:19. > :27:24.tough in a different way in Britain. She organises a party to try and

:27:24. > :27:34.bring the community together. people who grew up during my time,

:27:34. > :27:36.

:27:36. > :27:46.you are welcome to join in! # we should be together, together. We

:27:46. > :27:56.should be walking side by side. We should be together, it together.

:27:56. > :28:02.

:28:02. > :28:07.The been each other satisfied. -- keeping. The party is even attended

:28:07. > :28:17.by the local councillor. Josephine EU are making a difference in my

:28:17. > :28:23.

:28:23. > :28:27.area. Let us make some noise without Waka Waka that. Poverty can