:00:04. > :00:08.Tonight, Inside Out is at Cotmanhay in Derbyshire. Coming up in the
:00:08. > :00:11.next half hour, join the queue. Fuel poverty pushes more people
:00:11. > :00:14.onto the breadline. When you see people coming through
:00:14. > :00:17.the door and you see how they are dressed and you realise that,
:00:17. > :00:21.actually, they are used to a better lifestyle, but they have been
:00:21. > :00:26.reduced to this. It's sad. Also tonight, what's it really like
:00:26. > :00:30.to live somewhere with such a terrible reputation?
:00:30. > :00:37.When we first came 25 years ago, we had friends in the Nottingham area
:00:37. > :00:41.and they said, "Are you sure you want to go there?" And saving our
:00:41. > :00:51.coral reefs. The Nottinghamshire filmmaker on a mission to promote
:00:51. > :00:56.
:00:56. > :01:01.One in four households are said to be in fuel poverty, spending more
:01:01. > :01:04.than 10 percent of their income on trying to stay warm. Tonight,
:01:05. > :01:07.charities here in the East Midlands tell us that more people than ever
:01:07. > :01:17.before are making uncomfortable decisions about whether to heat or
:01:17. > :01:19.
:01:19. > :01:22.eat, and where to get the basic supplies from to survive. Food
:01:22. > :01:32.parcels have become a lifeline for some you would least expect to be
:01:32. > :01:36.
:01:36. > :01:43.It's lunchtime in Loughborough in a part of town that is one of the
:01:43. > :01:46.most economically deprived areas of the country. 40 or 50? Nearly 50.
:01:46. > :01:51.Twice a week, Joseph's Storehouse offers a lifeline to some of those
:01:51. > :01:59.most in need. Will I do one? Yes, a bag of pasta,
:01:59. > :02:02.some fruit juice, a carton of fruit juice. Just one.
:02:02. > :02:08.Judith and her volunteers started by helping a dozen people, now they
:02:09. > :02:13.hand out 25,000 food parcels a year. The number of families has doubled
:02:13. > :02:17.in the last year. That has been the biggest shock to me, seeing the
:02:17. > :02:21.number of families rising. And it's not the same families that come
:02:21. > :02:31.Tuesdays and Thursdays. Everything here has been donated. Churches,
:02:31. > :02:34.
:02:34. > :02:38.members of the public, the Who will we see today? Who will you
:02:38. > :02:48.see today? Gosh, everybody - families, mothers coming with
:02:48. > :02:50.pushchairs, fathers coming to pick up for their children as well.
:02:50. > :03:00.Homeless people, people recently unemployed, people out of prison,
:03:00. > :03:03.we will see a sample of every body today I should think. Many are
:03:03. > :03:06.known to the volunteers at the Storehouse, all have to prove they
:03:06. > :03:12.claim benefits. More than ever before are in fuel poverty. Some
:03:12. > :03:14.have walked miles to get here. have got one family who comes from
:03:14. > :03:24.Kegworth, another family that comes from Shepshed, another comes from
:03:24. > :03:31.
:03:31. > :03:34.Mountsorrel. Why do you come here? Basically, I'm on low income and
:03:34. > :03:37.have a lot of health issues and the extra food helps me with putting
:03:37. > :03:40.extra electric on. The electrics runs away. I can't afford to keep
:03:40. > :03:45.running it. I've been coming here for about three years. I was
:03:45. > :03:54.embarrassed at first because I have always worked. But we couldn't
:03:54. > :03:57.We are seeing more and more of the people who I would pass by in the
:03:57. > :04:00.street and never think they would have to come somewhere like this.
:04:00. > :04:04.That's a very humbling thing to have to come here.
:04:04. > :04:08.Bruce had a long career as an entertainer. Now he is a full-time
:04:08. > :04:15.carer. It's really been circumstances for me. My daughter
:04:15. > :04:21.has special needs, and my wife has contracted an illness. I've had to
:04:21. > :04:25.rely on income support, so it's been very helpful to me.
:04:25. > :04:27.This might not look a lot, but for some people, it really does make
:04:28. > :04:37.the difference between having something to eat or not, or having
:04:38. > :04:47.
:04:47. > :04:53.Alyson and her husband Fred both have serious health problems and
:04:53. > :04:58.live on benefits at a council house in Woodhouse Eaves. She was an
:04:58. > :05:03.office assistant, he was an engineer. We are definitely living
:05:03. > :05:09.in fuel poverty. We regularly spend 20 percent of our income on gas and
:05:09. > :05:13.electric. That's not running it 24 hours a day, that's keeping it to a
:05:13. > :05:18.minimum. Three years ago, they spent around �40 a week on gas and
:05:18. > :05:22.electricity. Now that has almost doubled. Last year, when it was
:05:22. > :05:30.really cold, I was going to bed in a hat and scarf because there was
:05:30. > :05:37.ice on the inside of her bedroom window. It was terrible. It makes
:05:37. > :05:39.you feel like you're not a part of society. The things we get from
:05:39. > :05:44.Joseph's Storehouse now means that we're not having to spend that
:05:44. > :05:54.extra money buying those bits. Having that little bit extra can
:05:54. > :06:04.
:06:04. > :06:07.Things in here are the basics. Pasta, jars of coffee that some
:06:07. > :06:09.people might think of as a luxury, but it's something people really
:06:09. > :06:11.like. On the outskirts of Leicester,
:06:11. > :06:14.another charity is making good use of surplus stocks that
:06:14. > :06:18.manufacturers and the big supermarkets cannot shift and are
:06:18. > :06:25.happy to pass on. It's still perfectly good quality food which
:06:25. > :06:31.is fit for human consumption. Which is our basic criteria. All this
:06:31. > :06:41.would have ended up in landfill. Some of the food we saw in
:06:41. > :06:43.
:06:43. > :06:50.Three years ago, FareShare Leicester distributed 40 tonnes of
:06:51. > :06:58.food. Now that amount has trebled. Over the last four quarters, we
:06:58. > :07:01.have distributed over 120 tonnes of food. If you think of the
:07:01. > :07:09.articulated lorries that we see on our roads each day, that is
:07:09. > :07:12.equivalent to filling six of those completely. For many people, there
:07:12. > :07:22.is still denial of the extent of poverty and food poverty in this
:07:22. > :07:25.
:07:25. > :07:28.At Age UK's flagship building in Leicester, it is lunchtime too. The
:07:29. > :07:34.food is not in short supply, but for many it is the warmth that
:07:34. > :07:40.tempts them in. You will get people here from first thing in the
:07:40. > :07:43.morning looking for a hot breakfast and a cup of tea. They may go into
:07:43. > :07:46.town for some shopping and come back again for their lunch.
:07:47. > :07:50.aware are you that some of the people are coming here to keep
:07:50. > :07:52.warm? You get to know your regulars and the people that come here for
:07:53. > :07:56.different reasons. Looking around the room, I would suggest that
:07:56. > :07:59.there are an increasing number of those that are coming into us to
:07:59. > :08:09.stay warm so that they can keep their houses warm at night rather
:08:09. > :08:11.
:08:11. > :08:21.As well as a hot meal, Clarence House serves up support, activities
:08:21. > :08:25.
:08:25. > :08:30.and friendship to some of the most Every day, six days a week, 1,000
:08:30. > :08:34.people come through the doors. often ring our offices very
:08:34. > :08:37.distraught, very worried that they are not going to be able to pay
:08:37. > :08:42.their bills. As they are talking through the problem, they are also
:08:42. > :08:45.talking about the effect it is having on their lives. They are
:08:45. > :08:50.cutting back on food, not keeping the house nice and warm to the
:08:50. > :08:52.level of warmth it should be at. They are not going out any more,
:08:52. > :09:00.socialising, and it is helping affecting their health and well-
:09:00. > :09:05.being. How much of a worry is that to you? It is a big worry because I
:09:05. > :09:12.am on the basic pension. How do you manage to keep warm? I have to keep
:09:12. > :09:17.one room warm. And you stay in that room? Most of the time, yes.
:09:17. > :09:24.Hypothermia is a real problem. is yes. If some of those people go
:09:24. > :09:28.into hospital, the sad truth is, All the places I have seen rely on
:09:28. > :09:32.goodwill and generosity. Much of the help is volunteered and the
:09:32. > :09:39.food donated. There is little doubt that without it, life would be even
:09:39. > :09:42.worse for those who are already finding it tough enough.
:09:42. > :09:45.clients of our member groups are very honest to say that if it was
:09:45. > :09:51.not for the food from FareShare, their cupboards would be empty,
:09:52. > :09:55.they just do not know where they would get their next meal from.
:09:55. > :10:04.When they say they do food parcels for the poor, we come into that
:10:04. > :10:06.category. It is kind of shaming to have to admit that you are poor.
:10:07. > :10:10.FareShare Leicester and Joseph's Storehouse in Loughborough plan to
:10:11. > :10:17.expand to meet demand. I have been absolutely amazed at how generosity
:10:17. > :10:21.has increased as times have toughened up. Even if somebody just
:10:21. > :10:31.brings along a bag with a few tins in it, it will make a difference in
:10:31. > :10:35.
:10:35. > :10:38.Thanks to everyone who spoke so openly about how fuel poverty
:10:38. > :10:41.affects them. Now we are in Cotmanhay in Derbyshire because,
:10:41. > :10:44.frankly, it has a poor reputation and we wanted to discover what it
:10:44. > :10:54.is like living in a place that has been branded an undesireable area.
:10:54. > :11:00.
:11:00. > :11:10.We have been finding out what Reputations are easily achieved,
:11:10. > :11:23.
:11:23. > :11:27.Terrible place. It has got quite a When we first came 25 years ago, we
:11:27. > :11:35.had friends in the Nottingham area who said, "Are you sure you want to
:11:35. > :11:39.This is the gateway to Cotmanhay. You don't pass through, it's a
:11:39. > :11:44.dead-end. Check through the archives and the only time the BBC
:11:44. > :11:53.have come to film here has been to report bad news. Usually crime,
:11:53. > :11:56.arson and drug abuse. But also tragedy. A child from here lost a
:11:56. > :12:06.family in a ferry disaster in the 1980s, a man died in a gas
:12:06. > :12:07.
:12:07. > :12:17.explosion in the '90s. Cotmanhay Cotmanhay used to be a village,
:12:17. > :12:28.
:12:28. > :12:31.then the coal mines came. They were gentlemen miners. I worked at the
:12:31. > :12:35.collieries and if ever ladies was there and the men was coming off
:12:35. > :12:38.shift or going on, there'd always be one of the miners shout, "Mind
:12:38. > :12:41.your careful words." And then there was the iron works. Homes were
:12:41. > :12:46.built for the workers. They still call this the new estate. Hopewell
:12:46. > :12:49.Farm was built in 1946. We've got a frequent bus service here.
:12:49. > :12:53.Professor Irene Hardill is one outsider who knows Cotmanhay well.
:12:53. > :12:55.She's written about the community here.
:12:55. > :13:04.There was a crescent of shops serving this particular community,
:13:04. > :13:13.but by 2004, all the shops were abandoned. This particular housing
:13:13. > :13:20.estate has got no facilities The people here had resisted
:13:20. > :13:29.industrial decline. They lost. Today, there is no big employer. It
:13:29. > :13:36.is the most deprived place in Derbyshire. Well, it's a feeling of
:13:36. > :13:41.being forgotten. No facilities here. Obviously, things have been put
:13:41. > :13:44.into the community, we've got Sure Start. But when it comes to
:13:44. > :13:48.services, there is a remarkable lack of them.
:13:48. > :13:52.But the professor says the people in Cotmanhay make a big difference.
:13:52. > :13:55.You do not have to be here long to realise a lot is going on. We
:13:55. > :14:02.stumbled across the Bright Street laundry, the only laundry in town.
:14:02. > :14:07.A lot of our clients are in their 80s or 90s. We have had them,
:14:07. > :14:10.thankfully, at 100 years old. There aren't the launderettes any more,
:14:10. > :14:20.but if there were the launderettes, the elderly haven't got the people
:14:20. > :14:23.to say, "Could you take this washing and have it done for me?"
:14:23. > :14:26.The fact that we do the delivery service, we probably are the only
:14:26. > :14:36.people that they see during the day. Trevor, the driver, might be the
:14:36. > :14:39.only person they see. We are a It's part of a charity called
:14:39. > :14:45.Community Concern Erewash set up 20 years ago during a recession to
:14:45. > :14:52.help people who may be housebound or struggle to get around. Struggle
:14:52. > :14:57.to do things most of us take for granted. They paint all the fences,
:14:57. > :15:02.which I used to do myself, gravelled all the garden. They come
:15:02. > :15:06.and do my shrubs up. It's the simplest things now. I can't get
:15:06. > :15:13.down on my hands and knees, the same as I used to. It annoys me
:15:13. > :15:19.because I can't get down and do my garden. I had a new carpet last
:15:19. > :15:23.year. What was I going to do, what about the furniture? They'll do it.
:15:23. > :15:32.They installed extra smoke alarms for me. I just rang up and it was
:15:32. > :15:39.What they are doing is keeping people in their homes and out of
:15:39. > :15:42.care. You give something to those that may be lonely.
:15:42. > :15:45.This is a recruiting session for new volunteers to give their time
:15:45. > :15:55.to people in Thanks to everyone who spoke so openly about how fuel
:15:55. > :16:14.
:16:14. > :16:18.There is no shortage of willing helpers. They already have more
:16:18. > :16:21.than 60. You just want to give your time. We all do. I think if you
:16:21. > :16:24.just look after number one, it's a very selfish attitude. They also
:16:24. > :16:27.provide a chance to get work experience and give a feeling of
:16:27. > :16:30.being involved. And this. That's good, Andrew. Is that your front
:16:30. > :16:33.door? That is brilliant. I do a painting class. Andrew paints their
:16:33. > :16:36.Christmas cards and helps in the office. Mark helps out with the
:16:36. > :16:38.laundry deliveries. I will work out the order. The numbers are all down
:16:39. > :16:42.there, so you take charge. helping out delivering laundry,
:16:42. > :16:49.taking it round for customers. I really enjoy it. It is nice to be
:16:49. > :16:53.out visiting. We are going to keep going and we will keep delivering
:16:53. > :16:56.the service to the people who need it. This is the annual meeting of
:16:56. > :17:01.Community Concern Erewash. They hope it will not be the last, but
:17:02. > :17:04.the funding they rely on has become exceptionally difficult to get.
:17:04. > :17:12.majority of our funds are from putting in funding applications to
:17:12. > :17:18.grant funders, not from public authorities. That is the issue for
:17:18. > :17:22.us. We are competing against other organisations to go for the same
:17:22. > :17:26.pot of money, but there is more of us trying to get it. I don't know
:17:26. > :17:29.what we would do if we were to close. A lot of people would suffer.
:17:29. > :17:32.Without this organisation, the bottom line would be that there
:17:32. > :17:40.would not be a voluntary service and 65 people would be lost in this
:17:40. > :17:50.area. It frightens me to death. It frightens me now. Because I can't
:17:50. > :17:52.
:17:52. > :17:55.do things. The weekly luncheon club is
:17:55. > :18:05.something else they organise. A welcome roast. It is a social thing
:18:05. > :18:10.
:18:10. > :18:13.as well. I've been coming since a year at Easter. It's important
:18:13. > :18:17.because people are vulnerable and a lot of them are lonely. If they do
:18:17. > :18:20.not come out to us, they may not see anybody for a week. The only
:18:20. > :18:23.people they see are when they come here. For those who can't get out,
:18:23. > :18:27.it is delivered. We are here to help people. Through this recession,
:18:27. > :18:31.we will still be here, by hook or by crook. From what might look as a
:18:31. > :18:34.place that's been abandoned, there is also a great deal of self-
:18:34. > :18:38.reliance. In other words, the big society is happening. Bottom-up
:18:38. > :18:43.self-help before the big society was being talked about. Venture to
:18:43. > :18:49.the foot of the hill and another surprise. A community farm in a pub
:18:49. > :18:56.car park. All I know is it all started when my boss started
:18:56. > :19:06.hatching chickens and ducks. She's got a few ducks. Totally voluntary.
:19:06. > :19:11.Totally community led. Not a formal But you can't get away from the
:19:11. > :19:20.dereliction and empty spaces left by demolition. The lack of anything
:19:21. > :19:27.for young people is stark. There's nothing for them. I think that's
:19:27. > :19:31.why they... Even the community centre.
:19:32. > :19:38.There is ambition. They want to start a children's football team if
:19:39. > :19:42.they can get the funds. You suspect, if there is any community where the
:19:42. > :19:50.people will make something happen, it is here. We want people to be
:19:50. > :19:54.reconnected. We want people in Cotmanhay to feel that they matter.
:19:54. > :20:04.We have got to know everyone here. Wherever we go, they always stop
:20:04. > :20:05.
:20:05. > :20:15.and talk to you. People do not want to live anywhere else. People are
:20:15. > :20:22.
:20:22. > :20:25.friendly and they will help you. Anybody will help you. The people
:20:25. > :20:28.of Cotmanhay proving you can't judge a place by its reputation.
:20:28. > :20:31.Now when you hear about disappearing coral reefs on the
:20:31. > :20:35.other side of the world, it's easy to think that there is little we
:20:35. > :20:38.can do to make a difference. But one woman felt she had to and what
:20:38. > :20:40.she did has had an impact from Nottinghamshire all the way to Fiji.
:20:41. > :20:45.Anne Davies meets an inspirational conservationist determined to save
:20:45. > :20:55.our oceans. We've had the Ice Age, the Iron Age and the Bronze Age.
:20:55. > :21:04.
:21:04. > :21:09.Plastic is polluting our planet and I had an opportunity of sitting at
:21:09. > :21:12.the United Nations Indigenous Peoples Permanent Forum. It was my
:21:12. > :21:22.first exposure at 18 to serious human rights abuses and human
:21:22. > :21:27.
:21:27. > :21:32.But I didn't know things were that bad to that extent. I was angry
:21:32. > :21:41.because I'd got this idea that this world was actually OK. And it is OK,
:21:41. > :21:48.but it also isn't. It's a myth. You have to want to look below the myth
:21:48. > :21:49.and once I did, you can never go back.
:21:49. > :21:52.Nottinghamshire film maker Emma Robens was so affected by the
:21:52. > :21:55.plight of so many indigenous peoples and the plight of the
:21:55. > :21:58.planet that she spent seven years on Fiji working with the locals and
:21:58. > :22:08.making films, including the award- winning documentary the Coral
:22:08. > :22:10.
:22:10. > :22:14.Gardener which has and is, still, being shown, across the world.
:22:14. > :22:19.The key is that you use that time and that process as a way of
:22:19. > :22:28.creating awareness in the most inspiring way possible. I think
:22:28. > :22:31.that's where some of the best But it doesn't stop there. Emma has
:22:31. > :22:37.brought her passion about the environment back home, back to the
:22:37. > :22:42.East Midlands. Which is why we find ourselves here in the middle of an
:22:42. > :22:50.eco-farm in the beautiful Nottinghamshire countryside. And
:22:50. > :22:52.it's where it's all very much about Now in partnership with Farm Eco in
:22:52. > :22:58.Nottinghamshire, she has begun a new initiative, a festival called
:22:58. > :23:01.SELF. Everybody put your hand in there and touch it. It aims to show
:23:01. > :23:06.local schoolchildren how to value the natural resources we have
:23:06. > :23:13.through a day of unusual and fun activities.
:23:14. > :23:17.What we do on the land is affecting the ocean. Just because we can't
:23:17. > :23:21.see underneath it, we live in this world where we only look at what we
:23:21. > :23:25.can see. So we have to think about things we can't see. And that is
:23:25. > :23:35.what they do here. They learn about all the things they don't normally
:23:35. > :23:42.
:23:42. > :23:46.see and connect with them. What do we breathe in the air that's all
:23:46. > :23:49.around us? Oxygen. What do you think you have found out about the
:23:49. > :23:54.environment? That it is quite important that you look after it
:23:54. > :23:57.because it helps us. What have you got there? A tree trunk. For fuel.
:23:57. > :24:00.You've got fuel. Last year, about 500 children came
:24:00. > :24:04.to SELF. It stands for Sustainable Environmental Living for the Future.
:24:04. > :24:09.That concept is Emma's passion and she has managed to pass it on to
:24:09. > :24:12.the kids. I had a teacher say to me the other day, "Emma, you have
:24:12. > :24:18.engaged the unengageable." I thought that was quite funny!
:24:19. > :24:25.Whether it is true or not, I don't Wow, look at this. Look at these
:24:25. > :24:33.stones. I think these are peace stones. I'll have to sit in on this
:24:33. > :24:36.one. Think about running through the fields in beautiful sunshine.
:24:36. > :24:42.Wrap yourself in your favourite blanket and sit in your favourite
:24:42. > :24:45.chair and that wonderful red makes you feel loved.
:24:45. > :24:50.As well as conservation, part of the SELF festival is to help the
:24:50. > :24:52.children find their inner selves. The peace tent where they created
:24:53. > :24:59.peace stones for school gardens helps them challenge their stresses
:24:59. > :25:06.and anxiety. Emma says, teach the kids to care about themselves and
:25:06. > :25:14.each other and then they'll care Emma has even managed to inspire a
:25:14. > :25:17.young designer to love coral. her the other day and she was, like,
:25:17. > :25:21."I wasn't quite sure where I was going with this," but she said,
:25:21. > :25:24."after meeting you, you're so passionate, so mad about it, I just
:25:24. > :25:34.feel on fire." I was like, "Great! Are you going to join us then?"
:25:34. > :25:36.
:25:36. > :25:42."Yes!" That's when you inspire people and they do what they do.
:25:42. > :25:44.From the scarves, money goes back to coral conservation. In Fiji,
:25:44. > :25:49.Emma has joined forces with the eminent scientist and
:25:49. > :25:52.conservationist Dr Austin Bowden- Kerby. His project, Corals For
:25:52. > :25:58.Conservation, will hopefully help save the corals, not just in Fiji,
:25:58. > :26:04.but across the world. It's her film, the Coral Gardener
:26:04. > :26:09.that's a big part of that message. If the corals are gone, the fish
:26:09. > :26:12.have nowhere. If you take all these trees out, where will the birds
:26:12. > :26:21.live? Birds need trees. Fish need corals.
:26:21. > :26:25.Local people will grow new corals on special tables on the ocean bed.
:26:25. > :26:27.They can then be used to replenish the dying reefs and also can then
:26:27. > :26:31.be harvested and exported for the vast aquarium trade with the
:26:31. > :26:34.profits going back to the local coral farmers. I was educated
:26:34. > :26:36.through the indigenous people and the people that I helped about the
:26:36. > :26:44.importance of sustainable livelihoods and the reconnection of
:26:44. > :26:52.nature to business. By the time I met Austin in Fiji, I saw his
:26:52. > :26:57.project and I saw the potential in The first batch of this sustainable
:26:57. > :27:02.coral has just been brought over to the UK. A fantastic achievement and
:27:02. > :27:05.something that Emma has been working towards for years. I think
:27:05. > :27:10.the most exciting part of the coral gardening project is the fact that
:27:10. > :27:15.it is a new profession. You have a gardener that gardens your land,
:27:15. > :27:17.why don't you have a gardener that looks after your sea? With aquarium
:27:17. > :27:20.hobbyists that have these wonderful tanks in their houses that take
:27:20. > :27:24.great pleasure from looking at coral and fish in their front room,
:27:24. > :27:27.for them to know that that coral has been grown by someone on the
:27:27. > :27:35.other side of the planet and that it has contributed to their lives,
:27:35. > :27:38.it is a wonderful connection. With 7 billion human beings on a
:27:38. > :27:48.planet that is made up of 70 percent water, it is no surprise
:27:48. > :27:51.that our very existence impacts hugely on the ocean. What else can
:27:51. > :27:55.we do to not use so much plastic? How realistic is that children who
:27:55. > :28:00.live in landlocked cities will make sure that there is a future for our
:28:00. > :28:07.ocean wildlife? I was a bit shocked when I saw a movie with all the
:28:07. > :28:12.plastic bottles in the water and then the whales were eating them.
:28:12. > :28:15.think we should stop putting plastic in the water. All projects
:28:15. > :28:19.that run, wherever they are, if you can inspire the individual to take
:28:19. > :28:29.it on board and you don't have to do follow-ups and you don't have to
:28:29. > :28:41.
:28:41. > :28:44.chase them, then you have achieved Well, Emma is filming in Fiji at