Britain’s Hidden Homeless Kids: The Shocking Reality of Growing Up Poor

Added: 2026-05-10

[00:00:00]Over the summer term, three boys from the same class are struggling with poverty, homelessness, and overcrowding.

[00:00:11]>> I came in year two. I'm kidding. You came in year three, >> and I came in year four. Like 2, three, four.

[00:00:18]>> The 20 cut in universal credit means as many as 300,000 more children are being pushed below the poverty line. But with fuel prices at an all-time high and landlords once again able to evict tenants, homelessness is also threatening Britain's most vulnerable children. Play with us.

[00:00:37]>> I heard that you haven't got TV or no Wi-Fi, anything to do at home. What I've done, I've made you a little pack.

[00:00:45]>> These kids speak for over 4 million children growing up in poverty in Britain today. They have a very small home with barely any bedrooms. Well, there's four people squitting into one room.

[00:00:59]My mom has been on a bidding list for about 9 to 10 years. Yeah. And she hasn't gone nowhere. You need money because you can have a house and can have anything you want. After almost a year of lost education, >> I cry because I can't understand the work very well.

[00:01:26]>> It just feels absolutely terrible to get confused.

[00:01:31]These are three voices that speak for so many children growing up homeless and poor as universal credit uplift is taken away.

[00:01:40]This is their story in their words.

[00:01:54]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. If you could go through those bags and make sure we've got all the right stuff in them cuz we have half taken out any non-hal. So we've got So we've got >> Jakob, Kai, and Cassim all get help from the school's pastoral care team. Alifa and Nicola.

[00:02:28]>> Yay.

[00:02:30]>> You love carrots. Kai's mom has a full-time job as a care coordinator, but she still has to rely on Universal Credit to get by and would struggle without the help the family gets from the school.

[00:02:42]>> School gives us lots of food to help us a lot because she could get a little poor here and it would be hard for her to pay for food. Thank you. Thank you so much. I know other families they help. They once helped Jacob. They've helped Kasm before. They've helped me a lot. They've helped me the most of I know of.

[00:03:12]The largest food bank provider in the UK, the Trussell Trust saw demand go up by a third last year. They provided almost a million food parcels for children.

[00:03:25]>> Kai lives on the outskirts of Luton. He shares an overcrowded two-bedroom house with his mom, stepdad, sister, and two brothers.

[00:03:34]>> This is my Leo's bed. This is Lily Gross's bed. We moved her ladder to here because she had a new bed. Um, here sleep. I sleep on the top bunk.

[00:03:52]Since I was born, I had this bedroom.

[00:03:56]I want my own room because I wouldn't have to hear weird noises at night and then every night I wouldn't have to hear just someone stomping into my room when it's hard for me to sleep.

[00:04:13]>> Flame aspect two.

[00:04:18]Even on my next door neighbor, they both have bigger houses and master bedrooms.

[00:04:25]I don't care if we have a small house.

[00:04:30]At least it's something and we're not homeless.

[00:04:33]Oh, middle of the night. Go back to sleep.

[00:04:39]>> Stop.

[00:04:42]Mom's not that rich.

[00:04:45]I do save up money in my piggy bank. I will try and lend her some I will try and lend us as much money as possible.

[00:04:54]>> Even though his mom has a full-time job after paying for housing, utilities, transport, and debt repayments. Kai's family are left with just £8 per person per day to spend on food, clothing, and anything else they need.

[00:05:09]>> I'm eight. My mom finds this weird, but we've never been on holiday.

[00:05:15]Oh, >> doesn't matter if you go on holiday or not, you can still be a great person.

[00:05:22]>> I don't want to go on holiday cuz you have to spend money at there cuz you'd have to pay for the thing. Yeah.

[00:05:34]Then when you get there, you have to spend even more money by buying a ticket. And then sometimes you can buy food unless you brought your own food.

[00:05:45]But on planes, isn't it? You're allowed your own food.

[00:05:52]I've never been on an airplane because my mom's not rich enough to she spends it all on rent and everything else. And I I don't care as long as she's trying her best. I love her as much as I do.

[00:06:13]Sometimes my auntie asks, "Have you been on an airplane?" It would be a long drive to get to an airport, wouldn't it?

[00:06:21]From where we live.

[00:06:23]I don't know the closest airport.

[00:06:30]>> Huh?

[00:06:31]>> Yeah, that's an airplane. EC jet. Rare.

[00:06:37]It's uncommon to get that.

[00:06:42]>> It's rare because easy jits are they're quite expensive, aren't they?

[00:06:54]>> The overcrowding and lack of sleep have badly affected Kai's schoolwork.

[00:07:00]I get distracted on the carpet and on the tables. And if I didn't, I might not struggle so much.

[00:07:08]>> Hands up.

[00:07:10]>> If you're getting distracted, you're missing out on your learning. And learning is important.

[00:07:18]>> Very important. If you go to high school and you don't know stuff, it would be embarrassing cuz you would have to go back into your normal schools. And >> if you're not learning, it's your life is going to be terrible.

[00:07:33]>> Kind of looking at yesterday, you kind of did the opposite, isn't it? Yeah.

[00:07:36]>> Housing charity shelter found nine out of 10 teachers they surveyed said homelessness and bad housing led to children arriving late for class.

[00:07:47]>> 9-year-old Cassim, a friend of Kais, has been repeatedly late to school all week.

[00:07:52]>> And what happened?

[00:07:53]>> I just don't like getting up early.

[00:07:55]Okay, I'm going to get you an alarm clock, your own alarm clock, and then there will be no excuses for you going to bed late or getting up late.

[00:08:06]>> The only thing I don't like about school is getting up early.

[00:08:10]>> Cassim lives in temporary accommodation with his three brothers, two sisters, and their dad fired. Their parents are separated, though they still see their mom regularly. There isn't enough room.

[00:08:22]We're having we're having to use a room downstairs as a bedroom. And we have to put two bunk beds in one room. And with the bunk bed range, we also cut off some corners.

[00:08:37]Sometimes it's hard to sleep cuz when I get my younger brother to sleep, it's hard because we have to put videos on for him or we have to make the room not completely pitch black and we like sleeping when it's pitch back.

[00:08:52]With the twins not yet in school, Farhead can't work, so they live on Universal Credit.

[00:08:58]After essential bills, the family used to have £6.90 a day each to cover food, clothing, and anything else they need.

[00:09:05]But the drop in Universal Credit has cut that down by 40p a day.

[00:09:11]>> I normally like playing with RC cars, but I don't have one. We don't have enough money cuz he gets a bit low money when we need to go shopping.

[00:09:24]And if you go poor, you can't pay your rent.

[00:09:28]>> Bills are rising. There's still the rent he has to pay. So obviously it's still tough when we're running out of money. Me and Tegan, we're often going around the house turning off any switches we're not using. Usually we make sure there's no lights on during the day cuz that's just a waste altogether.

[00:09:47]And then there's any sockets that are on that shouldn't be on, like the toaster when it's not being used or the cooker.

[00:09:54]Um we'll go around and we'll turn them off just to like see if we can save some more of that electricity.

[00:10:02]Bills aren't 13-year-old Nyla's only worry. The family was evicted from their last house with just a week's notice from their private landlord. She's haunted by the fear that the same could happen again.

[00:10:14]You never know when you're going to be told you've got to get out of a place or that you've got to move and there isn't a place ready for you to go to and that you're going to be thrown out on the streets. Sometimes I spend more time worrying about whether or not they're going to kick us out. Yeah.

[00:10:30]>> The way that works is they could bring me today and say, "We want you to move to a different address by Friday." So, I'd have to pack up and move.

[00:10:40]>> I end up focusing more on that than I do my studies. So, I could be I end up paying less attention to school than I would like.

[00:10:54]>> Ray, can you go downstairs, please? Why?

[00:10:57]Cuz I'm trying to do my homework.

[00:10:59]>> And you got ice cream.

[00:11:02]>> You're supposed to eat downstairs, remember?

[00:11:06]>> Why?

[00:11:07]>> Cuz go on.

[00:11:12]>> I'll go play with you in a little bit.

[00:11:13]Go on.

[00:11:17]>> Cassim also struggles with the many rules that make this a house, but not a home.

[00:11:23]>> I kind of hate it. I can't hang things up.

[00:11:27]I might want to make a poster and hang it up on the wall, but I can't.

[00:11:31]>> That's him. He likes Lightning McQueen.

[00:11:33]He can't put posters up or any pictures that he colors in. It's a breach of the licensing agreements.

[00:11:40]It's the rules. You have to follow them.

[00:11:44]Unfortunately, it's either that or you get risk. You're at risk of putting yourself out on the streets.

[00:11:51]If we go homeless, the only thing we actually have to stay in is my dad's car. And last time, my dad's car had a load of things in it. His rear suspension felt like it was going to collapse.

[00:12:07]>> Despite the eviction ban, a family became homeless every 3 minutes during national lockdown. The housing charity crisis estimates that over a 100,000 households have been put at risk of losing their homes by the universal credit challenges >> or your uncles or any man in your family.

[00:12:24]>> The lack of sleep and constant worries over eviction have taken their toll on casting's education. So that means >> worry about falling behind on my maths on topic.

[00:12:37]Well, mostly maths because some maths time I keep I keep on nearly falling asleep and that I don't know what I do what to do.

[00:12:46]>> What do you have to do with a 10?

[00:12:48]>> You already have to put a zero.

[00:12:50]>> That's it. So, how can you struggle with the 10?

[00:12:52]>> It's not a struggle. They're both easy, but I like doing the 11s better.

[00:12:57]>> What about the twels? Housing Charity Shelter says nine out of 10 teachers surveyed found that children with housing problems had less energy when they were in school and less motivation.

[00:13:08]But with someone like Kelsey, he's one of those children that keeps it all in.

[00:13:11]I was feeling and he he doesn't want to upset or hurt or I don't know, be a burden at home and and be the happy golucky little brother.

[00:13:20]He is.

[00:13:23]>> I ripped my trouser.

[00:13:25]>> Oh no. Okay, it's not bleeding. So it's okay. When we go back in, if it still really hurts, maybe we'll put some cold water on it. Okay, >> you should be fine. Come on.

[00:13:34]>> School uniforms are a major expense for many families. So, a local charity has set up a uniform exchange.

[00:13:42]>> Um, wanted to exchange some trousers.

[00:13:45]>> Amazing.

[00:13:46]>> They're 12 to 11, but they shrank a bit.

[00:13:48]>> They shrank, did they? But, >> and also I fall over a lot.

[00:13:52]>> I don't think they give you knee pads.

[00:13:54]>> Yes. But when I fall over once, I'm sure that they ripped.

[00:13:59]>> Look in the mirror.

[00:14:00]>> Go on. Go stand in front of the mirror.

[00:14:04]>> They're way too huge.

[00:14:05]>> H.

[00:14:07]>> You want them all?

[00:14:09]>> They're a bit long, but >> Yeah, but they're going to adjust them for you.

[00:14:13]>> What do you think? Yeah. And they they are too long. They do need adapt.

[00:14:17]>> How soon do you need the zip? They can be ready by tomorrow, sort of lunchtime if dad's around.

[00:14:22]>> Well, he's got the ones he's wearing.

[00:14:25]That's it at the moment. Okay. All right.

[00:14:28]>> Cassim's friend Yakob is also homeless.

[00:14:32]>> He lives with his mother and sister in a hostel near the airport.

[00:14:36]>> The worst thing that where I live is a creepy house.

[00:14:52]In Luton, three boys from the same class are struggling with poverty, homelessness, and overcrowding.

[00:14:59]>> They're playing together. They're mixing. And it's not about school work.

[00:15:04]It's It's not about I can't do it. It's about getting in the water and just being yourself. Just being playing. I think playing is important part of education.

[00:15:18]I don't think many of them get to go swimming. I don't think it's a standard thing that they do.

[00:15:25]Lots and lots of these children never ever go to the seaside.

[00:15:31]Swim for it. Jacob.

[00:15:35]Jacob. Swim for it. Use your arms like that. Yeah. Yakob is one of those that do struggle. Jakob doesn't always have the gear. School provide his um swimming kit today.

[00:15:49]From the minute he comes in and he gets his swimming kit, he's smiling and he's laughing and he can't wait to get here.

[00:15:55]And I think he'd stay here all day if we let him.

[00:16:11]When his parents separated, 9-year-old Jacob had to move into emergency housing with his mom and little sister, Rabia.

[00:16:19]After service charges in the hostel and the cost of getting the kids to school, Jacob's mom has around £7 a day left for each of the family to cover food, clothing, and anything else they need.

[00:16:30]>> I have a buck bed and single bed.

[00:16:35]The building used to be university halls but is now leased to the local authority. With a national housing shortage, councils are increasingly having to use commercial and office space. Some families are put here while the council decides if they are intentionally homeless.

[00:16:58]for Hello. Hello. I'm going to go to the shops.

[00:17:20]My home is like really really old and it looks like someone's used it and we have to share toilets and nobody for ever flushes the toilet.

[00:17:37]It's boring cuz there is no garden cuz it's a flat. It's a car parking. So if you play there, a car might run over you if you're not looking.

[00:17:50]The lights, they don't really work properly. And the doors, they so loud and creeping me out. And the beds, they just have like stains on them. And the taps are running and they're making a squeaky noise.

[00:18:08]When I'm sad, I feel like I'm falling off a cliff.

[00:18:13]And then when I go on the floor, I die.

[00:18:17]But that doesn't really happen.

[00:18:21]When I'm sad, then I can go to the park.

[00:18:25]When we go in the park, we play tag and sometimes we hide and seek and we go on slides and everything cuz it changes my mood.

[00:18:38]>> Freedom of information requests were sent to every council in England. The replies indicate that around 20,000 families with children are in a similar situation to Jacob, living in emergency accommodation.

[00:18:58]Back at school, Cassim has been getting some extra support to help him catch up.

[00:19:03]>> You are going to try and improve these headlines over here.

[00:19:07]>> Mayor Matsu and Car Koala >> mayhem at zoo and koala's missing.

[00:19:16]>> This is how you spell koalas.

[00:19:17]>> I need to work a little bit on my handwriting.

[00:19:21]>> I just want missing. S M I S S I N G.

[00:19:28]>> Why are you laughing at me?

[00:19:31]>> I need to work on my spellings cuz I spell most words wrong.

[00:19:38]at A T.

[00:19:41]>> Okay, that's a good at Z O.

[00:19:48]>> Me and some other people have been going to an extra group, a different group with for spellings that have a bit easier words.

[00:19:56]>> Remember? My turn together. Your turn.

[00:20:01]Moth. Mm.

[00:20:03]Moth. Moth.

[00:20:07]E before I s >> in Luton after lockdown, children on average are seven months behind those from more welloff backgrounds.

[00:20:25]>> You're on time table rock stars.

[00:20:27]>> During lockdown, since I wasn't going to school, I forgot most things.

[00:20:35]It made me feel a little a bit a little bit dumb in lockdown that I didn't know most stuff anymore.

[00:20:46]>> I forgot my password.

[00:20:48]>> So you were born in what year was it?

[00:20:50]12.

[00:20:52]>> Yeah.

[00:20:52]>> Yeah. It's one two not 21.

[00:20:56]>> We can't buy that time back.

[00:21:00]So they've lost that time and no amount of money doing a ketchup here and a ketchup there is not going to work. Half an hour a day, an hour a day is not going to fix it because they've missed so much. Use your finger to do everything.

[00:21:13]>> And I felt sad for him.

[00:21:17]In this pandemic, the need has risen >> and the fact that the parents do know that the support from the school is available and more so that they're reaching out a lot more. I think >> initially sometimes it's around financial but then you get >> once you get to know the parents and the family often other things come out.

[00:21:40]>> Yeah. I've got a meeting with Alan.

[00:21:42]>> Yeah.

[00:21:44]>> Yeah. Are you >> Cassim's dad has come to ask Alifa about some extra help for his son?

[00:21:51]>> Yeah.

[00:21:51]>> But so tell me what's going on with Cassim.

[00:21:54]>> There's something I've been playing on my mind for a bit.

[00:21:57]>> I think that there's something not right with his reading and writing.

[00:22:02]>> I personally think he's got some learning issues. Um, I can take your concern to Kim, our senko, who can look into it, observe him, and and and then get in touch with you to see what the next steps could be because she's more equipped and expertised in that kind of area.

[00:22:19]>> Is that okay?

[00:22:21]>> Yeah.

[00:22:24]I'd rather reach out and get the help now rather than struggle and then get to that point where I'm in denial about a problem that's there and I'd rather go to the appropriate people try and get help with the issue.

[00:22:42]>> Kai's going to go first. I'm going to be the referee. Actually, no. I'm going to be the game first.

[00:22:48]>> Kai has also been struggling.

[00:22:50]>> Save.

[00:22:52]I >> sometimes people are being mean to me.

[00:22:56]Stuff's going wrong.

[00:22:59]>> I'm not playing. Stop.

[00:23:02]>> Then I just get mad and then people still annoy me. So I just I just go like into like a different version of me.

[00:23:12]>> Yuck.

[00:23:14]In my bad version, it's like me wanting to be horrible, while in the good version, it's trying to uh take away the bad version, but the bad version's kind of like fighting back.

[00:23:31]>> Why am I so dumb?

[00:23:33]>> Yeah, we don't have a goal. EVERYONE VERSUS >> CUZ THAT'S not unfair. See, now he scored.

[00:23:39]>> Well, I don't care cuz we don't have a goal.

[00:23:43]I'm done.

[00:23:55]>> I'd be thinking I I should have never played or done that thing.

[00:24:05]It just feels absolutely terrible to get confused.

[00:24:11]It feels really sad.

[00:24:15]>> Sad and you're mad at the same time.

[00:24:19]>> So when we are playing nicely, Jacob wouldn't listen to me.

[00:24:24]>> Just ignore it and carry on playing the game. You see, you left out. You keep walking away from it. You lose out every time. Can't have having this conversation every single day, can we?

[00:24:36]>> Please remember that. Yeah. when it's going to line up.

[00:24:43]>> Kai's parents have been worried about his temper since the lockdown. They've come to see the school's special educational needs coordinator, >> Kimberly. Child.

[00:24:54]>> So, as I said, we're going to put together the Edwin Lobo referral. So at school um we looked at um patterns of behavior and the teacher noticed that she notices more patterns of the behavior becoming difficult is when he's outside and what kind of patterns do you notice at home like any triggers >> if his tablet stops receiving access to the internet.

[00:25:16]>> Mhm.

[00:25:16]>> He loses his temper. He becomes >> he becomes emotional.

[00:25:19]>> Hysterical.

[00:25:20]>> Yeah.

[00:25:20]>> Yeah. you floods of tears, screaming and shouting.

[00:25:24]>> He froze things suddenly out of frustration.

[00:25:27]>> The next one says, "I is perfect in every way."

[00:25:30]>> In my eyes, yeah, obviously he is, but >> um I don't know because it like I don't like that question because it just seems like you're um >> because you're not a certain way. You're not perfect.

[00:25:43]>> Yeah. Yeah. There are a few in this that are a bit like that.

[00:25:46]>> Well, maybe they should change the way they're >> they should, shouldn't they? That's a bit mean. No, because he's >> And that's really upset because that is really upset because you're saying because he's a certain way >> from that list, he's not perfect. Well, no child's perfect.

[00:26:02]>> Exactly.

[00:26:03]>> But then, >> exactly.

[00:26:05]>> Obviously to a parent, your child is perfect.

[00:26:10]>> My mom Yeah. I know how she loves me so much cuz if she didn't love me, she wouldn't buy me a tablet. And she saved up £60 for a tablet. Imagine saving up £60.

[00:26:24]It took her a long long long long time.

[00:26:31]I'm just building a mega house. No, a restaurant.

[00:26:37]I've never been to a restaurant. I want to go to a restaurant. Why?

[00:26:43]>> Because they have fancy food and they have nice uh desserts.

[00:26:49]I'd really like to go to a place with macaroni and cheese for a food offer.

[00:26:56]I'll put a sign that says the options where you get to the order stand. Uh macaroni and cheese, pe pepperoni pizza, and some cool stuff that I like.

[00:27:15]>> When they changed the cafeteria at school, I was like, is it is it going to be epic? Is it going to be terrible? And then I realized when I walked in, it was extremely cool.

[00:27:27]It's got dinner booth. It's got tables.

[00:27:30]It's got everything that you need in a restaurant.

[00:27:34]>> We We're going a boat, please.

[00:27:40]>> Wow.

[00:27:42]>> Is this for a couple of families?

[00:27:48]I didn't realize there that much food.

[00:27:51]>> Yeah. This is just for Cassim. All of this. Wow.

[00:27:57]This one here is for Lady Grace and Kai.

[00:28:01]And I think in this pile here or there is Rabia and Yakobs.

[00:28:06]The food parcels have made a huge difference to Yakob's family.

[00:28:10]>> But because they share a communal kitchen with two other families, they keep everything in plastic bags on the floor.

[00:28:24]times it done.

[00:28:32]>> Well, what I'm scared of most is get is is not getting enough money to pay my rent and getting food cuz you got to just you can't survive without food and water.

[00:28:45]>> I have temporary accommodation. My dad's bidding on houses.

[00:28:48]>> So, you live in a temporary house? I live in a temporary house. Um, it's an international house.

[00:28:54]>> Me and K. We both share a room with four people.

[00:28:57]>> I just have one bathroom, two bedrooms, and you should ask your dad to get bidding on some houses, so you can have your own house.

[00:29:04]>> No, my my mom my mom can only go on a bidding list. My dad can't go on a bidding list.

[00:29:10]>> In temporary house is the worst thing.

[00:29:15]>> It's like a workhouse. get.

[00:29:21]>> We don't have internet at home. You can get free internet when you're inside co-op and then it will say you're connected and then you can watch >> the super potato.

[00:29:37]>> I always look for free internet because I want to watch YouTube.

[00:29:46]Well, what is this?

[00:29:48]>> The coat buttons on the um they're the queen's button.

[00:29:54]Where's that queen? I think this is the flag of England.

[00:30:02]>> When's daddy so rich?

[00:30:05]>> She wears nice clothes. I wish I had clothes.

[00:30:10]This one's just for decoration, but I also do that on like when I forget to bring my normal coat.

[00:30:16]>> I only have a little bit of school stuff, like school jumper.

[00:30:23]>> Come on.

[00:30:24]>> Yours is pretty, too.

[00:30:27]>> Yeah, but mine's too fat. And people say it's a auntie jacket.

[00:30:32]>> Sorry.

[00:30:33]>> People say it's a auntie jacket because it's too long.

[00:30:40]I always ask my mom if I can if I can go to school and go buy something. She always says no.

[00:30:49]>> So I had to go.

[00:30:50]>> She can't even get me no toys. She can't give me no clothes and she can't give me anything.

[00:30:56]>> Well, yeah. She's not going to whisper, is she?

[00:31:01]>> At the hostel, families have to share communal bathrooms and kitchens. So when Rabia and Jacob get food parcels from the school, they keep them in plastic bags on the floor.

[00:31:11]>> Pizza.

[00:31:16]>> Yakob has been struggling to see the whiteboard at school, but many families in emergency housing say they find it hard to get to places like dentists and opticians. Again, the school has stepped in.

[00:31:29]>> You know, a lot of the facilities in this areas in the town center. Um, so things like your opticians, your dentists, things like that. They're in the town center and some of our families been placed up by the airport. So it's a an area they don't know. They're not familiar with. Um, and so that logistically that has a diff that has an impact on them actually knowing where to go and how to get there. So we would try and look at the solution.

[00:32:01]>> Do you speak English?

[00:32:03]She speaks Bengali.

[00:32:04]>> Okay. But you can speak English. Yeah.

[00:32:06]Okay. Good. Have a look at that screen behind mommy. Can you tell me what letters are those? Can you see them or are they blurry?

[00:32:16]>> Blur.

[00:32:16]>> Okay. Let us try with the other eye.

[00:32:19]>> We I have to have glasses.

[00:32:22]Can't see far away.

[00:32:26]>> Are the glasses are paying?

[00:32:28]>> Are they Are the glasses >> for money?

[00:32:30]>> No. you you get your glasses free. Yeah.

[00:32:33]So, we do some glasses downstairs which are going to be free for you. Okay. And then we want to see them um him in 6 months again.

[00:32:41]>> My glasses are free and it's good because my mom when she pays it then she's going to have less money.

[00:32:54]So, we got to 31.

[00:33:01]I found a plan. Wait, did you draw a picture for this yesterday?

[00:33:09]>> Just get some ideas and then you can.

[00:33:13]>> So, Jacob, you can take it off at break and lunch. Yeah. And put it into your case. Okay. But keep it on in lesson help you see better. Okay.

[00:33:21]>> Edit.

[00:33:26]>> Hi. Good morning, Michelle. You all right? Good morning, Kalita. I want to take you guys through to the meeting room if that's okay.

[00:33:33]>> Local authorities are supposed to assess families within 56 days to then come up with a plan for longerterm housing.

[00:33:41]Jakob's family have been in the hostel for 113 days. So, his mom is coming to the school for advice.

[00:33:48]Figures returned from the Freedom of Information requests suggest that 16,000 families have currently waited longer than 8 weeks for a housing plan.

[00:33:58]So obviously we want to talk today about your housing situation.

[00:34:03]So obviously it has gone over 56 days.

[00:34:06]Um She's met other people that their Bengali families that have been there for 17 18 months and and that scares her. That does worry her.

[00:34:31]>> I know. But this is what I'm said to her that she could be there. You could be there up to two years. They say that for temporary accommodation maximum guarantee.

[00:34:52]I think we expected it with the pandemic that we were with helping with housing, helping with benefits, making that odd phone call or filling up a form. It's as simple as that. If you haven't uploaded evidence form, you can get sanctioned.

[00:35:05]that means your benefit's going to stop.

[00:35:07]Um, so let's prevent that from happening. And it takes me 2 minutes and it might take them a day looking for someone to help them.

[00:35:22]>> Councils in England said that a family's average stay in temporary housing was 10 months, though 40 local authorities reported an average of over a year.

[00:35:32]>> What happened?

[00:35:35]Guy Kai.

[00:35:38]>> Hi.

[00:35:39]Hi.

[00:35:41]>> What's that? Kai.

[00:35:43]>> Hi. What's happened?

[00:35:46]>> What's wrong?

[00:35:49]>> I'm not allowed in this team. And he said I'm football. I'm allowed to.

[00:35:53]>> Should we go and talk to him about it?

[00:35:54]>> Wait. Didn't nei say that?

[00:35:57]>> 3/4 of children who are growing up in poverty have a working parent. I promise you.

[00:36:02]>> Though Kai's mom is a care coordinator, the family still relies on universal credit to make ends meet. But a recent change in her job title has led to her universal credit payments being put on hold. So things are harder than ever.

[00:36:17]>> My mom's running low on money. He keeps on talking about it.

[00:36:23]>> I worry about my mom having less money cuz she can't pay rent.

[00:36:32]You know how days fly past? It's kind of like with rent because days fly past.

[00:36:41]Rent flies past, doesn't it?

[00:36:45]>> I know. I'm just waiting for her.

[00:36:46]>> Hi. Shout to your sister. I was busy doing something she couldn't do anyway.

[00:36:51]>> Get down.

[00:36:53]>> If my mom doesn't pay rent, I'll >> I'll cry.

[00:37:00]And it wouldn't be fun living in the streets cuz I have to beg people for food and they all say no.

[00:37:10]>> Mom Rachel hopes to find the family a bigger place.

[00:37:15]>> She's bidding for a council house, but has been on the waiting list for 8 years. before that.

[00:37:20]>> No.

[00:37:21]>> So, this is where mommy goes to look at all the council houses and see if there is a house available.

[00:37:29]So, there's one 2 three. So, then we can go and look at this one. It's three bedrooms.

[00:37:36]So, here it says 274 and there are 489 bids on this property for one house.

[00:37:45]>> Just for one house.

[00:37:46]>> Wa. So 273 people would have to say no, I don't want the property before I can even get to view the house.

[00:37:58]>> I feel really sad cuz I don't like waiting longer.

[00:38:06]>> Um they there's not a lot of houses for for them for a lot of people.

[00:38:18]One and a half million people now live in overcrowded homes, up almost 50% in the last 5 years.

[00:38:34]>> Cassim is being assessed by special educational needs coordinator Kimberly.

[00:38:41]>> Oh, so noisy. I was looking at your fantastic handwriting. your amazing work and then I would like to see how big and strong you are and all the things you can do in your PE. Is that okay?

[00:38:53]>> Yes.

[00:38:54]>> Yeah. I think lockdown's had a massive effect in the fact that obviously these children who are living in temporary accommodation, accommodation that doesn't have a garden and outdoor space.

[00:39:05]Getting outside and playing it just wasn't the priority for the lockdown.

[00:39:12]Health and fitness have a direct impact on learning and upper body strength is important to develop handwriting skills.

[00:39:20]>> Go swing and can you grab the next one?

[00:39:24]A nearly. Obviously the equipment that we provide for the children even in a junior school helps them to take part in activities to try and build that strength but sometimes we have children who require some additional support.

[00:39:40]Oh dear. When you think about children in different areas who go to lots of like swimming clubs after school, they take part in lots of different sports, playing musical instruments. A lot of our children don't get those opportunities.

[00:40:02]While the end of the school year is welcomed by the kids, for their parents, it means six weeks of no free school meals.

[00:40:10]Nicola is out delivering food parcels to help families who are struggling.

[00:40:15]>> We referred some of our families to food bank and we asked them to deliver the food to the school and then we did it to the families cuz sometimes there's a stigma attached to a food bank van pulling up outside your house.

[00:40:31]I'm just going to Cassim's house now to deliver um what they've supplied for the family and to help help them out during the the holidays. Oh my word, they've got so big.

[00:40:45]>> Hello. Oh, you look like Cassie.

[00:40:47]>> It's this big family. He's on his own with the children. I know he's struggling.

[00:40:51]>> Nice to see you, boys. See you later.

[00:40:54]>> Come on. If we can relieve one pressure from him or or help out a tiny weeny bit, it you know it could make a big impact on how he is at home, you know, or how the family run. Money worries are huge and have such an impact on everyday life. And okay, it doesn't solve the problem, but it certainly will hopefully take the edge off it even if it's for a couple of weeks.

[00:41:19]I am worried with the holidays coming up, we are looking at different things to put in place so the children are seen. Um, so we're going to invite them for the summer holiday two weeks into school where we're going to be running summer camps. So at least we see them, they're taking part in some sort of activities and sitting at home. Um, and this one here is a 30 um food voucher for Aldi. So it's only for food. Okay.

[00:41:47]See you later, boys. All right. Bye.

[00:41:50]>> It is sad seeing them going through certain certain things that you think, no, because I've got children and I would wouldn't imagine them going through that.

[00:41:59]>> One, two, three. Yeah.

[00:42:11]Today is the last ukulele class of term.

[00:42:14]One of the children will be awarded a brand new instrument to take home.

[00:42:18]>> So, what I looked at was who helped the most and who improved the most. And guess who thinks it's theirs? Put your hand up if you think it might be yours.

[00:42:30]>> I was expecting like her favorite student like Tyrell, uh, Levi, Logan, and Andrew. But eventually said, "So it's it's a boy."

[00:42:45]And I'm like, "Okay, it's not me. It's not me. It's not me.

[00:42:48]>> It's Kai."

[00:42:54]>> Well done.

[00:42:54]>> And she said, "But you were the most helpful out of everyone." And I'm like, "Thank you.

[00:43:04]>> Can I have this one?"

[00:43:05]>> You can.

[00:43:07]Well done, young man.

[00:43:09]Things are also looking up for Cassim.

[00:43:12]His dad has rearranged the children's rooms so everyone can get a bit more sleep.

[00:43:17]>> This is my new room. I have a toy corner. Um Mari sleeps there and I sleep there cuz also Tommy fell asleep on it.

[00:43:27]He fell down. It's made the room be a lot cleaner than it used to and it's made it a lot easier for me to sleep. I'm able to wake up on time for school.

[00:43:43]But for Nyla, there are other worries.

[00:43:45]>> If the bill prices go up, my dad's going to have a harder time. Sometimes there are months where we barely have enough money to make it through the month. It's already difficult and this is just going to make it harder on him.

[00:43:58]I can see a bunch of sticks and twigs on some on someone's shed.

[00:44:02]>> I see clouds.

[00:44:03]>> Yeah, clouds are moving.

[00:44:06]>> Come on, tell me which way the clouds are moving. They're going that way, are they?

[00:44:10]>> And that way.

[00:44:11]>> When it comes to this winter, I know I'm not going to be the only one suffering.

[00:44:16]I've got quite a few friends who also are on like low income. So, there are going to be families out there during this winter who don't have enough money to pay their bills.

[00:44:27]Over 4 million children are growing up in poverty and 3/4 of a million are homeless or overcrowded.

[00:44:34]Child Poverty Action Group predicts that ending the temporary universal credit uplift could push 300,000 more children into poverty. And 100,000 more households will be at risk of eviction.

[00:44:46]With fuel prices at an all-time high, children's charities warn a perfect storm is coming.

[00:44:52]>> For the last time, Harry, please. Good afternoon.

[00:44:56]I don't care if I'm rich or poor. I think I'll be poor, but I don't mind.

[00:45:01]>> Well done, Kai. Well done.

[00:45:04]>> Well done, lovely. Well done to Cassim.

[00:45:09]>> If I don't learn, I might not be able to get a good job and I might end up poor.

[00:45:17]>> Jacob.

[00:45:18]>> Yay.

[00:45:21]You need money because you can have a house and can have anything you want.

[00:45:30]>> And when I get older, I want to be an engineer.

[00:45:34]My future would be better if I get a house because I want to live far away from here and I want to have a better life.

[00:45:45]>> Have a good summer. And you don't cry.

[00:45:47]You >> look after her. Okay, Kai. No, >> being rich is not good because you're buying things here, but it never makes you happy, >> is it?

[00:46:02]>> Hi, Cassie. Have a good summer.