We've been aware that a lot of people who read our blog aren't in the UK and even if you do live over here, we know that you may not be local to Stockton-on-Tees where we work. I find it's really helpful to be able to imagine where people live and work if I can picture them geographically on a map. So this is where we are!
In some ways the North East is a really vibrant, exciting place to be. But in other ways, this is a really hard place to live and work. The North East has one of the highest rates in the country for depression, and Stockton has some of the worst rates in the region. Stockton-on-Tees is 33% higher than the national average for people with depression (www.nepho.org.uk).
The North east also has one of the highest levels of deprivation in the country. Middlesbrough is ranked as one of the most deprived wards in the UK (according to the Indices of Deprivation 2010) and one third of children live in poverty (www.endchildpoverty.org.uk). In Stockton, nearly a quarter of children live in poverty (End Child Poverty).
It sounds pretty grim but things are changing. We've seen extraordinary turnarounds in the lives of women and young people. This map shows just a few things we get up to to fight poverty and depression in our area:
(Click on the map to see a bigger version of this image.)
This is only a glimpse of the wide array of work that we do in and around Stockton. Some things we can't shout about online because we need to be sensitive and protect the vulnerable individuals we work with. For more in-depth information, our website is the best place to find out more.
Love from A Way Out x
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