Birmingham Poverty Truth Commission
The Birmingham Poverty Truth Commission (BPTC) was established in 2017. Over a period of about six months a group of ‘Community Commissioners’ met to share their stories of living with poverty, building trusting relationships and through facilitated conversations identifying what they would like to see changed.
They were then joined by a group of ‘Civic Commissioners’: faith, civic and business leaders who then built relationships and identified issues for change, including tackling the costs of sending a child to school, mental health and wellbeing, and housing and homelessness. The experience of the Community Commissioners was powerfully brought to life in a showcase event at which the Commissioners used a variety of art forms to tell their stories.
The impact it had on both groups of Commissioners can be seen in this film. The BPTC was subsequently commissioned by the City Council to investigate housing concerns. The experience of building deep relationships within the PTC has informed the way we have developed the Economic Justice Programme and a number of the Community Commissioners are actively involved in various ways in the EJ programme.
