‘Council should fund Hawkspring’

Each day, since the Tories got back into Downing Street in May 2010, we hear talk of so many tens of millions of pounds in cuts. But what is the human cost of these cuts? Local services that keep society afloat are being eroded, daily. This week, cuts to the charity sector hit home in Bristol when two people died in Hartcliffe, both trying to get clean – clients of Hawkspring, the drug and alcohol support community (formerly HAWKS and KWADS).

Bristol City Council led by George Ferguson is cutting vital public services like Hawkspring, threatening those at the hard edge of the coal face the most, especially those in care, the elderly, vulnerable adults, babies and children alike.

Hawkspring told me: “We have had great heartache in our office this week, with the devastating news of two deaths of not ‘clients’ but PEOPLE! People whose lives we could not save, but through this, we have the joy of knowing in the last 18 months we have saved lives.”

As a former chair at this charity and the merger board, staff and trustees worked tirelessly. Often Lorraine Bush, Hawkspring’s manager, worked in her own personal free time as did us the trustees, to keep vital services going, in the face of losing core funding from Bristol City Council. All George Ferguson did was bring a film crew down to a meeting, nothing else. In fact he seems to show indifference to a closure, in press comments he has made this week.

I shudder to witness what the government’s eye-wateringly extreme cuts mean on the ground for my local community and neighbours. Which means the likes of Hawkspring, a small charity delivering outreach services based in the heart of the community it serves, now has to devote a huge amount of staff time and energy to fundraising just to keep the lights on.

Based near Morrisons in south Bristol, Hawkspring offers a holistic approach to recovery for all members of the family, adults and children alike. It is important to note Hartcliffe is one of the most socially deprived areas in England. It ranks amongst the poorest 5 per cent on the UK index of multiple deprivation. It is also cut off from city centre services, as the public transport system is so sketchy and so expensive to travel by bus.

It is vital assessable support services for the whole family remains there, to help the alcohol or substance user, their carers and loved ones, especially the children, living with the often dramatic and frightening effects of substance misuse.

Fundraising has brought in £801 this week through a new appeal, but Hawkspring should not have to go begging, they should be funded by the council as they were until very recently when small charities became excluded from the new commissioning process. So much for community services and talk of the Big Society Mr Cameron!

Hawkspring should be funded by Bristol City Council so they can get on with what they do best: protecting children and adults affected by addiction issues, as a well trusted local service, for those people brave enough to put up their hands and ask for help (a huge step for any addict), to deal with alcoholism, drug and substance abuse, even gambling addiction issues.

The people Hawkspring help are often really at the brink, not only dealing with their addiction issues, but also in having to navigate an ever-changing welfare system, with complex forms – sometimes hard to understand. This is particularly of concern as there is known to be higher than average rates of poor reading and literacy issues in some parts of the area, especially Knowle West and Hartcliffe.

The changes from central government have been relentless. Community based services like Hawkspring are fast becoming welfare advice units, by default. With cuts to funding of Citizens Advice Bureaux and welfare advice centres across the city of Bristol and the UK as a whole. Meanwhile, Iain Duncan Smith, the welfare secretary, wants everyone from pensioners to cancer patients and people claiming sickness and job seekers’ benefit to be forced to make all claims online. This is clearly going to dramatically affect claimants with reading, writing or digital literacy or access issues.

This utterly disgusts me. It seems like the Tory government is deliberately setting out to make life as hard as possible for those who are struggling the most, whether they are trying to turn their lives around, like Hawkspring clients, or not.

Mayoral candidate Labour’s Marvin Rees, who campaigned hard in Hartcliffe during the mayoral elections of 2012, is deeply concerned too: “Hawkspring is on Bristol’s front line, working with some of the most vulnerable people in our city. Allowing them to go to the wall is not in line with the Mayor’s declared city priority of reducing health inequalities. I am concerned the city doesn’t quite appreciate the full role that our community organisations play, nor the damage done when they are forced to close.”

Has the public become compassion-weary? Or even switched off, do you think? Through my campaigning work, I hear many say in resignation that they can’t change what government does to us, so why vote even? My response is taken from the dance scene in England: make some noise!

As George Orwell once wrote: “If you’re not pissed off, you’re not paying enough attention.”

Please help this vital community charity. There were two deaths of clients this week. This kind of outreach work really is a matter of life and death. I have just pledged to help keep Hawkspring alive – the money will not leave your credit or bank account until Friday August 28. You can donate as little as £1. Just think if everyone reading this did just that, we’d raise loads!

STOP PRESS: The good news just in is that Hawkspring’s media campaign this week has linked them up to a possible lifeline; someone has come forward to offer the charity a possible merger. However, they now need to raise enough money to bridge the gap and keep in business for a few more months, whilst the merger process takes place. So, please share the Hawkspring crowd funding appeal with all your friends, colleagues and family to help this wonderful service reach their target: www.fundsurfer.com/project/save-hawkspring.

Amanda Ramsay is a researcher at the University of Bristol, novelist and Labour campaigner. She is on Twitter @AmandaRamsay.