Southwark’s young people

Southwark has many world-class assets: the Globe Theatre, Tate Modern, the Shard. With regeneration changing the face of the borough, from Elephant and Castle to Peckham, many new residents would be shocked to learn that 4 in 10 Southwark children live in poverty.

These high rates of child poverty are a time bomb for our borough. Children growing up in poverty often suffer from ill health throughout their lives. The average man living in Camberwell dies aged 74 years, 10 years earlier than a man living in Dulwich (and 6 years earlier than the national average). Even more worryingly, ‘healthy life expectancy’ is just 57 years for ‘Camberwell man’, meaning that he lives the last 17 years of his life in poor health, affecting his happiness and his ability to work.1

Why does poverty lead to ill health? Part of the answer lies in ‘adverse childhood experiences’, a term used by scientists that includes what are everyday situations for many Southwark children: poverty, racism and discrimination, violence in the community, or living with family members with mental health issues or substance abuse problems. Southwark children have one of the highest rates of adverse childhood experiences in the country.2

These adverse experiences in childhood have profound psychological and biological consequences - including on the developing brain. Children living in poverty become primed for a ‘fight or flight’ response when dealing with low-level stressful situations later in life, which can lead to a lack of confidence and a sense of not belonging.

But none of this is inevitable. Children who grow up in poverty can become successful, earn good money, and live long, happy and healthy lives. This is where Southwark businesses can step in, to offer their support, mentorship, and training.

An exciting initiative called ‘One Southwark’ was launched in March 2022 by United St Saviour’s Charity (where I am Deputy Chair of Trustees), together with local businesses and funders (including Norton Rose Fulbright, Merchant Taylors Foundation, Womble Bond Dickinson, Team London Bridge, Southwark Council, GoodPeople, The Sainsbury Family Charitable Trusts and Peabody Housing

Association). One Southwark is ‘levelling the playing field’ for young people from underrepresented backgrounds, connecting them with the type of support, mentoring, and networking opportunities that wealthy families take for granted.

One such person is Solomon. He moved to the UK from Sierra Leone in 2010, didn’t have much money, and struggled at Sixth Form. Through a chance meeting at Cambridge House, he applied for One Southwark, who arranged a work placement at the Old Vic theatre, whilst a £3000 grant paid for an animation course and softwareSolomon’s passion. Solomon also interned at Brightsmiths, a recruitment firm based in Borough, and says he “has continued to build my self-belief and confidence to pursue the things I want to”.

We are now recruiting for our second cohort of young people at One Southwark and would welcome partnerships with more businesses across the borough. You have the knowledge, skills, and experience to make a life-long difference to young people in Southwark. Together we can break the cycle of ill health and poverty that has plagued our borough for too long.

Dr Ben Johnson is Senior Editor at Nature Medicine, a monthly peer-reviewed medical journal, is Deputy Chair of Trustees at United St Saviour’s Charity and was a Southwark Councillor from 2014-18.

1. Life expectancy data comparing Camberwell Green ward with Village Ward. Source: Office for National Statistics https://www.ons.gov.uk/visualisations/dvc479/map/index.html

2. Source: GLA. https://www.london.gov.uk/sites/default/files/adverse_childhood_experiences_in_london._final_ report_october_2019_with_author._mb.pdf

“Why does poverty lead to ill health? Part of the answer lies in ‘adverse childhood experiences’, a term used by scientists that includes what are everyday situations for many Southwark children: poverty, racism and discrimination, violence in the community, or living with family members with mental health issues or substance abuse problems. Southwark children have one of the highest rates of adverse childhood experiences in the country."