What we hope to change in Sheffield

The Sheffield Poverty Truth Commission began with a shared belief: poverty is not inevitable, and change is possible when people work together.

Around one in four people in Sheffield is affected by poverty. Behind that figure are individuals, families and communities facing systems that can feel fragmented, confusing and difficult to navigate. Our Commission brought people with lived experience together with leaders and decision-makers to understand these challenges and develop practical responses.

The work identified three priority areas: early years, children and young people; barriers within systems and organisations; and mental health. Across them all, five ambitions emerged for Sheffield.

We want lived experience embedded in decision-making, with people affected by poverty involved from the beginning in designing and evaluating services.

We want services to be more joined-up and relational, so people are treated as individuals rather than passed between organisations or repeatedly asked to tell painful stories.

We want long-term investment in trusted, community-based approaches. Short projects and temporary pilots can disappear just as relationships begin to grow.

We want communication to be clearer and more compassionate. Official letters, frontline services and workplace practices should reduce fear and stigma—not add to them.

And we want carers and young carers to be recognised, heard and properly supported.

These ambitions lead to practical ideas, including poverty-proofing education, helping young people avoid homelessness, co-created trauma-informed training, more compassionate official correspondence and better neighbourhood-based mental health support.

Some changes can begin quickly. Others will require sustained commitment. What matters now is that the Commission’s recommendations do not remain words in a report.

The next phase is about embedding them across Sheffield, sharing progress openly and holding ourselves—and the city—to account. Community Commissioners will continue to be part of that work.

Our hope is for a Sheffield where services are co-created, joined-up, person-centred and compassionate; where people experiencing poverty are heard and respected; and where their knowledge helps shape a fairer future for everyone.