The Hear My Story Project is intended to breathe new life into building resilient, trust-based relations between civic leaders / decision-makers, and local people directly experiencing poverty (financially and socially excluded and/or at risk), to work together in a fully participatory environment. This project by Adur & Worthing Poverty Truth Commission is: ● To provide a progressive space for leaders / decision-makers AND people living in poverty / experiencing social exclusion, to engage in meaningful dialogue through shared experiences and to identify joint solutions to reduce exclusion and poverty. ● To act as a platform toward better communication and understanding of the work of the local authority and other civic / local decision-makers, breaking down local barriers and complementing existing sector specific initiatives. ● To bring together two distinct groups of people: civic and business leaders AND an equal number of people who are in poverty.

What we'll deliver:

• Hear My Story two-year project to improve the wellbeing of the community
• To create better decision making for education and training needs
• To build a stronger economic and social infrastructure at the local level
• Hear My Story initial roundtable commission meeting
• Hear My Story will run a series of roundtable commission meeting leading to a public event

Why it's a great idea:

Hear My Story arose out of the only poverty hearing in the UK in June 2016 where young people spoke about their experiences of living on the streets with others in other forms of poverty and social exclusion. The Shoreham Poverty Hearing (report available on request). Our local report has been read by the UN Special Rapporteur, and had an affect for him to reply to us and influence his report on the UK as noted on BBC news and Question Time. Last year 9 PTCs across the UK. Today their are 19. We have Cllrs across the political divide with business ready to join commissioners with those local people on poverty as community commissioners. The aim is to learn from the experience and wisdom of the stories told by those in poverty and visa versa, leading to work on improvements for the local area within the economic social areas thus changing perceptions towards stronger infrastructure development at all levels and decision-making .

Steps to get it done:

• Meeting with the Lord lieutenant West Sussex progressive meeting
• cross party of cllrs up to ten to sit on commission
• meeting with the leader of WSCC who offers support
• Website developed with a face book page
• have support from the local community

Hear My Story AWPTC has a small planning group and have been carefully engaged in creating this project. We have met our Lord Lieutenant of West Sussex and met with the leader of West Sussex Council, both see value in this project in building a stronger community. We have a website and a Facebook page. We have run a community local survey that supports this new project. We work with local community groups and local NGOs. We are at the stage of recruiting community commissioners see value in new social economic enterprises, the environment and wellbeing .The commission is owned by the commissioners via the community and runs for two years and if required can run for another two years. We have a national network to plug into and have seen the successes in others areas and the positive impacts at the individual level to community level towards a more human-centered process towards a stronger sense of community for all. We have a full terms of reference.