Beth Abbit

The structure of news features allow journalists to look in depth at a particular issue and discuss those that sometimes get lost in the news cycle. This is what Beth has done with the three features included here. When it was revealed by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation that Manchester has the second highest rate of destitution in the country, Beth was keen to understand what that actually meant for the families and individuals living such a stark existence in 2023. Far from relating only to those who rely on food banks, she discovered that hygiene and heat poverty are all part and parcel of a much wider problem. Beth spoke to local charity workers, volunteers and the headteacher of a school where children queue for leftovers and skip out of class early to take showers in order to gain a better understanding of the problem. They told her how they are increasingly stepping in to fill a gap left by the state. It struck Beth that the word destitution felt Dickensian and, though she has covered poverty in depth over the years, she admits to being shocked when she heard some of the circumstances described by her interviewees. The notion that families live by candlelight, too afraid to turn on the lights, and that a child could take a toothbrush to bed like a teddy as it’s so precious, Beth found heartbreaking to report. Beth's second submission is an interview with Anne Super, a Jewish woman who survived WW2 only thanks to the help of a somewhat begrudging Polish family. Beth met Anne at her home in south Manchester and she described, with great clarity and dignity, her formative years as a hidden child. Beth was struck by Anne's abstract memories of the moment she was first separated from her mother and father and the ‘flash of green’ - which was undoubtedly a Nazi soldier's uniform - from behind the bars of her cot. Beth felt it was a privilege to interview Anne and work with her to bring experiences of the Holocaust to a wider audience and further Holocaust education. Beth's final submission is a wide-ranging interview with a long-term police contact about his career as a modern slavery expert. DC Colin Ward works in Greater Manchester Police’s modern slavery unit and offers his expertise to other forces in a bid to share his understanding. He works with exploited children, domestic slaves and sex workers - victims of modern slavery and trafficking who live mostly hidden lives but are among the most vulnerable in our society. He told Beth how the tentacles of modern slavery reach far and wide, how the landscape is changing at pace and cited some of the most shocking cases he has dealt with. With this piece Beth aimed to shine a light on the realities of these often hidden problems and what is being done to tackle them.