The economic fault lines that split Yorkshire apart - and how you can help

How to give to the Yorkshire Post's Communities In Need appeal

In the first part of a major inquiry, the Yorkshire Post reveals how alongside the region's bustling urban centres and idyllic rural villages lies a hidden layer of deprivation, locking families into a cycle of want and need which is expected to worsen dramatically over the coming year as Government cuts bite.

Our study has found that 10 of the 100 most deprived neighbourhoods in England can be found in Yorkshire, damaging the life chances of thousands of children born there. Within Leeds alone, the postcode into which a child is born can alter their life expectancy by more than a decade.

Elderly people suffer malnutrition despite living in the hearts of our richest cities. Some can only to afford to heat a single room in their houses during winter and are left reliant upon food parcels for essential supplies and lunch clubs for hot meals. An estimated 40 per cent of Yorkshire's single pensioners are now officially living in fuel poverty, meaning they face a daily struggle simply to find the money to heat their homes.

Out in the region's iconic countryside, in the very heart of rural Yorkshire, latest figures show around a quarter of all children are estimated to be living in poverty, isolated from support networks and essential public services.

"These are stunning figures," said the chairman of Government watchdog the Commission for Rural Communities, Dr Stuart Burgess. "When you drive through these lovely rural villages, the scenario before you seems to be that everyone is really quite wealthy. But it is just not the case."

In cities such as Hull, incomes are now nearly 40 per cent below the national average, leaving many trapped in low-paid jobs and families battling to make ends meet. Without the work of certain charities, local children would arrive hungry at school each morning, their parents unable or unwilling to provide them with a proper breakfast.

The chief executive of East Yorkshire-based support charity Children and Family Action, Gina Rebeiro, said: "It is amazing. There are many families out there whom we help on a weekly basis who are working but are still right on the poverty line or falling below it. Pay here is low and we see people working but not getting the life-stlye benefit."

Local charities today warn athat the situation is poised to become increasingly desperate for Yorkshire's hidden poor over the coming year. Every council has been hit with a devastating funding cuts following last month's Government spending review, and front-line services are certain to suffer, impacting hardest on those who need them most.

The knock-on effect on charities across the region will be dramatic, many losing the key Government and local-authority grants and contracts which they rely upon to stay afloat. Inevitably, gaping holes will be left in the vital support network on which so many people are dependent.

It is against this grim backdrop the Yorkshire Post today launches its Communities in Need appeal, a major fundraising drive in the run-up to Christmas to help transform the lives of those living in deprived communities.

This newspaper is calling on every local business and every Yorkshire Post reader to play their part, all money raised to be targeted at the struggling local communities which need them most.

The appeal sees us join forces with the Yorkshire Community Foundations, a network of local charities which give funding to local projects and small-scale community groups the length and breadth of the region.

Community Foundations spokeswoman Sally-Anne Greenfield said: "Our community groups and charities have already seen their income fall in recent years. Many are extremely concerned about their future. In the end, the people that will suffer most are ordinary men, women and children."

A recent survey of 200 charities in Leeds revealed almost half expect to lose make staff redundant or reduce their hours.