Hundreds more to be helped out of poverty

York Council is considering plans to roll out the project to the Clifton district of the city after it has been trialled in the Kingsway West neighbourhood, which ranks as one of the poorest communities nationally.

While York is often perceived as a middle-class city steeped in history and culture, there are pockets of significant deprivation.

The Kingsway West pilot project was launched in November 2008, and has provided aid such as free school meals and financial advice to more than 800 homes.

The scheme has helped residents claim more than 40,000 in benefits that they were entitled to but were missing out on between February and December 2009.

The council's leader, Coun Andrew Waller, confirmed yesterday that plans are being drawn up to implement the project in the Clifton district of York.

He said: "Your opportunities in York should not be decided by your background, or the neighbourhood in which you were brought up."

The Kingsway West area was chosen to pilot the scheme as it is York's poorest district and falls within the 10 per cent most deprived areas in the country.

The poverty action scheme could be introduced to other parts of York if external funding is secured. Work is already under way to extend the project to the Foxwood and Chapelfields areas of the Westfield ward.

One of the pilot project's key aims has been to bolster job chances for Westfield's community. There are between 4,000 and 5,000 people "under-employed" throughout the city.

Fears have been expressed that a shift from a traditional manufacturing base to a boom in technology and science-based industries is leaving many of York's workers not adequately trained.

An extension of the pilot project will be considered as part of York Council's budget plans for the forthcoming financial year, which go before a full council meeting on February 25.