BBC puts human face to poverty

One of the spin-offs was discussions about poverty on other BBC programmes, including Nolan and Talkback.

Theresa Agnew, a community activist and single mother from Armagh, struggling to get out of the poverty trap, swapped lives with successful Belfast businesswoman Brenda Shankey.

The programme Life Swap: Diamonds and Dole was prompted by the recent Stormont report that admitted that 10% of children in Northern Ireland are living in severe poverty.

It also comes at a time when the voluntary and community sector, anxious that the NI Executive has not yet agreed an anti-poverty strategy, is launching a new campaign for urgent action to tackle the problem.

Before trading places, Brenda said:

She added that her perception was that people did not have to live in poverty.

Brenda and her two young children went to live in Theresa’s council home on an estate in Armagh, exchanging all the trappings of a comfortable life for the reality of surviving on the breadline.

The prospect of no money, lack of transport and limited access to shopping reduced Brenda to tears – not to talk of the immediate problem of moving into a house that was damp and cold and had an empty gas tank for the cooker.

Brenda admitted.

Theresa and her teenage daughter, Edana, moved into Brenda's large family home in Belfast. Before arriving she said:

Theresa was overcome with the amount of money she suddenly has available to spend on luxury items, expressing guilt at having beauty treatments, a new wardrobe and expensive hair styling.

While adapting to her comfortable new life, Theresa said:

Both women were struck by the stark contrast of their lives and, during the swap, they learnt important lessons about the reality of life in poverty.

The programme included a short meeting with Danny Kennedy MLA who chairs the First and Deputy First Ministers’ Committee on Poverty. He believes the target of eradicating poverty by 2020 will be too difficult to meet.

Spotlight reporter Brian Hollywood commented: