Damning BBC article about Blackpool

ParkerAteMyKebab

ParkerAteMyKebab

Well-known member
'Trying to stay alive in a town od despair'

Blackpool is a town plagued by too many preventable fatalities linked to alcohol, drug abuse and suicide - collectively described by the bleakly poetic phrase "deaths of despair" by health researchers.

www.bbc.co.uk

Trying to stay alive in a town of despair

How a team of former addicts are trying to stop others from becoming "deaths of despair" in Blackpool.
www.bbc.co.uk
 
Most seaside resorts are in a similar position but on a smaller scale. At least these issues are not being ignored now as they have been in the past. There are good reasons to pump money into the town, which appears to be happening. In my opinion, Blackpool is addressing its problems and is on the up, despite the media trying to convince people otherwise.
 
Yep I thought there'd been a few too many positive articles recently, only fair that some of the well known problems are re publicised again. 🙄
 
Unfortunately Blackpool attracts more people likely to be in the drink/drugs abuse category. This makes the statistics look terrible, yes it is a problem but I’d expect if we removed those who had adopted our town rather than those actually born here we wouldn’t keep getting more & more of these damming reports.
 
Whether this is snobbery or not, I will do everything in my power to keep my kids away from Blackpool especially the central run down areas. I know from experience it's game over getting mixed up in society around these parts. I don't even blame the druggies, etc who live there - if you don't get a bit of luck in life, what hope is there.
 
I will not tolerate this pulling Blackpool to pieces. Look, I could take anyone to shitty areas of Blackpool that the BBC has never heard of. So what? Every town has them and yes, we have a large population of people in poor health. So do lots of places. It's called 14 years of Tory neglect. We need a national Government that wants to narrow the gap between rich and poor; a Government that can raise its eyes above the Home Counties; a country where Rhyll matters as much as Kingston-upon-Thames. This shit boils my blood!
 
1966_and_all_that said:
I will not tolerate this pulling Blackpool to pieces. Look, I could take anyone to shitty areas of Blackpool that the BBC has never heard of. So what? Every town has them and yes, we have a large population of people in poor health. So do lots of places. It's called 14 years of Tory neglect. We need a national Government that wants to narrow the gap between rich and poor; a Government that can raise its eyes above the Home Counties; a country where Rhyll matters as much as Kingston-upon-Thames. This shit boils my blood!
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It goes back a lot further than 14 years of Tory neglect.

I attended Knowle High School from 1985-89 and we had appalling education outcomes back then.

The absolutely worst thing that the coalition government did was cancel Sure Start; I know it wasn't perfect and a loads of middle class folk who didn't really need to go benefitted and some staff were a bit patronising; but loads of children who are miles behind by age 5 were helped and had a fighting chance.

It's the first thing a new government should reinstate - albeit with a slightly different approach - but the focus on giving children in the most explosive development phase the best chance would be my number one priority.
 
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Blackpool, like many other seaside towns, has been used as a dumping ground for the socially less well off for decades now, we have reams of cheap accommodation but are given no support to cope. The services these people need have been cut to the bone and as TSSeasider points out early interventions have been scaled back or cancelled altoghether. What a shitshow.
 
bill40 said:
Blackpool, like many other seaside towns, has been used as a dumping ground for the socially less well off for decades now, we have reams of cheap accommodation but are given no support to cope. The services these people need have been cut to the bone and as TSSeasider points out early interventions have been scaled back or cancelled altoghether. What a shitshow.
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Yeah. But the lad in the article is born and bred here.
 
1966_and_all_that said:
I will not tolerate this pulling Blackpool to pieces. Look, I could take anyone to shitty areas of Blackpool that the BBC has never heard of. So what? Every town has them and yes, we have a large population of people in poor health. So do lots of places. It's called 14 years of Tory neglect. We need a national Government that wants to narrow the gap between rich and poor; a Government that can raise its eyes above the Home Counties; a country where Rhyll matters as much as Kingston-upon-Thames. This shit boils my blood!
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Me too, we're just a whipping boy for London media types, look at it this way, they're chinless Southerners so who cares.
 
Ill take the positive from an article like this because there has been publicised investment and improvement but its not enough. If people outside of the area start thinking its job done all the recent progress will quickly be lost.

I keep saying the same thing but there's lots and lots of low standard housing that needs replacing, a lot of it is so bad demolition and replacement by nothing but green fields would be a major step forward.
 
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