Bradford social worker sheds light on city poverty

A retiring social worker said that during her job she had worked with children who were forced to steal essential items such as shampoo.

Carys Bose, 61, joined the council-run Bradford Youth Service in 1998 after being questioned during an interview by some of the young people she was supposed to be helping.

She said the service had helped improve community relations over 25 years, but that due to “external factors” many children had been “lost”.

Ms Bose, who has resigned but will take up a new role within the Bradford City of Culture 2025 team, spoke to the BBC about her commitment to preventing sexual exploitation and her lobbying for more funding.

Of the hiring process when she was a young performing arts graduate in 1998, she said, “It was scary. I honestly didn’t know what I was doing, but I built relationships with those young people.”

She believed that antisocial behaviour had decreased when the youth service did its work.

Much of her recent client base has focused on improving the mental health of her clients, who she said were exacerbated by poverty.

“I recently had a young person steal a bottle of shampoo,” she said.

“When we asked her why she did that, she said, ‘Because my mom can’t afford to buy them for me and I have to wash my hair.’”

Ms Bose added: “There has always been poverty in certain sectors, but I think it is a bit more prevalent now.”

She described the shocking conditions she encountered when she visited the families’ homes.

Mrs Bose said: “We come into houses where there is no furniture, there is no food in the cupboard and you just think this is no way to live, and it is just annoying.

“And so we support the young person in that family to show him or her that the world outside is also different.”

A few years ago, the service worked with West Yorkshire Police to tackle ‘grooming parties’, which were held in community centres in Bradford and targeted vulnerable teenagers.

“I worked very, very closely with a local sergeant because more and more of these parties were popping up that looked quite questionable,” she said.

“I got information about where they would be and the police went in and took them out.

“And that was fantastic, because we protected a lot of young people.”

The rise of social media in the second half of her career brought new challenges.

“We do a lot of work in cybersecurity so that young people can be safe online from criminals,” said Ms Bose.

But she said funding for youth work had been “continuously cut for 25 years” and more investment was needed.

“In the 2000s we had a period where we were quite wealthy and could offer a lot of opportunities, but since about 2010 we have had one cutback after another,” she said.

“We had to find creative ways to do things and make the most of every penny we had.”

Bradford City Council and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government were approached about the funding levels, but neither were willing to comment.

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