Update on TUC Austerity Uncovered bus

The TUC’s Austerity Uncovered two-week bus tour will be in the East Midlands next week, visiting Ilkeston and Nottingham on Monday 24 June, before moving on to Northampton and Corby on Tuesday 25 June.

The special liveried white and red double-decker Austerity Uncovered bus is visiting communities to find out about the impact that government economic policies are having upon ordinary people and their families.

People will be invited to talk about their personal experiences of austerity for inclusion in a documentary film the TUC has commissioned about the tour.

They will also be asked if they’d like to send messages to the government about how the combination of cuts to local services, job losses, social security changes and falling real wages is affecting them, as well as their families and friends.

The bus will visit the food bank at Arena Church in Ilkeston (DE7 8DU) between 9.30am and 10.15am on Monday morning, where volunteers and recipients of the food will be interviewed.

The bus will then move on to Cotmanhay Sure Start centre (DE7 8RU) between 10.30am and 11.15am, where a group of local parents will discuss the impact of the cuts on young families. Following this, the bus will park in the centre of Ilkeston and the Austerity Uncovered bus crew will host a second focus group at U Choose smoothie bar with local businesses and traders.

On Monday afternoon at 12.45pm the Robin Hood Statue on Castle Road in Nottingham (NG1 6EL) will be the location for a group of volunteers who will demonstrate workers’ demands for a fair wage over the last century by dressing in costumes from 1913, 1963 and today and holding placards for the relevant pay demands of the day.

The bus will then move on to St Anns Advice Centre (NG3 4EZ) at 1.30pm to visit one of the city’s food banks and discuss the impact of austerity in the local community.

Also at the St Anns Advice Centre the bus will be joined by members of the area’s voluntary sector organisations and charities who will be talking about the effects of austerity on their organisation’s ability to support people in need.

On Tuesday the bus will park up in Abingdon Street in Northampton town centre (NN1 2AP) between 10am and 2pm, where the Austerity Uncovered bus crew will meet to talk to local passers by.

Finally the bus will move on the Corby Cube (NN17 1QG) between 3pm and 5.30pm, where local residents – including the local anti-bedroom tax campaigners – will discuss the impact of austerity in their local area.

For further information visit http://austerityuncovered.org or follow the bus on Twitter at @austeritybus.