The Accessing Services sub-group within the Hartlepool Poverty Truth Commission is dedicated to addressing the barriers people face when trying to access essential services and leisure activities.
In our initial meetings, we’ve focused on mapping out the current landscape, identifying gaps, and understanding the financial and logistical challenges impacting access—from healthcare and mental health support to affordable leisure activities.
We’re working collaboratively to find solutions that make services more inclusive and accessible across Hartlepool. Here, you’ll find updates on our progress, initiatives, and the steps we’re taking to improve access for all residents.
Our first Sub-group meeting
In our first meeting, we discussed what we already know about problems with accessing services, existing solutions and help already out there, available opportunities and our next actions.
Going forward, we decided to focus on making an existing leisure activity in the town accessible to everyone, particularly those who currently find it out of reach due to financial constraints or competing priorities. Our aim is to remove barriers so that everyone, regardless of their circumstances, can participate.
In our next meeting, we will set up three working groups to each think about: (1) mapping out free events, improving communication, and creating collaboration between services; (2) partnering with a leisure service to explore ways to ‘cut costs’ and address the financial barriers to leisure activities that we have already identified.