An Open Letter to Andy Burnham: Why wouldn't you visit Haverhill?

Dear Andy,

We’ve been following your plans to travel around the UK, listen to communities directly, and focus on the cost-of-living crisis and the future of our high streets. That approach resonates strongly with us at Reach Community Projects in Haverhill, so we’d like to offer a genuine invitation: come and visit Haverhill.

Haverhill is not usually the first town people think of when discussing Britain’s challenges, but in many ways it is a microcosm of the country itself.

Here we see the same pressures that are affecting communities across the UK: rising costs, insecure housing, hidden homelessness, financial stress, mental health struggles, loneliness, and high street businesses fighting to stay alive. Many local people feel that towns like ours (especially those nestled on the borders of large counties, as we are) have been overlooked by the Westminster establishment for far too long, and that their voices are rarely heard by those making decisions about their future.

At REACH we are responding to the cost-of-living crisis every day. We help people with emergency food parcels, housing support, applications for social security payments, form filling and other practical guidance, but our work is about much more than crisis relief. We also believe wholeheartedly in preventative measures, and work to teach financial literacy in schools, teach financial skills to prisoners, and vulnerable adults. We believe that relationships and circles of support are what enable people not just to survive, but to thrive in our community.

One recent case captures that reality. A local man had finally secured a job and was trying to get through his probationary period despite sofa surfing. On nights when he had nowhere to stay, he spent his time walking the streets because he was too frightened to sleep rough. The exhaustion became so severe that his new job was at risk. Through REACH, we were able to secure charitable funding for accommodation, giving him the stability he needed to keep working and move forward. It was a reminder that sometimes a small intervention at the right moment can change the direction of someone’s life.
If you were able to visit, we could not only explain what local people are facing; we could also introduce you to some of the people behind those stories and to the REACH team and volunteers who are working alongside them every day. We’d value the chance to talk honestly about what is happening in towns like Haverhill and what needs to change if communities are truly going to flourish.

More than anything, we believe Britain needs HOPE. People need to know they have not been forgotten, that their town matters, their experience matters and that a better future is still possible. Your emphasis on listening gives us an opportunity to have that conversation.

So we’ll ask again, genuinely: why wouldn’t you visit Haverhill?!

We’d be delighted to welcome you.

Yours sincerely,

Henry Wilson (CEO), and the entire REACH Team