A campaigner and charity worker who turned his life around from one of crime has called for child poverty to be a priority for the next government. Pastor Mick Fleming was a dangerous drug dealer and criminal before he saw the light, came to God and started a charity which helps the UK's most vulnerable during the cost of living crisis.
Born in Burnley, Mick spent the first 40 or so years of his life taking advantage of the growing levels of deprivation. He sold drugs and acted as a fixer for other dealers who needed debts clearing by any means necessary.
But around 13 years ago Mick experienced something of an epiphany. Sitting in his car, moments after suddenly finding himself unable to shoot a fellow drug dealer, Mick's trajectory in life did a 180 as he pleaded with God to save him.
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The gun he had taken with him for the hit, which was wrapped in a carrier bag to prevent detection of his fingerprints, remained on the passenger seat. And Mick picked it up, placed it against his throat, and pulled the trigger.
The gun failed to fire. And that has become a moment which not only saved Mick's life but those of many people in Burnley thanks to his Church on the Street but he continues to see devastating levels of poverty in his hometown.
Pastor Mick said: "I was chatting with a little girl about what she had been doing and what she had for tea last night. She laughed and said, 'Don’t be silly Pastor Mick, we don’t eat at home!' My heart sank: she only eats at school."
"The word ‘destitute’, which means to lack even the most basic resources to keep yourself and your family clothed, fed and clean, has become a natural part of our vocabulary in 2024 post pandemic Britain. But this isn’t even a word that should exist in a 21st Century, developed economy. In the Victorian times, if you were destitute, you were sent to the workhouse and essentially punished for your poverty.
"Today, the punitively low levels of Universal Credit, combined with benefit sanctions and the cost of living crisis, means that the poor are still being emotionally and physically punished for struggling against conditions that seem designed to keep them in deprivation. Pastor Mick, as he is fondly known among his parishioners in Bethesda Street, strongly believes that solving Britain’s cost of living crisis, in which four million children live in poverty, must be first on the agenda for whoever wins next month's General Election.
