Cost of living crisis in Horsham 'affecting people from all walks of life'

That’s the finding of a ‘hidden poverty’ survey carried out by the charity Horsham Matters which runs the Horsham District Foodbank.

A spokesperson said: “The results show that many residents do not know how to access support, feel isolated and are worried about their housing situation.”

The survey showed that residents of all ages and geographic locations expressed feeling isolated; older people felt they did not have anyone to rely on in a crisis and they did not know how or where to access advice; a third of those responding had mental health concerns.

Sixty five per cent cited health and disability as a reason for being unemployed and, for those in work, just over half said they did not have any training opportunies offered by their employer and stated there was no career progression available.

Residents also showed an increasing level of anxiety relating to housing security.

Horsham Matters says it now hopes to work together with other organisations to address some of the issues residents are facing.

Spokesperson Amalia Lovett said: “We are grateful to everyone that filled out the survey and those that spoke openly to us about their situation. We continue to see first-hand that residents are struggling due to the cost-of-living crisis, and we don’t want this to be the new normal.

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"We hope that we can work with others to improve the circumstances of residents, including access to services, isolation, training and career

progression and housing security.”