Student art project highlights child poverty and calls for change

Final year students on the communication arts degree at De Montfort University released a manifesto for change at their expo event on Wednesday (8 May).

The event featured a number of works, including a documentary, two immersive installations, including the bedroom of a child living in poverty, and a series of observational photo essays.

The event, titled ‘It Takes A City To Raise A Child’, urged local communities to help improve the life chances of children.

More than 34,000 children in Leicester are living below the poverty line, according to organisers, equal to one in four.

Another installation highlights how a poor diet can affect the lives of children

Spokesperson Rebecca Hardy said, ‘We have worked hard as a group to come up with creative ways that we can draw attention and awareness to a topic that we are so passionate about.

‘The life chances of children in Leicester are important to us and we are enthusiastic to use our skills to help start change for these children.

‘I myself am from Leicestershire, as are several of my course mates, so this topic is something close to our hearts and I think most people have some experience with this, whether it’s themselves or people that they know.’