Bernard Hare

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Bernard Hare reflects on his life growing up poor and witnessing poverty in Britain since the fifties. Born in Leeds, the son of a miner, he recalls the hardship suffered during the strikes of the 70s and 80s and charts his own chequered path from grammar school boy to social worker, to drop-out, to writer and mentor to a group of once delinquent children portrayed in his book, "Urban Grimshaw and the Shed Crew". He says: "Poverty isn't only about a lack of resources. The worst poverty is found when there is a lack of education, understanding, hope ... Ultimately, it seems to me, "poverty" is a state of mind. If you think you're poor, you're poor. If you think you're rich, you're rich." "Why Poverty?" features five speakers on different aspects of the subject of poverty and is part of a pan-BBC season of programmes on the topic. Producer: Sheila Cook.