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Recreating Orwell's journey

80 years after George Orwell went on The Road to Wigan Pier, we recreated his journey reporting on how thing have changed. Click on areas on the interactive map to discover the area-by-area picture.

The People

I'm looking for work - I eat at my mum's to save money

Read Keith's story
 

People come here hungry - their children are hungry

Read Pam's story
 

I live on £146 a fortnight - I can't save for retirement

Read Janet's story
 

For two days a month I can't afford to eat

Read Pete's story
 

I'm 19 and living in a tent

Read Ryan's story
 

I'm being pressured to take work - and it terrifies me

Read Ella's story
 

Things are getting worse for us and our patients

Read Claire's story
 

Manchester has changed a great deal in my lifetime but poverty has never left us

Read Malcolm's story
 

I swam from Turkey to Greece to escape Syria then slept on the street in Manchester

Read Mohammed's story
 

We give hot food to up to 140 people a night, but there's more to it than just feeding them

Read Suzanne's story
 

I won't stand back and watch people starve

Read Charlotte's story
 

There are people in this city who can't afford to eat

Read Sam's story
 

I’m going back on the streets to avoid the pointless benefits system

Read Mike's story
 

Debt is a way of life round here

Read Stevie's story
 

I see people smartly dressed, walking miles... they're homeless

Read Dave's story
 

I see poverty and isolation getting worse

Read Sister's story
 

Poor students face a closed door on higher education

Read Terry's story
 

All I have is a kettle... to survive you have to watch every penny

Read John's story
 

We're the first generation not to go to university

Read Frankie's story
 

I see people walking in to jobs I can't get because their parents have money

Read Frankie's story
 

It got too much so I leapt on a bus and left it all behind me

Read Raymond's story
 

A tent in the park was my home for three years

Read Jackie's story