IT is rainy Thursday at Whitehaven on the northwestern coast of England, but the waterfront is heading to activity. This Saturday is the Harbor Festival, a day of music, performance and activities. A group of food sellers in the colored streets already creates.
It is unusual to see such excitement on the waterfront. They grow up, Lasi and her friends were attracted to the picturesque Saint Bees along the coast or the nearby lake area if they wanted to spend time next to the water. Sometimes, she says: “We were sitting next to the river and looking at people, with guessing from work in Sellafield – like,” They have a beautiful car – they are from Sellafield. “
Silafield, the largest nuclear site in Europe, is waving in Whithen in the middle of the British “nuclear coast”. Although it has not generated energy since 2003, it is expected that it will take up to at least 2125. Between Sellafield Ltd and the broader supply chain, The site uses about 60,000 workersMore than 80 % of Cambria.
The result is that everyone “works either in Sellafield or knows the people who do,” says Lassi, whose mother, aunt, and cousins work on the site. Whitehaven youth speak their own group: “Sellafield Traffic” for the backgrounds surrounding the time of the home every day of the week; “Sellafield Payday” as a reduction in hospitality for a crowded weekend. Adolescents talk about “Going to the Nuclear”.
The impact of the nuclear sector is also economically perceived: every year, the Sellafield LTD, the supply chain and the Nuclear Operation Steel (NDA), which owns the site, provides millions of pounds of financing for local projects, from local projects, from Re -Development of the previous bus station in Whitehaven To create a Digital center and new gamesand Local rivers cleaning. This summer, the main stage in Pride Under the auspices of the engineering company, McDonald’s death.
“I would like to say that you have helped here more than other coastal cities just for Sellafield and the companies that provide them,” says Lasi.
More Half of the population of Whitehaven (And the neighboring town) works at work, which is a little lower than the average England, but there is something more in the industrial disciples of the country’s average.
For those who want to work in the nuclear factory, the career path can be profitable, with the trainees earning Up to about 30,000 pounds In Sellafield Ltd. But those who want something different can find themselves feel definitely.
In Soundwave, a charity for music in downtown Whithaven, Cole, the 15 -year -old is one of those who are advancing on a different path. He also attends artistic sessions in LGBTQ+ CAFE, which she runs Proud and diverse commearia Among the sponsors that include Morgan Sindall and ARUP Engineering Consulting ARUP. But he feels that there is little in Whithavin for creative youth.
“We had a professional day at school with people from various workplaces and 99 % of them were from Selafield. It is a kind of making you feel that there is Sellafield only or nothing.”
Question and answer
What is against the tide chain?
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Over the next year, a project against the Tide of the Seascape’s Guardian will report the lives of youth in coastal societies throughout England and Wales.
Young people in many coastal cities in England are likely to face poverty, poor housing, low educational attainment and employment opportunities from their peers in the equivalent interior. In the most deprived coastal cities, they can be left for the struggle through dilapidated and experimental public services that limit their lives choices.
Over the next 12 months, with documentary photographer Polly Pradin, we will travel up and down to the country to the cities of the port, coastal resorts and former hunting villages to ask 16 to 25 years to tell us about their lives and how they feel the places where they live.
By placing their voices at the front and amids our reports, we want to check the type of changes they need to build future contracts they want for themselves.
“Once you enter GCSE, it seems as if they are pushing you to do triple science and engineering. These topics continue to trips, they have all this equipment, but if you study art, you are only in a small semester and teachers and students attend the equipment themselves.”
Cole says there is also a high rotation rate in school staff, as many teachers leave high -wage professions in the nuclear sector.
In the city center, at Whitehaven Poyer, which provides temporary accommodations for youth, Selafield is far from the minds of the population, despite the areas of the ARUP offices here. Many of those who live here are experienced in care or have suffered from poor mental health; the The number of young people in care and The number of admission to the mental health hospital In the region is higher here than at the national level.
James, 19, has a date for Jobcentre this afternoon but not optimistic; He was trying in vain to obtain construction work for several months in order to support his two -year -old partner and son. Mason, 17, is scheduled to start a college session next week, but he was unable to obtain the technical supplies he needs, because he could not afford the costs of the Carlal train. “Al -Nawawi is not really a thing for us,” he says. “We are just thinking about how we got money for what we need.”
For her, Emma Williamson, deputy leader of the Campeland Council, and a portfolio of children’s services, says that for her, the impact of the nuclear sector is clear. “This city will collapse without Sellafield,” she says. “I go to other societies that reflect our participation, but they do not have this level of investment.”
But she says this does not make him a solution for everyone. “We know that for those who will achieve, the opportunities exist,” she says. “But we need to capture all our youth and make sure there is a place for all types of jobs and opportunities.”
Last month, the government announced that parts of southern Whithavin It will receive 20 million pounds of investment during the next decade From the Pride In Place for “Opposing it”. Williamson says that a survey of residents on how to spend money has already highlighted the need for better facilities and opportunities for young people.
Susan Wilson, a researcher at the University of Lancashire who works with societies in Whithen, says that although the town is related to the pioneering employer, many of its youth face many issues themselves in coastal places most deprived, “says Susan Wilson, a research colleague at the University of Lancashire who works with societies in Whithen. “We are very far away and public transport is unreliable,” she says. “This affects the opportunities you feel accessible.”
She previously worked alongside the university’s communication council, where a group of girls from Whitehaven carried out their research and community projects, including the creation of the dementia cafe when they found that the elderly were more than they were lonely. “This has shown the passion of youth, sympathy for their local community, and the importance of identifying their vision, skills, sympathy and working with them to create opportunities.”
Despite its great impact on their lives, Seellafield is still vague and unknown for many Whitehaven youth, who have never visited most of them. One told her about her enthusiasm regarding the next vocational training on the site, but she withdrew her contribution when she started work and was told that she could not be transferred for secret reasons. (The company’s press office told the Guardian newspaper that they are asking colleagues to inform them before any media participation and prefer to review the quotes before publishing.)
Jimmy Reed, director of social economics at NDA, was unable to meet the Guardian and local youth. In response to questions about whether all Whitehaven youth are equally beneficial from the effect of Sellafield, Reed wrote in a statement: “One of our focus is investing in developing STEM skills for young people so that we have a pipeline of talents, but it is important for us to take a variety of projects.
“All over the western Komberia and the United Kingdom, these projects that provide mental health support, deal with issues on poverty and social integration, support innovation in the supply chain, and improve and protect the environment.”
For Lacey, which joined the Energy Coast University College, which is partially funded by NDA and has been greatly invested by the Morgan Sindall construction company, it was always a profession in the nucleus. However, she says, “I didn’t want to go and work there just because many other people do it.” Instead, the level of architecture at Newcastle University, only one of the peers in higher education, will soon start a request to obtain nuclear industrial disciple.
At home, she packaged her property ready to leave, Lasi contemplate. “I never thought of how Sellafield affects people, because it is just something that has always been there,” she says. “It is just part of the growth in Whithen.”