Postcode prejudice? Jobs struggle on Andover estate

YOUNGSTERS on the estate where Andrew Jaipaul was stabbed to death say they are rejected by employers because of their postal address. 

“The kids have often complained about the stigma that they have to face,” said Andrea O’Halleran, who has two children, aged 16 and 17. 

“It’s with employers, everyone, and it’s mostly down to the really unfair bad publicity we’ve had, and then we have to cope with the consequences of all that.”

Ms O’Halleran said that when the former Conservative Home Office Minister Ann Widdecombe spent time on the Andover estate for a television programme called Ann v The Hoodies, she did untold damage by describing it as a “dump”.

“When Ann Widdecombe came down it was negative, other newspapers have been really negative, and most people who say all this haven’t even bothered spending any time down here,” she added.

“They don’t talk to us. It’s just scapegoating a particular estate with no basis whatsoever, and then it makes life hard for us.”

Andover resident Nadine, 28, claimed that despite her A-level grades being better than some students who were accepted by universities, she was unable to get a place on a degree course

“The rejection letter was just so quick,” she said. “It was almost as is if they didn’t even bother to read the personal statement. They probably just seen my address and thought, ‘No, she’s no good’, kind of thing. How do you make money when no one gives you a job? Crime pays, and that leads to violence.”

Youth worker James Adoo, who works on the estate in conjunction with the Tollington Parish, recognised that young people on the Andover estate had brought up the same issues with him, but said: “It’s about breaking through the barriers. 

“There are people who have been brought up on the estate, and they have gone on to do well. 

“There’s no denying that there are barriers, but it’s about getting a skills base and selling yourself in the job market, not focusing on all the obstacles first.”

MP Jeremy Corbyn said: “There has to be good youth provision and the council is putting more money into that now. 

“In the long-term it has got to   be about education and jobs. So  it’s a question of local economic development and local enterprises and local jobs. That’s the key to it.

“I really hope it’s not the case [that people are getting turned down due to their address].”

Published: 15th July, 2011
by PAVAN AMARA

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