This blog began as Lambeth: Living with the Cuts in 2015 – a long-term photographic and journalistic investigation into how central Government cuts to benefits, services and local council budgets are affecting people living in the London borough of Lambeth – my home for the last 25 years.

Since 2015 I’ve been working with people and organisations across the borough, including Brixton Advice Centre, Norwood and Brixton Foodbank, South London Refugee Association, Ace of Clubs, Carers’ Hub Lambeth and Mosaic Clubhouse. This project tells the stories of both the organisations and the vulnerable people they help. My work is entirely independent.

I’ve since launched the South London Stories website, which houses all my new photo stories – while this is where I post news and updates. The URL of this blog remains lambeth-cuts.co.uk as a reminder of where it all began.

If you’d like to get in touch to talk about your experiences of life in south London, you can email me at james@southlondonstories.com or find me on Twitter @jameshopkirk and on Instagram @SouthLondonStories.

All words and pictures on this blog are by James Hopkirk, except where otherwise credited.

About James Hopkirk

I’ve been working as a journalist and photographer for over 20 years. I began my career as a local newspaper reporter in Kent before moving to The Sunday Times and ITV. I spent six years as Editor of IdeasTap, a charity that helped young people to build careers in the arts and media.

As a freelance writer and photographer I’ve been lucky enough to work on stories in Afghanistan, Benin, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Haiti, India, Rwanda, Somalia and Uganda. Since 2015, however, I’ve focused my attention closer to home.

If there’s one thing I’ve learnt from working on this project so far, it’s that the impact of Government cuts has been disproportionately felt by the poorest and most vulnerable. What’s also become very clear to me is that all but the wealthiest members of our society are in reality just a few missing pay slips, a bereavement or a diagnosis from the poverty line – no matter how remote we might like to think it is.

What I’ve seen time and time again is just how quickly things can fall apart – and that’s something I think more people need to understand.