Poverty

London is an incredible place, a city of great wealth, cultural significance, history, influence.

London is a powerhouse of the world economy, the City vies with New York City as the financial capital of the world with many banking and insurance institutions having their headquarters there. The London Stock Exchange, Lloyd's of London and the Bank of England are all based in the City.

But it is also a city where great poverty exists, where the richest and poorest live in close proximity to each other but live their lives very far apart:

• In the three years to 2011/13, 2.2 million people were in poverty in London after housing costs - this represents 28% of London's population, 8% higher than the rest of England

• In London, the richest 10% by financial asset wealth have 60% of all assets with the poorest 80% of the population sharing just 20% of all asset wealth.

• 26% of households in London received housing benefit in 2012, which was higher and has grown faster than the average for England.

• The number of people sleeping rough in London has almost doubled since 2009 with around 6,400 people sleeping rough in 2012.

• Londoners have been disproportionally hit by cuts in welfare benefits,  a reflection of higher living costs, particularly housing.

Our future government, of whatever colour or combination of parties, will be facing the same fiscal restraints but crucial decisions on how and where cuts will be made could have a significant effect on the Capital - and the work of the VCSE in combatting poverty.