THE housing estate sprang up in the 1930s when the Whitehawk Valley was chosen to house families displaced by slum clearance.

It is within a stone’s throw of the elegant Sussex Square, where a three-bedroom flat is on the market for £1million, and the £7-12,000-a-term private girls’ school Roedean, but Whitehawk is totally different, with a series of low-rise and high-rise blocks of flats off its main spine road, Whitehawk Road.

Despite the high cost of living in Brighton and Hove, Whitehawk is in the bottom one per cent for low income deprivation, which takes into account rates of pay and the numbers of those out of work.

With a high proportion of social housing, it is indeed the most deprived area of Brighton and Hove as listed in the Government’s Indices of Deprivation report in 2015. Shockingly, males living in parts of the city’s most deprived areas can expect to live 10 years and 31 weeks less that those living in the least deprived areas and for females, the difference is six years and 31 weeks, according to the Brighton and Hove City Snapshot: Report of Statistics 2014.

The health challenges faced by its residents include higher rates of heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and cancer, with suicide a particular factor for men.

Residents said there are far too many drugs on the streets and there is “no chance” in life for the young mothers.

Patricia Pring, 69, first moved to Whitehawk with her family from slums near London Road in Brighton when she was eight and has lived there on and off ever since. She fondly recalls the Whitehawk of her childhood as having plenty of outdoor spaces to play in but, after being moved back to the area three years ago, it has changed.

“There is nothing to do and nowhere to go,” she said. “There used to be bingo, which I ran for years, and boot sales and a committee of local people that organised events, and Avon and Tupperware people used to come round. There is none of that now – it’s really lonely.”

Patricia, a widow with grown-up children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, is pessimistic that anything will change. “Life itself is to blame for the cycle of deprivation here. Most of the parents smoke or are single or on drugs, and Whitehawk and Moulsecoomb get most of the single mothers.

“I don’t think anything will change unless the government changes its policies. There are all the government cutbacks, all the benefits have been cut and all these young girls are having babies and then there’s no chance for them. There are no jobs, and if there are jobs, then they are low paid.”

Last month, the city’s newest GP surgery was launched just off Whitehawk Road with “bespoke” services tailored to the specific health problems of its patients.

The Wellsbourne Health Centre has extra NHS services delivered by a multi-disciplinary team of GPs, clinical pharmacists and a nursing team. It will also have roles that are new to local GP surgeries such as community health engagement workers and a community link worker, who will work with community groups and local services to improve health and wellbeing in the area.

The consensus among health professionals and others working to improve the health of the people of Whitehawk is that there is a number of diverse contributory factors, many of which are triggered by living with a high level of poverty. Among them are the stress of living hand-to-mouth leading to poor health choices, lack of access to cheap healthy fresh foods and to adequate cooking facilities, fewer playgrounds and playing fields than other areas in Brighton and Hove, a general feeling of being undervalued, and Whitehawk’s isolated geographical location leading to its residents feeling as though they are “living on the edges of society”.

“There is a lot of poverty here and people are living in very difficult circumstances,” said Dr Christa Beesley, a GP at Wellsbourne Health Centre and a director of Wellsbourne CIC, which runs it.

“I worked here first as a locum and was struck by the fact that people have a lot of health problems and were not going to see their doctor about them, partly because they always found it hard to get an appointment.

“I wanted to do something really different because if you do things differently, you can change health outcomes.

“But that does take time.

“I find the statistics about life expectancy shocking.

“People in our area have long-term conditions they have been living with from a long time ago and if they are not managed well, they are living with poor health for a long time.”

The surgery is prioritising health literacy, which gives people information on healthy living.

“If someone has things on their mind and a lot of demands on their time such as worrying about how to make ends meet or how to care for other relatives, they may have a biscuit instead of a meal and they can’t take the time to exercise,” explained Dr Beesley.

“Then if they start to feel less well, their mood goes down and they start to feel depressed. It’s a maladapted way of coping - they drink more coffee, eat more comfort foods, have a cigarette, have a drink in the evening.

“As a doctor, I might say to them go to an exercise class, but for people in Whitehawk, access to that might be further away. They might not be able to get to it. That’s what we are working on.”

Alistair Hill, director of public health at Brighton and Hove City Council, has welcomed Wellsbourne’s innovative approach in East Brighton. “We know from national reports that the causes of poor health in deprived areas, including the impact of social deprivation on factors such as education and jobs, are many and complex. The solutions need to be lifelong and it has been recognised as something that needs a long term commitment. Tackling that involves partnerships with schools, the NHS and other agencies.

“Within Brighton and Hove, more than anywhere else in the country, we recognise the importance of food in health and wellbeing, and in terms of public health, what we are working on is helping people to quit smoking, eat well and move more with a series of extended schemes such as the Active4Life scheme.

“Whitehawk is a vibrant area with a vibrant community but it does have significant health challenges.”

Access to facilities that would improve the lives of the residents of Whitehawk is an issue close to the heart of Councillor Nancy Platts, one of three representatives of the East Brighton ward on Brighton and Hove City Council. Among its facilities are the Whitehawk Inn, a community centre run by Brighton Housing Trust that provides a range of courses, services and support, the council-run Whitehawk Community Hub, which includes children’s services, Whitehawk Primary School, a medical centre and a library, Valley Social Centre, the base for organisations delivering services, and The Crew Club, a community-led charity that provides opportunities for young people.

But the area needs more, according to Councillor Platts. “Whitehawk is a long distance away from supermarkets so people with low income will not have easy access to fresh fruit and vegetables,” she said.

“There are many people in Whitehawk who are in emergency accommodation, most of them women with small babies, who do not have access to cooking facilities, only perhaps a microwave. A new kitchen is being put in the community room at Robert Lodge, one of the blocks of flats, and I want to teach cookery classes there because I’m interested in how people can eat cheaply and healthily, and to do it easily.

“Access to fitness is limited as it can be quite expensive, so I’m in the process of setting up a Parkrun with volunteers.

“The other issue is mental health, which is particularly an issue for people living in council properties and social housing. Wellsbourne are looking at different ways of getting people out of their houses, and that means making sure that there are activities for people to go to.

“I’m talking to people running venues in Whitehawk to get things up and running. We need to think differently and creatively about how to use spaces and facilities.

She added: “These statistics about Whitehawk make me feel very strongly that I want to do something about it.

“The people of Whitehawk feel as though they are always on the edge of society and they don’t feel valued. They feel that when services are cut, that’s where they cut.

“To change perception, we have to change reality so the people of Whitehawk can have a life with aspiration.”

Teenage friends Maya White and Autumn Roberts, both 17 and at college, are determined to buck the trend of stereotypical Whitehawk teenage girls.

“When I’m with my young nephew, people assume I’m his mum,” said Autumn. “There’s this stereotype of teenage girls from Whitehawk that you are a single mother and you are frowned on.

“I’m waiting to get a stable boyfriend and a job before I think about having children.”

Maya agrees. “I wouldn’t want to bring up children here anyway because the parks all get vandalised and it can be dangerous for children to be out.”

Both girls say the things they hate most about living in Whitehawk are the violence and the prevalence of drugs. “If there were less drugs here, it would make it so much better,” said Autumn. “There’s a lot of violence too. You get sick of hearing the police sirens racing past every night.