The 'systemic poverty' in Liverpool has been accelerated by recent governments, according to the outgoing Bishop of the city.
Paul Bayes officially retired from his role as Bishop of Liverpool this weekend, having arrived in the city in the Autumn of 2014.
In that time he has witnessed a city and a region battling against austerity and has regularly spoken out against measures that have increased poverty and hardship in communities.
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He has also regularly stood up for LGBTQ+ equality - at times finding himself at odds with others in the church.
And he recently co-signed a letter with Mayor of Liverpool Joanne Anderson calling on Home Secretary Priti Patel to withdraw the Nationality and Borders Bill, that will create a ‘hostile two-tiered asylum system’.
Now 68, Bishop Bayes, who is originally from Bradford and previously held an assistant bishop post in St Albans in Hertfordshire, said he was 'overwhelmed' and 'surprised' when he was chosen for the role in a city like Liverpool.
He said: "I was delighted to be picked for Liverpool, I was hugely flattered and bit their hand off."
He very quickly got to grips with the huge problems facing the city and wider region represented by the Diocese.
He said: "I co-chaired the city-wide strategy for fairness and tackling poverty, it was a real privilege to do that and bring those groups together, but it was pretty clear what the challenges were.
"I was very committed to the idea of little people not getting squashed and have tried to speak out on issues of poverty.
"Liverpool is known for sticking up for people and for justice and that's what I have tried to do."
On the reasons for that poverty, the outgoing Bishop has never shied away from getting political.
He has previously slammed the cuts and benefit sanctions introduced by governments since 2010 and called the soaring need for foodbanks 'a scandal.'
On the eve of his retirement, he said: "The systemic poverty that has disempowered the north west for decades, has been accelerated under recent regimes. In London they just don't seem to get it.
"We've got churches in all Liverpool communities, most of them are running foodbanks now - the people working in them are fantastic.
"That poverty affects the churches too, we have to be creative or we would die.
"There are 42 dioceses, if you rank them in order of historic assets, Liverpool comes bottom and number 41 has twice as much as we do."
He has also not been afraid to speak out on other issues that he admits have landed him in 'hot water' with the church at times.
He has increasingly called for the need for LGBTQ+ equality, something which has caused divisions in the church for years now.
He told the ECHO: "I tried to make that part of a wider advocacy for people on the edge of things and that includes those communities.
"I asked if I could be a patron of Liverpool Pride, they were surprised to be asked, but they were so welcoming.
"I remember going on my first Liverpool Pride march and it was a big gig - I thought I was going to have a tough job, because the church has not been kind, but I was made so welcome and that sense of solidarity has stayed with me."
In a separate interview, he told The Guardian: "I want to see a church where, if a congregation and its ministers want to bless and marry same-sex people or trans people, then they should be free to do so without stigma.
"And those who don’t want to do so should be given freedom of conscience not to do so. I want to see gender-neutral marriage canons, that simply say marriage is between two people.”
Looking back on his time in Liverpool he recalls times the city - and its different faith leaders - have stood together.
He cites the response in Liverpool to the Manchester Arena bomb in 2017 and the terror attack at the city's Women's Hospital last year, which saw a multi-faith press conference held.
He said: "Liverpool has a long-standing history of coping with hardship and sticking together and we have seen that time and time again.
"We saw it a lot during the pandemic, the city stands together, uses its humour and tries to get through it - and that has been the attitude during the lockdowns and I think the churches rose to that challenge as well."
He said he thinks Liverpool is becoming more multi-cultural and that the city's faith leaders are ahead of the game, adding: "We saw this in how quickly we could respond to the bomb together. I think this is really encouraging and I hope that will be part of my legacy."
On the conclusion of his time in Liverpool, he said: "I'm going to miss the city, you have to move away - that's the way we do it - but I am really going to miss it.
"I will really miss the people here - there is such resilience."
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