A Christian couple have set their hearts on transforming a crime-ridden community which is one of the most impoverished areas of Birmingham.
Nick Hoult and his wife Cristina moved to the Walker's Heath area, which is so poor it ranked both sixth and seventh on the city's most deprived list.
Following a five-day series by Mirror Online looking at issues facing Britain's towns last month, Birmingham Live has looked at crime-stricken Walker's Heath.
Locals say they are afraid to walk the streets after dark and domestic violence is rife.
Nick, who lives in a detached home he has purposely built in the area, said: "If we had our wish we will live and die here."
Helping drug addicts get clean, decorating single mothers' homes and sheltering domestic abuse victims are just some of the many ways the husband and wife are fighting the Kings Norton area's bad reputation.
People here suffer a depth of poverty almost impossible to imagine, with homes said to be so freezing that layers of coats have to be piled on for warmth, while cupboards are empty of food.
But hidden amidst this overwhelming depravity, there are the generous communities battling for change, a loving family filling their 'death trap' home with hope and a chip shop owner playing dad to the delinquent kids he has watched grow up on a forgotten square.
Juxtaposed against the drab, grey streets of Walker's Heath, is a church bustling with passion to create positive change in their community.
Husband-and-wife Nick and Cristina Hoult believe they were called to the area by God to help the 'broken people' within it.
After purchasing a plot of empty land near the notorious Fold shopping centre, they embarked on a journey to turn their newly built home into a church.
Southgate Family Church has since been a silent force amongst the depravity welcoming members of the community with both open doors and arms.
"We wanted to go somewhere that was going to change lives, we wanted it to be of faith," recalls Nick.
"If you look at the stats nationwide this is an estate that is a hot-spot for domestic abuse, for neglect. For high levels of social services," says Cristina.
"Our life ranges from the sublime to the ridiculous. Literally from a practical to the deep and meaningful. If we had our wish we will live and die here.”
Outgrowing their basement they moved to Greaves Hall but it wasn’t long before the venue was forced to close due to cuts.
Desperate to remain in the area they have since sought approval from the council to have the church outdoors on vacant grassland in the centre of the community.
"We don’t plan to move on to the next place. We want to see this place transformed,” Cristina declares.
"We want this to be the place that people want to come and live. If people want to come here we know we have gotten somewhere.
"We might just be a small piece in that jigsaw, that’s fine. We are very much under the radar. But in the church community there are people who are very much in the core," Nick adds.
Two separate parts of Walker's Heath recently appeared in the city's most deprived list - which analyses crime, income, health, environment, employment and housing.
"Education here is suffering, Universal Credit is crippling people, housing is abysmal and gangs are hanging around The Fold at all hours of the day," explains a very chatty mum-of-five.
She spoke of the serious problems in the area after giving BirminghamLive the 'grand tour' of her home - which was missing two doors due to rot, had damaged plaster throughout and mould in her kids' bedroom.
Her walls have been covered with signs and posters in a desperation to mask its unsightly appearance, but the family would be too 'ashamed' to invite anyone over.
She added: "The area is very deprived, this place is a death trap, I'm worried for the day the ceiling comes down on my kids and buries them in rubble.
"We're being herded like sheep into these cr** homes while they build playgrounds for the rich. They want it all for the rich while we have to suffer. They're throwing it all into the city centre while we are struggling.
"Just across the street their solar panels don't work and the walls are so thin."
"I always say to my kids 'try as best you can in life and if you can get out of this country, do it. Go to Australia where there are jobs, anywhere but here. We're worried for what their generation will suffer."
Just a short drive away, through more deserted streets, is a dad who has been left so terrified by crime, he's taken up martial arts to protect his family.
Not many answered the door here in Hole Farm Way, but dad-of-three Ryan Ward was happy to chat about the troubles his cul-de-sac has seen.
He, like many others here, is frightened of the very real threat of crime - with a staggering 111 offences reported in Walker's Heath in one single month.
Burglaries, anti-social behaviour and violent or sexual offences were the most common to appear in the police.uk figures in Walker's Heath.
Drug dealing is also said to be rife in the street, according to resident Mr Ward - and a lack of respect for one another fuels trouble in nearby streets.
"If you go round Hawkesley and Druids Heath you've got a group of people who are just hell bent on causing trouble," he explained.
"I had to take up martial arts as I have to protect my family. And also as a result of all the carjackings.
"There's a lot of drug dealing, harassment, everyone who walks past here probably sells drugs. If an old lady falls over, it used to be that someone would help her up, now everybody walks past. People have lost all respect for each other, they'd rather walk past or laugh.
"We have had some really rough neighbours in the past."
Across from his grove and through streets which reek of cannabis, is Hawkesley Community Centre, a brilliant, clean and spacious facility which is hugely underused and underrated.
Here they run dance classes for just £2, but numbers are dwindling and teachers question whether its down to the area.
Sandra Newey has hosted a belly dancing class at the Lottery Funded centre along Edgewood Road since June after requests from locals.
The super-fit 72-year-old told us: "It's hard getting people to come, somebody was saying 'is it the area?'
"It's had a reputation for some time with high crime it always seems very, very quiet, but this is a wonderful centre. It's just that hardly anybody is using it.
"Why are they not using it? I suppose it's getting them out of the house. Dance is good at keeping you supple and gives ladies a chance to come out and be somebody else."
Delving further into Hawkesley is the near-empty square where a chip shop has stood proud and strong for over three decades thanks to Chris Lipery.
He sees gangs of youths gather there to wreak havoc, but he's not afraid - after all these are the boys he has watched grow all their lives.
He said: "You get a little gang and sometimes when they're messing around I try to put them in the right direction. So if they're picking on somebody I come out and speak to them because I know them.
"I've been here 32 years, I've seen all the kids grow up, so all the different generations.
"Some listen but you get one or two who don't. I serve good food here and I try to keep the area clean as much as possible."
The Square has been left to fall derelict for years, say residents, as it has been landed a 'final blow' with the loss of its Post Office.
Furious locals said the 'heart of their community' was set to be ripped out on October 11 and were petitioning for outreach services in the interim.
Residents claim the run-down shopping precinct has been left to rot for years by Birmingham City Council, while the rest of the ward receives a £150million face lift.
"This is the last straw on Hawkesley as far as community facilities are concerned. It's a vital part of the heart of the community and they're taking it away," said Louise Wynne-Williams, who launched the petition.
"The Post Office provided a vital community service for all ages, not just the elderly. They call it temporary but it could take eight months to a year, even if they find somebody suitable. We're asking for an outreach service."
The 67-year-old said locals' fears did not want to use an alternative cashpoint on the Square because of fears over yob behaviour and violence.
She added: "Because we're a deprived area, a lot of people relied on the Post Office for dealing with their finances. When that goes, there may be just one cashpoint in the Square, but the crime rate round here is very high. It's not in a shop, its not a safe environment."
On the outskirts of Walker’s Heath humbly hidden amongst a litter of business units and factory spaces is The Sweet Project.
Headed by Jane Cresswell and Jane Hulbert, the not-for-profit social enterprise formed in March 2010.
It is approaching its tenth year of working with vulnerable children and adults who fall between the cracks of local authority care.
“Primarily Jane and I set the organisation up to meet the needs on the three estates and then we’ve widened since then to cover the whole of south Birmingham,” says Jane Hulbert.
“There are pockets of affluence but that kind of tends to mask the deprivation. If you were took at Bleak’s Hill, Grange Hill Road, parts of Redhill Road, houses go for about £750,000 to £1.5 million. Then you come onto Druids’s Heath, Primrose, Hauksley, its mainly social housing. It’s in a very poor state of repair.
“There’s not much funding now. Maybe they wouldn't be provided a service by the local authority but are actually still in need,” she says.
The organisation works on a variety of causes adversely affecting the lives locals of Walker’s Heath such as hoarding, eviction, domestic abuse, substance abuse and debt.
“I would say every family that we are working with is on Universal Credit. We have about 100 children and family cases and about 80 adult cases open currently and a waiting list of about 40,” says Jane Cresswell.
“I think one of the things that make us fairly different to other organisations that are out there is the factor that we do the student learning and training,” says Jane Hulbert.
“What we’re able to do is invest time, which the majority of people today, due to lack of budget and staff available aren’t able to dedicate a lot of time as we are.”
Working on many cases is Mala Ndiaye, 30, who has since come back to work at The Sweet Project after graduating.
She said: “I’ve found this place exceptional in terms of as a student because it can be very very hard being a student and coming into the voluntary sector and not a local authority.
"You have cases from hoarding, to mental health, social isolation and supporting people to get into the local community.
"I’ve done things here such as hoarding that I didn’t even know [about] I’ve qualified and gone back for more. It’s amazing it really is."
According to current student Nina Bennett, 20: “It was mentioned to us that this area is quite a deprived area. We hadn’t really taken that as ‘oh this place is really that deprived.’
“Now that we’re taking on our cases and meeting people we can really see how this deprivation is affecting them and how we can support them to make good of a bad situation in terms of their area.
"Having the Sweet Project here and working with a lot of people in this area is very helpful and what is needed for the community.”