London,
(ANI):
Singer
Melanie
Brown
has
urged
British
government
to
step
up
efforts
to
tackle
poverty.
The
former
Spice
Girl
claimed
some
of
the
poorest
people
in
society
have
been
left
feeling
"abandoned.
The
Government
have
got
to
admit
there's
a
massive
problem
here.
We
need
to
work
together
to
change
things," the
Mirror
quoted
her
as
saying.
Brown
was
speaking
out
after
spending
a
week
on
a
run-down
council
estate
in
her
native
Leeds
for
an
ITV
documentary,
'7
Days
On
The
Breadline".
The
show
saw
Mel
B
looking
after
five
kids,
aged
six,
eight,
12,
16
and
18,
on
a
budget
of
just
264
pounds
a
week.
"I
did
it
to
make
a
point
and
show
that
just
because
you''re
a
celebrity,
you
can
live
on
benefits.
But
even
I
was
shocked
by
the
scale
of
what
I
saw," she
said.
Kids
hanging
around
on
street
corners,
open
drug
dealing
and
a
culture
of
fear
and
intimidation
were
just
a
few
of
the
problems
Mel
had
to
face.
She
said:
"The
Government
doesn't
seem
to
be
trying
to
find
out
how
to
help
people
in
council
estates.
"Give
them
a
community
centre
or
at
least
something
for
the
kids
to
do
to
enrich
their
lives.
The
kids
are
bored
and
that
always
leads
to
trouble.
Whether
it's
a
library,
somewhere
to
play
basketball
or
take
a
computer
course.
Give
them
a
sense
of
achievement.
The
kids
just
resorted
to
hanging
about
or
wasting
away
watching
TV.
It
was
really
sad,"
she
added.