'Why vote if you think nothing's going to change?'

For the first time in 20 years all 63 seats on Barnsley Council will be up for grabs on polling day.

But in Thurnscoe turnout at previous elections has seen fewer than one in five people cast their vote, suggesting voter apathy is as big an issue for candidates as any policy.

Nathan Harrison stops in front of a stuffed grizzly bear from the 1930s to tell me it is one of his favourite pieces in the shop.

He's the fourth generation of his family to take charge of Harrison's Antiques Centre and Auction Rooms since it opened in 1948.

The vast warehouse in Lidget Lane is home to a huge array of items, from gemstones to a Goonies arcade game, but one thing you won't find here is anyone who is keen to vote on 7 May.

The Harrison family say they are "jaded" by politicians of all colours, with dad, Roger, saying he is "not into politics at all".

That's not to say they don't have their fair share of opinions.

The family have seen the heydays of the village from when Hickleton Main Colliery employed hundreds of men, to its closure in 1988, and the attempts to replace the jobs and economy.

Rising fuel prices are the latest concern for the family. Nathan, 33, said: "It was difficult enough before, the price of things has been rising for years, but it does seem that this last month or two it has got a lot worse.

"I'm more money conscious now. The price of food is astronomical, you can spend £20-£30 a day on basic foods, and now we have the rising price of fuel."

The centre stocks items from hundreds of small businesses, but also exports containers of antiques and furniture worldwide.

Dad Roger stands by a fortune-telling Uncle Sam curiosity as he talks about the company's international trade market.

"Customers who have shops in America will buy 20ft or 40ft containers and we fill them full of furniture, pottery, pretty much anything, and it all gets shipped out.

"We ship worldwide and any increase in cost is always a massive worry for any business so obviously fuel prices are a concern.

"We've also noticed over the last month there's definitely less footfall coming from the general public, which I think is linked to the cost of fuel."

His mum Christine, 73, believes the rising cost of living is has resulted in more people selling off their family heirlooms.

"With the auction side we seem to be very busy with people fetching items in, we're getting overrun. I think a lot of people are selling items probably because they are short of money or they are downsizing."

Thurnscoe falls in the Dearne North ward which had the lowest turnout at the last local elections in 2024 when just 17% of people voted.

Nathan is among those who have stayed away in previous years.

"If I'm honest with you, I don't think there is a party that I could put complete trust in," he says.

"I don't feel there is a standout party who are going to look after the working person, unfortunately."

Meanwhile, his grandfather, also called Roger, hasn't voted for 40 years, he tells me.

"I just couldn't think of anybody I would vote for," he says.

"They all say things before the elections, then when they get in power it's all different."

Elsewhere in Thurnscoe the problem of rising costs is a familiar story.

Craig Elliott, 46, works days in a café and nights in a takeaway to make ends meet.

He started his new business Roll With It a month ago, a café based in a hairdressers. Customers can eat cake while having a cut but it also means Craig doesn't need to worry about rent and business rates right now.

"I've been operating a month and it's all a bit daunting. I've been working two jobs and I saved up the money from the evening job to pay for this café.

"I've been given a good opportunity to use this room free of charge so it's a good stepping stone for me because a lot of businesses would have to find premises."

When Craig finishes at the café he moves next door to work in a takeaway in the evening. He also tries to deliver orders in his car, while his wife works in the salon.

He understands why people are reluctant to vote. "The cost of living is ridiculous and the petrol prices are just an absolute joke. I probably will vote but I think people don't have faith in any of the politicians and that's why they don't vote."

Like many former pit villages, Thurnscoe has struggled to regenerate itself and is still a disadvantaged area.

According to Barnsley Council's latest figures from 2019, life expectancy at birth for men in Dearne North is 74, four years younger than the national average. It's similar for women.

The total crime rate is 127 per 1,000 population in the area, compared to 87 in England. Burglary rates are twice as high in the ward compared to the national norm.

Deaths from cancer, heart disease and respiratory disease are "consistently higher" in the area than the England average.

The council says things are improving but the lack of interest in the local elections is tangible.

Outside Station House Community Association, I approach about 10 mums to chat about the issues which concern them. No-one wants to talk.

Charlotte Williams, CEO of Station House, is busy ushering children into a holiday club, most of them from working families.

She is not surprised no-one wants to talk politics. "I hear it quite often – people say 'nothing changes for us' [so] why would you take time and effort to go and vote if you think nothing's going to change?"

Barnsley Council received £23m of government funding to regenerate Thurnscoe and neighbouring valley villages of Goldthorpe and Bolton upon Dearne but Charlotte says people are worn down.

"There was Covid, then the cost of living crisis and it just seems to be a relentless battle that impacts your everyday life at all times," she tells me.

"Our families have amazing resilience and are the best in the world for making a penny go a really long way but they're absolutely fed up of it.

"No matter what they do, how hard they work, what choices they make, they never seem to feel that they're doing any better and in some ways they feel that things are getting worse.

"That's a terrible state of affairs because when we go out to work, we should all feel better for it."

Charlotte says health and social care are a a priority for her as it underpins everything else "like a really good foundation in a house".

"We need long-term, deep funding as opposed to one and two years because we're talking about reverting almost 40 years worth of deprivation, leading right back to when the mines shut.

"People might say 'oh that was a long time ago' and 'it's very negative' but things like that are very deep-rooted it takes a huge amount of time. It's like turning an oil tanker."

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