Almost one in four children in Oxford are living in poverty.

Ten estates in Oxford, one in Banbury and one in Abingdon are in the worst 25 per cent in England for levels of child poverty.

Each day this week the Oxford Mail will profile the health of the county after Oxfordshire’s Annual Health report was published last week.

Dr Jonathan McWilliam, the county’s health director, publishes the reports each year to guide health bosses on what the main problems and goals are for Oxfordshire.

According to his report, children living in Barton and Sandhills, Blackbird Leys, Carfax, Churchill, Cowley Marsh, Iffley Fields, Littlemore, Lye Valley, Northfield Brook, Rose Hill and Iffley, in Oxford, are among the poorest in the country.

Those in Ruscote, in Banbury, and Caldecott, in Abingdon, are also in the worst 25 per cent.

He said child poverty was calculated as not just a lack of money, but about life chances available for young people.

In his report Dr McWilliam said: “Four out of five children living in poverty live in our towns and the city and one fifth live in rural areas.

“Some 12,315 live in the city, Banbury and larger market towns and 3,345 in rural areas.

“This is low compared to the national average, but variations between parts of the county tell the critical part of the story.

“Almost one in four children in Oxford, some 5,800 children, are living in poverty.”

There are a number of schemes already being rolled out in these areas designed to enrich children’s lives.

In Barton, the Thrive project has been working with young people to improve their life chances.

Youth workers have been teaching children how to grow their own fruit and vegetables on allotments and to cook meals for the community with them.

Barton Community Association secretary Sue Holden, above, said the estate was actually ‘blessed’ with excellent facilities.

She said: “We are in the bottom 25 per cent but there are some wonderful projects going on in the estate and we’re far better off than many other places in Oxford in terms of facilities.

“We want to get across to young people that having all of these things is not a right, it’s a privilege, and we should think ourselves very lucky.”

In tomorrow’s Oxford Mail we reveal the challenges facing the mental health system.