AS we return to north-east England for the Durham Miners’ Gala — a proud celebration of working-class unity and trade union values — we do so not just to honour the past, but to fight for the future.

The banners carried by those marching through the city to The Big Meeting don’t just remember the past; they are rallying cries for a better future, for hope and for optimism.

Today in Durham, NASUWT teachers are marching not only for themselves, but for every child, every family, and every community that has been neglected and forgotten during 14 years of Tory rule, by a government that had no understanding of the concept of solidarity, of community, of trade union vales and frankly despised the working class.

Across the north-east and throughout the country, teachers are being pushed to the brink as they work tirelessly for the children in their care.

In that proud region, 170,000 children — 31 per cent — are living in poverty. In Middlesbrough and Thornaby East, that figure rises to a staggering 52 per cent. In Newcastle Central and West, it’s 43 per cent. That’s nearly one in every two children growing up without the basics that everyone should have as a minimum.

Teachers in these areas are more than educators. They are mentors, social workers and lifelines to the children and young people they teach and their families.

They are the ones who notice when a child hasn’t eaten. They stay late to run after-school clubs. They buy missing supplies from their own pockets. They give hope to families and motivate and inspire their children.

In many forgotten communities, education can be the only way out of intergenerational poverty, and it is our schools that all too often are the difference between hope and despair.

But too many teachers are leaving the profession, driven out by overwhelming workloads, stress and a feeling they are not being paid fairly for what they do.

Recruitment targets have been missed year after year. Retention rates are plummeting. Talented young teachers are walking away from the profession within five years, burned out and disillusioned. And who can blame them? When pay has fallen by more than 20 per cent in real terms since 2010, when workload is spiralling, it is no wonder that morale is at rock bottom.

The consequences are stark. Children in deprived communities are being taught by a revolving door of supply staff. Specialist subjects are being dropped. SEND provision is stretched to breaking point. And as our report, Where Has All the Money Gone, exposed, this is happening as private companies are siphoning billions from the education budget.

Teachers are being told their pay award will not be fully funded, and a quarter of it will have to come from school budgets already stripped to the bone because there is no more money.

Yet in the education sector, academy trust chief executives are earning more than the Prime Minister.

Supply agencies are pocketing hundreds of millions in fees. Private SEND providers are charging cash-strapped councils up to £61,000 per pupil. This is public money meant for children — not for shareholders’ bulging pockets.

We need a new settlement for education. One that includes a fully funded pay award, a national pay scale to restore fairness and transparency, investment in recruitment, retention, and workload reduction, and a commitment to public provision over private profit.

The Durham Miners’ Gala reminds us that change is possible when we stand together. Teachers, nurses, firefighters, rail workers — we are not part of isolated struggles. We are part of one wider trade union movement with one proud voice.

We are asking for fairness. For dignity. For the resources to do our jobs properly. For the right of every child, in every community, to be taught by a qualified, committed teacher who is paid a decent wage.

That is not too much to ask. That is the very least our children deserve.

Matt Wrack is acting general secretary of the NASUWT.