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What are the many ways in which people individually and collectively actually use literacy in their everyday lives? This study was sited in a low socio-economic area called Self-Help City and aimed to explore and report the perceptions of community service providers about the literacy and numeracy needs of their disadvantaged clients. The second aim of the project was to explore and comment on the implications of these different perceptions on the relationship between literacy and local, national and international need for individuals and communities to be adaptable, responsive to change, proactive and confident in planning for their futures. Participants were employees, volunteers and clients of the selected community-based organisations as well as the people within the wider community identified as being valuable informants. They included representatives from community-based organisations, welfare officers, volunteers and clients of community organisations. Findings indicated, that there were a number of ways in which people operated informally within diverse communities of practice that were characterised by a mutual exchange of skills and practices, including literacy. Secondly, that there was an extensive but poorly coordinated and resourced community network of service provision for disadvantaged client groups. Thirdly, that while service providers were generally conscious of the implications of lower literacy skills in relation to a plethora of clients’ problems, these difficulties were further compounded by: a loss of unemployment services; increasing unemployment and poverty; and unlimited training opportunities in the local context. These issues co-existed in a political/funding climate of heavy focus on employment related outcomes. Show less