I’m the vicar at All Saints Church, Hanley, in the heart of Stoke-on-Trent. My church began life in 1913 as a mission chapel for the poor. Built with an open-air pulpit, its founding congregation were the processions of impoverished workers winding their way up the hill across the road to the factory gates. At the time of our church’s construction, the Potteries was one of the great industrial wonders of the world. And then, one day, all that went. The four major pillars of industry that stood here 35 years ago – coal, steel, ceramics and manufacturing – the foundations on which the city was built, were swept away by the tremors of “progress”.

Our city now finds itself suffering from some of the highest unemployment rates in Britain. The decent jobs, which once gave people dignity, have trickled away – replaced by insecure, poorly paid work in services and distribution. The pubs, the labour clubs and the mutual societies that tethered these working communities together – that’s gone too. For decade, after decade, after decade, the working men and women of Stoke-on-Trent felt forgotten. But Brexit changed all that.

Last summer – by 70% to 30% – the people of my city voted to leave the European Union. Ever since I arrived here five years ago, I’ve understood that what people really want is to be heard. So I wasn’t surprised when my parishioners voted the way they did. The people of the Potteries are proud – not in a way that’s steeped in arrogance, but in recognition of the extraordinary history of the place they love. Some say they wanted to poke the “metropolitan establishment” in the eye. Others felt that parliamentary sovereignty was at threat – and yes, free movement of labour was a concern too. Yet the common thread linking all these concerns, it seems to me, is the opportunity the referendum gave people to speak – and to know in the simplicity of a “yes or no” choice that Westminster would finally hear them.

Now, in the wake of the byelection triggered by the resignation of Tristram Hunt, national attention once again turns to my parish. But many of us here feel that the real troubles confronting our community are in danger of being sidelined in a never-ending debate about the EU. We think this election represents a brilliant opportunity to talk about the other things that matter to us. After a year of relentless, daily canvassing from leave, by remain, by political parties of every colour – each wanting to debate geopolitics on our doorsteps – a lot of people here want politicians to switch their attention to our more pressing, local problems.

So what needs to be done? If there’s one unifying issue here that we all get upset about, it’s the future of the young. The first problem young people encounter in Stoke-on-Trent is that they often face a barrier to well-paid work because they are made to feel that they’re destined for lesser things – or destined for dependency and the dole. Having been a governor of one primary school, and a sixth form, I have seen the quiet dedication that teachers and staff give to the young people here.

Educational professionals break their backs to get kids into Oxford and Cambridge, but the flip side in an area like this is that a lot of the kids don’t necessarily want to go down an academic pathway. They want to see local jobs and vocational training relevant to this place and worthy of its heritage. It’s not that academics are not possible here, but we need a decent vocational alternative for the kids who want to make stuff with their hands.

Housing is also an issue. Young people are faced with a wide range of housing challenges and research suggests that they are three times more likely to experience housing and homelessness problems than other age groups. Affordability is a major challenge, whether they are renting or buying. Getting money for deposits, benefits and finances, dealing with rent arrears and navigating problems with rogue landlords and agents, are among the most common housing problems reported. Our young people are also more likely than older people to say that they feel unsafe in their neighbourhoods at night. These problems need to be fixed.

So when you think about the election in Stoke-on-Trent, I understand Europe may be at the forefront of your mind, but for people here it seems the EU is all you ever want to talk to us about. What we’re really worried about in Stoke-on-Trent is how to provide a decent future for our children.

During the five years I’ve been working in Stoke, I have realised it is just as important to listen to someone and let them tell their story as it is to preach. Some people might say that perhaps that’s a lesson our politicians could take something away from. The referendum was last year’s news. Now it’s time Westminster turned its attention to the things that really matter.