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Who we are: our values, vision and ways of working

Church Action on Poverty is a Christian social justice charity.

We work with people in poverty, churches of all denominations, community groups and others, to identify the causes of poverty and address them together.

We put gospel values of justice and compassion into practice, inspired by the Christian call to challenge unjust structures. We engage in social action, political engagement, prayer and theology.

Justice

Poverty is a form of oppression. It is the needless, scandalous result of human decision and indecision.

The UK has the money and the knowledge to create a wonderful and just society, full of opportunity and security. But right now, the country allows poverty to continue. It denies people dignity, freedom and power in their own lives, and locks many people out of the shared spaces and opportunities that should belong to us all.

We urgently need power-holders to work with people in poverty to address this, to allow all people a fair chance to live life to the full.

Relationships & support

We know that the real experts on poverty are the people who live it. Our work is driven by their experiences and knowledge.

We cherish lasting relationships, and support people with first-hand insights to dig deep into the causes of poverty in their community, and then to be seen and heard where it matters: in our churches, in the media, in our local and national politics; wherever decisions are made that will affect their lives.

We want to dismantle barriers to participation. We know people and communities have immense wisdom and inherent power to generate and help create solutions to the issues they face. We bring decision-makers and ordinary people together, to find joint solutions – and, if need be, we support people to demand to be heard. 

Hope & action

We are full of hope. The people, churches and grassroots groups we work with have immense and inspiring compassion and goodness.

But we know that hope without action is meaningless. Hope must inspire action. We believe in the power of the church as a force for good, and so we equip and encourage churches and Christians to take local action and also to work for wider social justice, sharing knowledge, connections and resources and learning. 

Our vision, as a Christian organisation, is of a UK transformed, a country where everyone can live a full life, free from poverty. We believe that vision can be realised.

The prophet Amos wrote: Let justice roll on like a river. That’s what we strive to do. Will you join us?

Get in touch

A movement in numbers

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organising events in Challenge Poverty Week

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giving, acting and praying with us

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across the UK

What we do: our work

We run a range of programmes, all aimed at strengthening the voice, dignity and contributions of people in poverty. 

Current or permanent work includes:

  • Just Church: our new membership programme supports and equips churches to deepen their commitment to (and understanding of) social justice. We provide a range of resources and initiatives. 
  • Your Local Pantry: our network of 115 neighbourhood hubs. These bring people together around food, creating conditions for people to address community issues together.
  • Power & participation: we work with people and groups living in poverty to redesign the systems affecting their lives and to replace barriers with opportunities
  • Access To Action: our pioneering new training programme, to help churches and other organisations to improve their understanding of participation, with a few to more fully empowering people in their communities.
  • Poverty media work: We provide training, advice and one-to-one support for journalists and people in poverty, to ensure that people with first-hand insights are better represented in the media.  
  • Challenge Poverty Week England & Wales: This is an annual week of concentrated action, centred around October 17th (the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty). It highlights the causes of poverty, and potential solutions. We launched the week in 2020, and it is now a grassroots initiative with events taking place in different parts of England and Wales.  

Some recent past projects have included:

  • Let’s End Poverty: a huge number of churches, community groups, trade unions and artists united for this campaign, to urge political leaders to work towards the ending of poverty in the UK. Highlights included a stunning portrait exhibition, community conversations, letter that drew a response from the Prime Minister, and the establishment of several local groups.
  • Church on the Margins: our trailblazing research in the early 2020s was inspired by Pope Francis’s call for a “church of the poor”. We explored how major UK churches allocate their resources, listened intently to marginalised churchgoers, and produced two powerful reports into what should change. 
  • Self-Reliant Groups: we supported the creation of small neighbourhood groups that shared, saved, decided and learnt together. The groups often flourished, and enabled people to explore the possibility of setting up their own businesses. 
  • Food Power: this project ran from 2017 to 2021. It supported communities to form local alliances to challenge the causes and impact of food poverty. Although the national coordination work has ended, several alliances continue to do great work independently.

Our work in numbers

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say joining a Local Pantry has improved their household finances

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giving, acting and praying on Church Action on Poverty Sunday

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by Your Local Pantry members on their weekly food shop

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working to tackle the root causes of UK poverty, since we were founded in 1982

Staff & trustees

Meet our team

Meet the team

Local groups

Find a group of Church Action on Poverty supporters near you - or start your own!

Find a group

Our story

The background and ongoing story of Church Action on Poverty

Our story

Poverty Media Unit

Helping the real experts tell their stories more widely

Annual reviews