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Church Action on Poverty in Sheffield: 2020 AGM

Church Action on Poverty in Sheffield would like to invite you to their AGM which will take place on Wednesday 16 December 2020 at 7pm.

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic , it will be held online via Zoom.

Our keynote speaker is Niall Cooper, Director of Church Action on Poverty.

Niall will tell us about ‘Dignity, agency and power: Building a movement to tackle poverty together’ and he will share some of the thinking around Church Action on Poverty’s new vision and strategy.

Please let us know if you would like to join the meeting by emailing the group secretary Briony Broome, using the link below.

Please also let us know if you think you need any help in order to be able to attend via Zoom.

We look forward to seeing you on 16 December.

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Since the beginning of lockdown, an estimated six million people in the UK have fallen behind on one or more household bills, with poorest households hit the hardest.

This is an urgent problem that demands a solutionThat’s why Church Action on Poverty has teamed up with the Joint Public Issues Team to ask the Chancellor to create a Jubilee Fund, to pay off and cancel unavoidable Covid debt for households in the UK. 

 

You can help. Write to your MP today, and ask them to write to the Chancellor.

We need to:

  • Raise these concerns about Covid-19 household debt and its impact on the poorest families.
  • Find out how the government intends to address this urgent problem.

We need to make sure everyone has a stable platform from which to face the future. Add your voice to call on the UK Government to #ResetTheDebt. 

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Poetry v poverty: anthology raises vital new voices

Today is National Poetry Day, and we have an exciting announcement

We will launch a  powerful collection of poetry about poverty and the pandemic this month, during the first Challenge Poverty Week in England and Wales.

Same Boat? brings together dozens of works by people with experience of poverty and supporters from across the movement to end poverty, including some debut writers. We’re announcing the launch today, on World Poetry Day.

The book brings new perspectives around poverty and challenges many of the prevailing myths and clichés, and challenges us all to ensure that society after the pandemic is more just and compassionate. We know we can build back better and the outpouring of kindness and community has been heartening – but it cannot be taken for granted. Simply reading the poetry in this anthology is “a radical act of empathy”.

Launch event

The project has been coordinated by Matt Sowerby, who was poet in residence at Church Action in Poverty from the beginning of lockdown until September. He facilitated workshops and open-mic events online and oversaw the production of the anthology. Participants were asked to contribute a poem reflecting their experiences of lockdown and poverty, or the impact of Covid-19 on themselves, their families or communities

A launch event will be held on Thursday 15 October, during Challenge Poverty Week.

Four of the contributors. From left: Ellis Howard, Shaun Kelly, Jayne Gosnall and Matt Sowerby.

In their introduction, the editing panel of Barbara Adlerova, Ben Pearson, Jayne Gosnall, Matt Sowerby and Penny Walters, write:

“While the term ‘poverty’ is often understood as a financial problem, these poems suggest that the word is more of a blanket term for numerous different ‘poverties.’ These include social poverty, poverty of choice, psychological poverty, poverty of autonomy, digital poverty, poverty of access and poverty of opportunity among others. The book also takes a closer look at some of the people behind the statistics. Rejecting the myth that those in poverty are helpless, several poets choose to explore the power that their experiences have given them.”

Responses to abuse, homelessness and stigma

Works include i have a voice by Penny Walters of Newcastle, which reflects on her determination to speak out against poverty, despite having “abused and berated downcast / shunned”, and 100 days by Earl Charlton, which reframes his experience from that of victim to expert. He writes: “being homeless before and living in social isolation, gave me the knowledge and sense to beat this complicated situation”.

Ben Pearson’s Yellow Sticker pinpoints the stigma around poverty, while Melanie Rogers’s My Mask finds relevance to mental health in the face coverings that the pandemic has made routine.

The Same Boat? title reflects the question of whether we are all in the same boat during the pandemic. The question is also addressed in a short film of the same name, written by Ellis Howard & directed by Brody Salmon, which is being released on October 13.

More information:

  • Same Boat? will be launched on October 15th.  Sign up here.
  • To discuss the book or if you have media queries, email benp@church-poverty.org.uk
  • Challenge Poverty Week England and Wales runs from October 12 to 18. For more information, visit challengepoverty.co.uk

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Sheffield Church Action on Poverty 2020 Pilgrimage

Church Action on Poverty in Sheffield's annual Pilgrimage event will take place online, on 7 October.

For more than a decade, Sheffield Church Action on Poverty has organised an annual pilgrimage designed to raise awareness and understanding of how poverty is affecting people in Sheffield.

Each pilgrimage has involved a circular walk around a specific area of Sheffield, stopping at different faith-based initiatives which aim to reduce the effects of poverty in the city to hear about their work.

Changed circumstances mean that we can’t take you to the initiatives, so we are organising a ‘Virtual Pilgrimage’ to bring the initiatives to you.

We’re inviting you to take part by viewing short videos covering the work of several initiatives and then, if you want to ask questions or find out more, take part in a Zoom meeting with project organisers.

This year we’ll be visiting:

  • Help Us Help, an initiative to help the homeless and rough sleepers
  • Manor Church and Community Project
  • Parson Cross Initiative, PXI, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary
  • Attercliffe and Darnall Mission.

Be open to being challenged and changed by what you see and hear by viewing the videos and taking part in the Zoom conference.

The videos can be viewed now by clicking the link below. The Zoom meeting will take place on Wednesday 7 October at 7:30pm.

If you wish to attend the Zoom meeting please contact Briony Broome by clicking the button below, or call 07801 532954.

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The Collective, Episode 2 – Community responses

The second episode of The Collective, exploring Community responses to the crisis, is now online. Watch the full episode here:

The Collective is an hour of inspiring stories of collective action to promote dignity, agency and power.

In this episode we heard how communities in different parts of the country have been coming together to tackle the challenges posed by the Covid crisis.

Penny, who is based in Byker in Newcastle told us about how the mutual aid group there allowed members of the community to support each other, and how they’ve maintained a sense of pride and community spirit throughout the crisis.

From the North-East to the South West, Andrew told us about the Cornwall Independent Poverty Forum’s report, A Fair and Just Future for Cornwall, and how communities can speak truth to power.

Purple Shoots, who work with Self-Reliant Groups in South Wales and the south west of England, came up with a really creative way of building a sense of community between the groups this summer, even though they couldn’t meet in person – a virtual village show.

Gemma is a grassroots member of the Manchester Poverty Truth Commission. She talked about how they have been speaking truth to power and shared the Commission’s reflections about what we as a society should and should not accept as ‘normal’.

And finally, Matt Sowerby told us about the poetry anthology he has been helping put together called Same Boat. This is a collection of poems recording different people’s experiences during lockdown.

The next episode of The Collective will be 3rd November on Zoom and our Facebook page. It will explore issues surrounding disabilities and poverty.

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Niall Cooper's headshot, alongside the Yorkshire Post and Let's End Poverty logos.

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3 key ways we will be challenging poverty this autumn: Join us

This autumn, Church Action on Poverty will be working harder than ever to challenge poverty, and we hope you’re up for joining us in this urgent task.

By our director, Niall Cooper.

We will be joining with others on three national campaigns to speak truth to power over the next two months.  With others, we will be making the case for urgent Government action to ensure that the millions of families who have been swept into poverty and debt as a result of Covid 19 are offered a lifeline to keep them afloat through the rough seas ahead.

Quite literally, millions of people have been swept into poverty, unemployment and debt as a direct result of the economic impact of Covid 19. People who were previously able to keep their head above water are now in severe difficulty. Others, who had been just staying afloat, now face being overwhelmed by circumstances entirely beyond their control.

1: Rishi Sunak can provide struggling families with a lifeline

Amongst all the other measures the Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, has taken over the past months, few have been more important to struggling families than the extra £20 a week on the basic rate of Universal Credit.

This has been a lifeline for many families as they’ve struggled to get through the coronavirus storm.  However, it is due to end in April 2021, whipping the vital lifeline away. In October, the Chancellor has a chance to do the right thing and announce that hard pressed families will be able to keep the extra £20 a week on a permanent basis. 

2: Marcus Rashford: Speaking truth to power on child food poverty

As the schools re-open this week, there’s much more to be done to ensure children are able to focus on their studies – rather than having to worry about where their next meal is coming from.

It’s this goal – ending child food poverty in Britain – which Manchester United and England footballer, Marcus Rashford, now has in his sights.  Marcus himself grew up in poverty in Wythenshawe in south Manchester, and knew as a teenager what it was to go without food.  That is what is motivating him to speak truth to power

“Food poverty is contributing to social unrest,” he wrote, reflecting on a series of recent meetings with families in need of the same support he counted on as a child. He described “watching a young boy keeping it together whilst his mother sobbed alongside him, feeling like he has to step up to protect his family and alleviate some of that worry. He was nine years old.”

“I know that feeling,” he wrote. “I remember the sound of my mum crying herself to sleep to this day, having worked a 14-hour shift, unsure how she was going to make ends meet. That was my reality.”

Marcus is backing calls on the Chancellor, to fund the implementation of three key policy recommendations from the national food strategy, a Government-commissioned report highlighting huge economic and health inequalities, which will be aggravated by the coronavirus crisis. These include:

  • extending free school meals to all families in receipt of Universal Credit
  • rolling out the Holiday food and activities programme, designed to tackle the growing problem of ‘holiday hunger’ nationwide.

3: Challenge Poverty Week

The first ever Challenge Poverty Week in England and Wales will run from October 12th to 18th, modelled on the successful Challenge Poverty Week which has been running in Scotland for the past seven years.

Challenge Poverty Week will provide an opportunity to celebrate the work that a wide range of organisations are doing to challenge poverty across the country It aims to:

  • Raise voices in unison against poverty and show that we all want to live in a more just and compassionate country.  
  • Show what is already being done at community level to challenge and alleviate poverty.
  • Build awareness and support for long term solutions that focus on enhancing the dignity and agency of people in poverty themselves.  
  • Change the conversation around poverty and help end the stigma. 

The website will be launched in the next few days, but for now please follow our twitter feed, facebook page and instagram account.

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Church Action on Poverty North East 2020 AGM, 25 September

Has there been a faith response to COVID-19? Find out what's been happening around the North East.

Join our local group in the North East on Zoom for their 2020 Annual General Meeting.

Friday 25 September
2-4pm

Reflect on where we are now in the North East with

Revd Deirdre Brower Latz
Principal of Nazarene College Manchester
Facilitator for Church Action on Poverty’s ‘Church on the Margins’ programme in Manchester

Click below to send us an email and book your place; we will send you the Zoom link.

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Niall Cooper's headshot, alongside the Yorkshire Post and Let's End Poverty logos.

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Sheffield Poverty Update August 2020

Poverty Update is the regular newsletter of the local Church Action on Poverty group in Sheffield.

The August 2020 issue includes details of plans for a virtual Pilgrimage, and an in-depth article about food insecurity and social isolation. 

Our use of social media: an update

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Niall Cooper's headshot, alongside the Yorkshire Post and Let's End Poverty logos.

Let’s say what we truly want society to look like – Let’s End Poverty

Charity and church leaders call for urgent action on rising poverty in the UK and around the world

A Fair and Just Future for Cornwall

‘A Fair and Just Future for Cornwall’ serves as a guiding theme for 21 articles by key stakeholders from across business, faith and the voluntary sector, all of whom articulate their own particular vision of a better future for Cornwall as we emerge from lockdown. There is no attempt to find a common agenda and each author is speaking from their own perspective.

Click on the image to download the report.

In this guest blog, Gavin Barker of Cornwall Independent Poverty Forum shares what they hope the report will achieve. Church Action n Poverty’s partners at End Hunger Cornwall have played an active role in producing this report.

The pandemic is a turning point. The decisions we take now will frame the direction we go in and it is vital that Cornwall has a say over its own future. Too often, the most important decisions about our future are tied to a Westminster agenda that pays little attention to a local context. We want our MPs and council leaders to listen carefully to as wide a range of local voices as possible before taking important decisions. Each of the contributors has decades of experience and expertise in their respective roles. They have a deep understanding of the communities in which they live and serve and they deserve to be listened to.   

We want our MPs and council leaders to listen carefully to as wide a range of local voices as possible before taking important decisions.

The lead organisation is Cornwall Independent Poverty Forum  which has its base in Truro Diocese and the Revd Philip Mounstephen, Bishop of Truro has contributed an article. While our normal focus is poverty issues we felt it was vital to step outside our role and  reach out to as many  groups and organisations as possible, including the business community. 

There is a second purpose to this report and that is to trigger a   wider public conversation. We will be sharing this on social media and we will also be writing to different community groups as well as 20 town and parish councils and inviting them to read the report and share their own vision – what they want for their town and community as well as for Cornwall. Everyone should have a voice. 

Everyone should have a voice. 

It’s very easy for reports such as these to be ‘parked’. They make a brief media splash, our leaders and elected representatives nod their heads, make  positive noises,  a letter is sent to the local press and  everyone moves on.  

We do not want this to happen. We  are asking for a considered response from our MPs as well as council leaders and in three months’ time we will convene a meeting of all contributors to the report in order to share notes, any responses from MPs as well as discuss  next steps.  

Finally, in a year’s time we will gather together again and ask the question ‘What has changed?’ and we will use this report as a baseline by which to measure progress. The outcome of that process is likely to be a second report in answer to that question. The report will therefore be part of a rolling campaign as we all work to  bring  about a fairer, more inclusive and  sustainable future for Cornwall. 

SPARK newsletter winter 2021–22

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Niall Cooper's headshot, alongside the Yorkshire Post and Let's End Poverty logos.

Let’s say what we truly want society to look like – Let’s End Poverty

Charity and church leaders call for urgent action on rising poverty in the UK and around the world