church action on poverty 2011 annual review

7/30/2019 Church Action on Poverty 2011 annual review

1/8

annual review2011

Where is thechurchtoday?

Theworldisinaprettyperilousstate andthethingthatiscausin

gmostotheangstisthestateotheworld

economy.Weseepeopleacrosstheworldsettingupanti-capita

listprotestcampsinmajor townsandcities.The

campoutsideLondonsStPaulsCathedralhascausedtheChurchoEnglandaew headaches,asthiscathedr

alis

seenasatouristattractionandpeoplegladlypaymoneytoenterit

. Someothismoneyischangedintostocksand

sharesinnancialmarketswhichshould remindus othestor

ywhereJesusenteredthetempleandthrewout

themoney-changers.

ChurchActiononPovertyisrunningacampaigntoClosetheGap

betweenrichandpoor,

andbuild asocietythatis moreequalhealthier,happier,saeran

dairer.Thepeoplewho

areprotestingoutsideStPaulsandinothertownsandcitiesacross

theworldhavethe

sameaim.

Itisuptothechurchinallitsormstomakehervoiceheardinsocie

ty today,and

rememberthesegreatwords:Comorttheafictedandafictthe

comortable.

Revd LewisRoseischair ofChurchAction onPoverty


2/8

sustainable livelihoodsWe aim to enable people in poverty to develop more sustainable livelihoods: incomesecurity and paid employment which promotes dignity and justice.

Last year, our local partner organisation in Stockton-on-Tees, Thrive, uncovered hugedissatisaction amongst customers with the actions o a high-cost lending company, high credit charges, poor customer service, lack o transparency in what customersowed and so on.

Most local projects would respond by encouraging customers to get help rom thelocal Citizens Advice Bureau and seek redress on an individual basis. But having beentrained in community organising, the response o Thrives community leaders was to

challenge the way the company itsel operated at the very top.With our help, local people produced a spoo TV advert (www.ripotv.net), which w

watched by over 1,000 people on YouTube. Our supporters in churches across the countthen emailed and telephoned the companys chie executive, politely demanding that hmeet with Thrive to respond to their concerns.

Finally the boss agreed to fy his senior management team rom Cardi to Stockton, tomeet with six o his customers. Far rom nding conrontation, he accepted the concerns osome o his most long-standing customers, and acceded to all o Thrives demands. Not onlythat he agreed to work with Thrive to bring together a roundtable o high-cost lenders alowith the Oce o Fair Trading to build consensus within the industry on a way orward. Throundtable, chaired by the Bishop o Ripon and Leeds, has now met three times, and willshortly be agreeing an industry-wide code or responsible lending, which will benet morethan a million people on low incomes who are customers o high cost lending companies.

www.thrive-stockton.org.uk

Church Action on Poverty actively supported the European Year or Combating Povertand Social Exclusion, running Listening Campaigns in Yorkshire and the North West,and working in partnership with Community Links on a national programme oactivities ocused on tackling working-age poverty.

Over 45 people attended training events on participation, leadership andempowerment in Manchester, Bolton, Leeds and Hull. A urther 24 people attendedspecialist media training events in Manchester and Leeds. 18 local groups across Yorksh

and the North West were supported to undertake local listening campaigns in theircommunities.

We undertook research into the impact o the extra costs o poverty on the lives olow-income amilies in Yorkshire. This involved in-depth interviews with 17 amilies inthe village o Goldthorpe, South Yorkshire. The research was carried out in partnershipwith South Yorkshire Credit Union, and written up in the reportPaying Over the Odds?

Real-life experiences of the poverty premium, which was launched at the YorkshireRegional EY2010 Assembly in December 2010.

There was an opportunity or all those who had taken part to come to our end-o-year Assemblies in Manchester and Bradord, eaturing presentations and stories romthose taking part in the year, including a specially commissioned participatory dramaby WatersEdge Arts in Manchester, involving seven actors who themselves had directpersonal experience o poverty and exclusion.

european year for combating poverty

thrive

Its great to seeordinary people

making a dierenceand becoming

extraordinary people

20 a week wouldbe like winning the

lottery oh, the thingsId spend it on, clearing

debt to start with


3/8

sustainable livelihoo

Thriveisopentoeverybody.

Weallhaveavoice,

andweshoulduseit.

ThrivecommunityleaderKathCarterreceivedaSheilaMcKechnieFoundationcampaigningawardforheworkonThrivesRip-offTVcampaign(seeopposite).HeresheiswithChanne4newscasterJonSnow,receivingheraward.


4/8

a voice to people inpovertyWe want all poor and marginalised people to have an effective voice in shaping decisionwhich affect their lives.

TheOvertoYOUthprojectinFierecentlydemonstratedthepoweroparticipatorybudgetingtogivepeopleavoice.TheprojectwasopentoyoungpeopleromacrossGlenrothesanareawhichacessomeotheworstdeprivationandpovertyinScotland. ThpictureshowsrepresentativesromGlenrothesHigh,alocalschoolwhichtookpart.Ataspecialevent,youngpeoplepresentedtheirideasorprojectstomakeGlenrothesabettplaceoryoungpeopleandthecommunity.Eachprojectwasconsideredandthentherewasaveryinteractive speeddatingsession thechancetogetafnalpointoverorhaveaprojectscrutinised.Voteswerethencastusingrealballotboxesyoucouldnotvoteoryourownproject.11groupsreceivedundingthroughtheproject,andmeetingswereorganisedtohelptheunsuccessulgroupstosecureundingorsupportelsewhere.

Itshowsthatyoungpeople

areverycapable

ofcomingupwithideas

andmorethanwillingtoget

involvedindecision-making


5/8

Our Community Pride Unit (CPU) continues to work in North West England.We aim to increase levels o consultation, civic activism and participation, and take-up

o community leadership roles. We want citizens particularly those rom marginalisedand disadvantaged communities to build the skills and condence they need toparticipate in society. We equip people to press or change that helps their communitiesto grow socially, economically and politically.

CPU played a leading role in the Salord Take Part programme, building the skillsand condence o local people in Salord so they can pursue civic activism, communityleadership and lay governance roles. We have helped people and organisations tounderstand and overcome the barriers to participation. Community developmentworkers in Salord say our approach is unique in enabling participants to direct their ownagenda truly bottom-up.

www.communitypride.org.uk

We have developed and consolidated our community organising initiatives in Manchesterand Stockton (see the previous section on Thrive). We are helping local people to gain theskills and condence to build a sustainable citizens organisation, and to act publicly andeectively on their issues to bring about positive change in their communities.

Action by local people, supported by our team and publicised by mainstream media,can be a powerul and eective combination in bringing about change or disadvantagedand marginalised people.

We helped carers in Manchester to run a Carers Hearing and get major concessionsrom public sector managers about carers being involved in the design and delivery oservices or carers and their charges. We also supported tenants in Collyhurst to organisea major public event where they persuaded councillors and MPs to secure the unds orurgent and long overdue building repairs. www.changemakersmanchester.org

www.participatorybudgeting.org.

Our Participatory Budgeting Unit has continued to encourage and support thedevelopment o participatory budgeting (PB) initiatives across the UK enabling local

people to infuence decisions about the spending o public money. The number o localPB places is now in the region o 150, and it has continued to spread to new sectors andmodels.

PB has an impressive capacity to mobilise large and diverse numbers o people inmeeting together (oten or the rst time), listening to each other, understanding theirperspectives and taking decisions in the interests o the community as a whole. It is notuncommon or several hundred local people to attend PB events.

PB has eatured in two articles in the Guardian and in two Radio 4 programmes, aswell as generating signicant local news coverage. It has continued to be reerred toavourably by government ministers. A case study based on two residents rom Mantonis to be included in the revised version o a highly successul book on communitydevelopment by Proessor Margaret Ledwith.

changemakers

community pride

participatory budgeting

a voice to people in pover


6/8

We now have over 100 groups committed to meet regularly with their MPs, and holdthem accountable or their actions to tackle poverty.

This ongoing engagement is now a vital part o our campaigns. During the year,we have brieed the groups regularly on important issues, and they have had reallyproductive meetings with MPs. The Network has helped ensure the successul launch oan All-Party Parliamentary Group on Poverty.

www.church-poverty.org.uk/mp

This year saw the launch o a major new campaign which will be our key ocus in thenext three years. We are mobilising churches to Give, Act and Pray together to Close theGap between rich and poor. We know that together, we can build a more equal society.Happier. Healthier. Saer. Fairer.

The campaign is enthusiastically supported by numerous national churches and otherChristian organisations. We have already recorded thousands o Pledges to Give, Act and

Pray in support o the campaign calls: Fair Taxes, Fair Pay, Fair Prices and a Fair Say.

www.church-poverty.org.uk/closethegap

mobilising churchesWe mobilise churches to work with others to overcome poverty. We want thechurches to actively promote a bias to the poor, both internally and externally.

www.actionweek.org.uk

For Poverty & Homelessness Action Week 2011, we asked churches across the UK totackle prejudice and ignorance around poverty and exclusion by running events andservice on the theme Who Counts?

As well as worship and event resources, or the rst time we also produced a prayercalendar with video stories and ideas or urther action, which was widely used. ActionWeek becomes larger every year this time, over 200 events took place. Thousands onew people become supporters o our work as a result o taking part in Action Week. It

also leads to the creation o vital new projects and initiatives in many churches.

action week

mp accountability network

close the gap

Our local groups have a direct impact on poverty at grassroots level.In 201011, our Barnsley group set up an award-winning Starter Packs project. Our

Northern Ireland group launched the Heat or Eat appeal which raised vital unds tohelp people aected by uel poverty. On Merseyside, our local group set up a QuestionTime event and challenged local MPs to act on poverty issues. The North East group rana project with young people looking at Barriers to Employment. And in Sheeld, thegroup helped to coordinate Christian campaigns against spending cuts.

Find your own local group at www.church-poverty.org.uk/groups

Our Northern Ireland group launch thHeat or Eat? appeal

local groups


7/8

TheGodwhomeetsusin

Jesus

callsustomeetandserveeachother,

yetthegapbetweenthewelloffandthep

hasbecomesowidethatfewbridgeit

InJanuary,churchleadersofmanydenominationsgatheredinWestminsterandmadeapublicPledgeosupportforourcampaigntoClosetheGap.TheyhandedinalettertoDavidCameron,expressingtheircommitmenttoClosetheGapbetweenrichandpoor,andaskingabouttheCoalitioGovernmentsplanstodothesame.Theystated:Weconsideritisourdutytospeakuponbehalothepoorestandmostvulnerableespeciallyatatimewhentheyaresueringtheconsequencesotheeconomiccrisisandpublicspendingcuts.Lettoright:FrancesBallin(NationalJusticeandPeaceNetwork);

PaulMarriott(DePaulUK);KateGreenMP;JamesNorth(FreeChurchesJointPublicIssuesTeam);RevdSivakumarRajagopalan(BaptistUnion);RtRevdThomasMcMahon(RCBishopoBrentwood);RtRevdDavidWalker(CoEBishopoDudley);Christy-AnnaErrington(MethodistYouthPresident); AlanThornton(ChurchActiononPoverty);RevdLeoOsborn(PresidentoMethodistConerence)

mobilising church


8/8

FinanceWhere our money came rom in 201011Grants 689,784

Donations 79,551

Campaigns and events 37,030

Membership subscriptions 50,767

Bank interest 121

Total 857,253

What we spent it onFundraising 32,609

Governance 10,691

Thrive 50,703

European Year or Combating Poverty 96,927

Community Pride 160,769

ChangeMakers 156,294

Participatory budgeting 266,752

Close the Gap 12,118

Action Week 5,166

Campaigns, events and other projects 129,559

Total 921,588

Support our vital workwww.church-poverty.org.uk/give

AcknowledgementsCouncil o Management 201011Frances Ballin, Elspeth Brighton, KathleenCarter, Jenny Cooke, Millicent Dews, Julie Green,Helen Hood, Alison Jackson, Bandi Mbubi,Norbert Mbu-Mputu, Brian ONeill, Lewis Rose,Adrian Smith, Rose Tyrrell, Jackie Worthington.

Sta and volunteers 201011Mary Akumu, Ade Arogundade, MuhammadBhana, Daisy Black, Oluwadunni Boyinbode,Greg Brown, Niall Cooper, Roland Dale, SarahDumpleton, Chinenuye Ejioor, Liz Firth,

Geo Fletcher, Janet Gee, Christina Gonzales,Amanda Hewitt, Ruth Jackson, Andrea Jones,Ocia Koranteng, Jenny Lazarus, Hannah Lucas,Helen McNally, Sebastian Morello, ChaloMvula, Liam Purcell, Olive Sabiiti, Adam Sharpe,Lorraine Shaw, Anne Stewart, David Stott, AlanThornton, George Waterhouse, Mark Waters,.

FundersOur work is made possible by the generoussupport o many partners, donors and unders,including:Baptist Union, Church Urban Fund, Departmentor Communities and Local Government,Department or Work and Pensions, Faiths inAction, Friends Provident Foundation, John LaingCharitable Trust, Joseph Rowntree CharitableTrust, MB Reckitt Trust, The Methodist Church,National Lottery Awards or All, Oxam, UnitedReormed Church, and Waterside Trust.

Find out more and get involved

at www.church-poverty.org.uk!Dale House, 35 Dale Street, Manchester M1 2HF

Telephone 0161 236 9321 Fax 0161 237 5359

[email protected]

@churchpoverty

acebook.com/churchpoverty

Company limited by guarantee, registered in England and Wales, number 3780243.Registered charity number 1079986.

church action on poverty 2011 annual review

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