Faith and community groups heard a resounding call to speak out about how poverty is affecting our communities, and join the new Let’s End Poverty movement, at the third Network of Kindness Cost of Living Assembly.

The event was co-hosted on-line by Together Liverpool, a social justice charity of the Diocese of Liverpool and the Church Urban Fund, with the Archdiocese of Liverpool’s social justice team, on November 16th.

Guest speaker Gareth McNab, Head of External Affairs for Christians Against Poverty (CAPUK), is a founding member of the Let’s End Poverty movement, which Together Liverpool is helping to facilitate locally following a UK-wide launch in October.

Gareth spoke about the roots of the crisis in poverty which has pushed 3.8 million people in to destitution in the UK including 1 million children (source: JRF).

Attendees heard further shocking statistics including that:

  • 28% of adults in the UK regularly skip meals because of poverty
  • a quarter of UK adults feel financially insecure
  • a third of UK adults regularly lose sleep over their financial position
  • 10% agree the cost of living has made them question whether it is worth living
  • 50% of CAPUK clients had considered or attempted suicide as a way out of debt

(Source: CAPUK)

Attendees were asked to reflect on Jesus’ example helping people in poverty thoughout the Bible, including passing out God’s principles of Jubilee to root out the causes of poverty, and reset socio-economic inequalities.

"We can pray, we can act, we can speak..."

The Assembly discussed responses to the current crisis beyond direct support for people experiencing poverty, including: to speak and pray about poverty in our churches and faith groups; to speak truth to power about the impact of poverty in our communities, and challenge unjust systems which keep people in poverty.

Gareth spoke following introductions from Rev James Green, Executive Director of Together Liverpool, and Pablo Guidi Catholic Social Action Coordinator for the Archdiocese, about their work helping equip and connect faith-based social action projects across Liverpool City Region.

Gareth offered encouragement for people to pray, speak and act to help end poverty in the UK, including asking those with wealth to share their generosity, and creating spaces in our churches and communities where people can express their anger out about the injustice of poverty.

He said: “We can pray. We've all been praying. We can act…” “We can act and we can speak and we can shout and we can let our anger out…”

“We can agree that we should end poverty. We can join the growing movements of organisations, faith-led, non-faith-led, diverse growing movement of people who are united behind a vision for a UK where poverty doesn't keep people trapped. Where poverty doesn't have people questioning the value of their lives. Where poverty isn't robbing children, their education or men and women, their marriages and their homes.

“We can just decide that we are not going to be quiet anymore. We're not going to be complicit in a society that tolerates poverty. We're not going to be church leaders that don't talk about politics. We're not going to be church attendees that let our church leaders not talk about politics. We're going to demand that poverty is something that people in our circles of friends and communities and so on talk about and see and don't walk past.

“We can be a group of people who aren't content with simply meeting needs in our communities, but are prepared to raise our voices to challenge the need for our services, to say why is it OK that 25 years ago there were two food banks in the UK and now there are 3,500 of them…

“It shouldn't be that way. Imagine if each of those buildings and each of the ten, twenty volunteers in each of those was actually working to love neighbours in ways that weren't just about helping them survive the winter. But were actually helping those communities thrive rather than survive.

“Imagine what kind of world we'd be living in if that kind of community power was focused on lifting people up to thrive rather than simply meeting the most basic needs to survive.”

Attendees to the assembly discussed a series of questions about the experience of poverty in our communities and ways to address this, reaching a consensus that:

  • Poverty is getting worse and current systems perpetuate this
  • Political policy change is essential to addressing poverty
  • Local churches can help empower their congregations and communities to speak out

Gareth summed up with encouragement for people to join the Let’s End Poverty movement if they felt a calling to be involved in this way: “I'm really proud of the beginnings of this work on Let's End Poverty. I'm sure some of you will have connected with the initial movement.

“The big idea is that it's not about what policies need to change. It's not about what party needs to be in power. It's about giving space for men and women like you and me and everyone on this call, and particularly those that we love, and work with who struggle against poverty every day.

“It's about connecting them with each other to say, look, your local work in Liverpool and my regional work based out of Yorkshire and the national work that I'm involved with in terms of our policy and public affairs work, how do we connect all of that to show people in political power that you must have an answer for poverty if you expect our vote? You must say what you would do about it and commit to fund it if you want our vote.

“If enough of us raise our voice and connect our work one with another, we can show people in political power that there is more that they need to be doing than simply using words…

“We want to see heaven come to earth. And we haven't realised that until we've challenged everybody's tolerance of poverty.”

Together Liverpool helped launch the 'Lets End Poverty' movement in the Liverpool City Region in October, St Andrew’s Community Network and the Joint Public Issues Team (JPIT). You can join the Network of Kindness to stay updated – this is free and open for people of all faiths and none.

Let’s End poverty Movement – how to get involved

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