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autumn 2010

We’re listening
 Your letters to the Prime Minister
 European Year for Combating
Poverty and Social Exclusion
 The Budget and public spending
cuts: is it fair?

September newsletter.indd 1 13/09/2010 16:47:18

 bridging 3–4 December, Manchester
In difficult times, it is vital that the
poorest and most vulnerable people in
the citizens society have a say in the decisions that
affect them. And it is the responsibility

gap organising of the church to stand in solidarity with

those people.

together Our practical approaches could help

your church to work with people in

to tackle
poverty to make a difference. Come and
find out about Schools of Participation,
broad-based community organising,

poverty participatory budgeting, online

campaigning and more.

and social Together, we have a stronger voice.

Together, we can build a fairer society.

annual exclusion
Together, we can tackle poverty.

conference
Book your place now!
Use the flyer in this mailing,
2010 visit http://bit.ly/bridgingthegap,
or call 0161 236 9321 ext 1.

Who Counts?
Saturday 29 January – Sunday 6 February 2011
In the year of the census...
Who counts in society? Who does the counting?
Who decides who is included and who is excluded?
Who has a voice? Whom do we value and why?
Who counts in God’s eyes?

Run an event with free resources

Pray, act and give with our calendar

www.actionweek.org.uk

September newsletter.indd 2 13/09/2010 16:47:24


is it fair?
Church Action on Poverty’s National
Coordinator Niall Cooper explains why we’re
calling for a ‘Fairness Test’ – and how we’re
B
listening to people in poverty.
ack in May, the
Government made a
commendable com-
mitment to fairness,
and specifically to
protecting the poorest and most
vulnerable from public spend-
ing cuts. Lib Dem Minister Steve
Webb outlines some of their
plans for tackling persistent
poverty on page 7. Yet sadly, the
Emergency Budget is already
hitting families with children
hardest, and the poorest families
are set to lose most.
The Public Spending Review
in October is likely to announce
major cuts to welfare, and other
public services. The consequenc-
es will be dire for many. If cuts
are needed, they should be tar-
geted at those with the capacity
to bear them, rather than those
who are already struggling.
This is why we are back-
ing calls for the Government
to introduce a ‘Fairness Test’, to
in this issue
4 News and events
5 Campaigns
Switching off the TV
rip-off; Living Ghosts and
Living Wage updates
7 Feature
We’re listening
– Government plans for
poverty; our listening
campaigns; your letters to
the Prime Minister
September newsletter.indd 3
3
assess the impact of proposed
tax rises or spending cuts on Church Action on
inequality of income, assets and
access to services.
Poverty
Alongside this, we continue Dale House
the vital work of ensuring that 35 Dale Street
the voices of those affected by Manchester
poverty and exclusion are heard. M1 2HF
This edition of Spark features our T: 0161 236 9321
grassroots Listening Campaign F: 0161 237 5359
(pages 8–9) and the ‘Dear Prime E: info@church-poverty.org.uk
Minister’ letters we’ve been gath- W: www.church-poverty.org.uk
ering from our supporters (page Registered Charity no 1079986
10). The front cover shows some of Company no 3780243
the striking visual messages peo-
ple contributed at the Greenbelt
festival this summer!
But we all have a responsibil-
get involved!
ity to speak out about injustice.  Become a member
Already, over 70 churches and Use the form on page 16
groups have signed up for our MP  Join us on Facebook
Accountability Network – to hold http://tinyurl.com/
our MPs to account for their own capfacebook
commitment to fairness and to  Follow us on Twitter
protecting the poorest. http://twitter.com/
You are most welcome to join churchpoverty
us in this task!  Get email news updates
http://bit.ly/cap_enews
 Join the Close the Gap
e-action network
http://bit.ly/
11 Supporters closethegap_signup
MP Accountability
Network update
12 In progress
act now!
About our Community  Call on churches to pay a
Pride Unit Living Wage!
See page 6 and use the
14 Partners and allies enclosed postcard.
New Zealand and  Join the MP Accountability
inequality; poverty in Network!
Scotland See page 11
16 Prayer and worship
A prayer for listening
13/09/2010 16:47:35
 spark news from Church Action on Poverty autumn 2010
news
Thrive helps people to
manage their money
Our Thrive project in Stockton-
on-Tees has been exploring how
our Sustainable Livelihoods
approach can help people deal
with financial exclusion and
debt.
Thrive carried out a one-year
research project, funded by the
Friends Provident Foundation
and the Eaga Partnership
Trust. We used our Sustainable
Livelihoods approach to iden-
tify people’s strengths, assets
and needs. We helped them to
use ‘social capital’ – their rela-
tionships with the community
around them – to deal with debt
problems and manage their
finances better.
You can download the sum-
mary report from the work at
http://bit.ly/livelihoodsreport
– or call 0161 236 9321 ext 1 and
request a copy.
events
Responsible Credit UK
Convention
19 October, London
A major conference for people
interested in debt, financial
exclusion and affordable credit.
Covering: lessons of the crisis for
credit regulation, tackling over-
indebtedness and dealing with
debt; financial education; and
crediting local communities.
Find out more at
www.responsible-credit.org.
uk/events.
September newsletter.indd 4
A recent meeting
of the Thrive Welfare and tax: who are
Project the real cheats?
Over the summer, the Coalition
Government announced a series
of welfare reforms and initia-
tives, focusing on hunting down
benefit ‘cheats’ and withdrawing
or reducing the benefits paid
to particular groups of peo-
ple. Church Action on Poverty
10 Years On: Participatory
Budgeting and the Big
Society
9 November, London
A one-day conference hosted
by our Participatory Budgeting
(PB) Unit. We will celebrate the
successes of PB in the UK over
the past 10 years, and look to the
future to explore how PB can
involve people in difficult spend-
ing decisions.
Call 0161 236 9321 ext 2 or see
http://bit.ly/pbconference2010
for more information.
shared the widespread concern
that these measures will make
life harder for many vulnerable
people, and stigmatise everybody
who claims benefits. One Church
Action on Poverty supporter
who is on benefits commented:
“The constant message from
both media and politicians that
someone on benefits is probably
just a lazy scrounger feeds into
people’s reactions in real life... [I
feel] I have no right to my own
life but am regarded as public
property.”
Many groups have pointed
out that the Coalition’s policies
are penalising people in poverty
much more than the wealthy.
Some researchers estimate that
the impact of cuts on people in
poverty will be 10 times higher
than on high earners. For a full
article exploring these issues,
see www.church-poverty.org.
uk/news/allinthistogether.
Bridging the Gap
3–4 December, Manchester
Church Action on Poverty’s
annual conference, combined
with a regional assembly to report
on our work for the European
Year to Combat Poverty and
Social Exclusion, and the annual
assembly of our Manchester
ChangeMakers project.
Use the enclosed flyer or call
0161 236 9321 ext 1 to book your
place today.
13/09/2010 16:47:45
 campaigns
switching off the TV
rip-off
We have achieved an exciting campaign success by bringing together one of our
grassroots projects with our nationwide network of passionate supporters in
churches. Greg Brown, the worker at our Thrive project, reports on progress so
O
far.
ur Thrive project in
Stockton-on-Tees
recently success-
fully targeted a
notorious com-
pany that charges low-income
households more for household
appliances and furniture. The
story shows how we used many
of Church Action on Poverty’s
distinctive approaches to ensure
people experiencing poverty
are at the forefront of winning
changes.
For over a year, local people
on Teesside did some in-depth
household interviews about
how people survive, using
the Sustainable Livelihoods
approach. This framework
unearths the grassroots real-
ity of poverty that many other
research studies don’t get to.
We found that a quarter of
the people we talked with were
paying a lot to a company called
Buy As You View for furniture
and appliances – by putting
coins in a slot on the side of their
TV.
Our ChangeMakers pro-
gramme, which uses community
organising techniques, provided
a great way to work out how to
engage with the company and its
boss, Graham Clarke. We got over
1,000 of our supporters and other
concerned people to watch a
short funny film (www.ripofftv.
net) that clearly identified the
September newsletter.indd 5
5
issues, and followed them with a
quick action to email the compa-
ny’s Chief Executive. Hundreds
of people contacted him, and he
agreed to meet with us. At first
he was reluctant to talk with
some of his 100,000 customers,
so we asked supporters to ring
him on the day he was due to be
meeting us. This was enough to
get him up to Stockton with his
executives for the meeting.
He has turned out to be very
receptive and respectful to our Rip-off TV: a scene from our comedy TV advert
concerns and the ideas we put
forward. He admitted he had
some of the same concerns and
made promises to progress on Sheila, one of the BAYV customers who took part
some on key issues. Our mem- in the action, said:
bers felt very satisfied at the end He [Graham Clarke, the CEO!] wrote back to us
of the meeting and we are now within a week or so. He also checked that I wasn’t
in a really constructive dialogue charged any warranty... He phoned me up ... “I’ve
with him. In fact they say they got your account in front of me” ... and told me
are keen to work with us to “You’re not paying 56 pound, you’re paying 40”.
talk to the government about I said, “Don’t get me wrong: I’m fighting for peo-
extortionate and irresponsible ple who’ve been with you for years and years and
lending. years (as opposed to those who are new and are
Thank you for all your excel- taking the mick out of the company).” Mr Clarke
lent backing – real change can be said. “I truly understand that.” As I said, as long as
achieved with the right pressure. it helps other people.
Basically, I thought, well with a large company like
that ... you’re pissing against the wind, whereas
you’ve been forceful – we can get the TV involved.
I think you did a good job.
The way [Buy As You View] went into it – they’re
all over [the country], so to be able to do that [get
a result], at the end of the day, you’ve got to put
your hands up ... it took a handful of people to get
Find out about Thrive at
them to fly in from wherever they came from.”
www.thrive-stockton.org.uk
13/09/2010 16:47:49
 spark news from Church Action on Poverty autumn 2010

students live as refugees!

Kate Dziubinska
Dziubinska, member of a Youth St Vincent De Paul group at St Mary’s school
in Blackpool, took our Endurance Challenge: for five days, she lived on the food
and money available to people seeking asylum. Here are some excerpts from
the Food Diary she used to record her experiences during the week:

Monday 10 May 17.10 Friday 14 May 19:27

I’ve rationed out all my food for the next week
and organised every meal/snack – HEHE – at the
I learned moment I feel excited and mature about it – let’s
see how long that lasts!!! I’ve just realised that I
how hard have several food for thought revision classes after
it must be school, so I’ll have to do three hours of solid work to
for people come home to rice and kidney beans… YAY…
being Tuesday 11 May 20:03
sent back OMG!!! Break was a disaster – I nearly chucked
home when I ate the carrot (yes singular – I couldn’t even
eat one!) It was disgusting and I’ve been hungry all
day! ... I can’t wait for proper food.
I’ve finished!!! At 3:15 today, I was set free from my
food stash and rewarded with Jaffa Cakes and dairy
milk at RS revision class… It was heaven! Yum yum.
I’m so glad I’ve finished and although there were
some good times, overall it was disgusting!
Overall
The most important thing I have gained from the
experience is the understanding of how hard it
must be for those being sent back home. It was
tough enough for me to live off a boxful of food,
but to be under the stress of government always
watching you and knowing you’re returning to a
war-torn/terrible country is really unimaginable!

methodists lead the way

Our Campaigns Officer Alan Thornton explains how you can help make sure
that all of our churches pay a Living Wage.
This summer the Methodist
act now! Conference agreed to require all
We’ve enclosed a postcard you Methodist churches and projects
can send to the bishop in your to pay the Living Wage by the
diocese, asking them to make sure end of the financial year, except
church workers are paid the Living in exceptional circumstances.
Wage. This has lifted a significant
You can check who the bishops number of lay workers out of in-
are in your area at www.crock- work poverty.
ford.org.uk/68 for Anglicans, or Not far behind, the Baptists,
http://bit.ly/catholicbishops for the United Reformed Church,
Catholics. the Church of Scotland, and
If you’re not an Anglican the Society of Friends are all
or Catholic, please pass publicly committed to the
the postcard on to principle. However, the two
someone who is! largest denominations – Roman
Catholic and Church of England
– still have not made serious steps towards respect-
ing their low-paid workers with a Living Wage.
about the living wage
Every summer, Loughborough University’s
Centre for Research in Social Policy works out the
Minimum Income Standard using thorough and
rigorous research. They base the figure on what
a typical couple working full-time, with two chil-
dren in paid childcare, need to earn in order not
to fall below a minimum living standard.
As of summer 2010, they both need to be paid
at least £7.60 per hour.
For more information on how the Living Wage
is calculated, read our briefing: download it at
www.church-poverty.org.uk/campaigns/living-
wage or call 0161 236 9321 and ask for a copy.

September newsletter.indd 6 13/09/2010 16:48:00

 feature: we’re listening
tackling persistent
poverty
There is a lot of concern about the Coalition Government’s planned public
spending cuts, and their likely impact on people in poverty (see page 4). We
asked Steve Webb MP, the Liberal Democrat Minister for Pensions, to outline
how the Coalition Government intends to protect the poorest from the effects
T
of cuts.
oo many people in our society face
poverty not as a temporary phenom-
enon but as permanent feature of their
daily lives. Latest estimates from the
Government suggest that more than
one in 10 people live in what is defined as ‘persist-
ent’ poverty, and tackling this is a key challenge for
the new Coalition Government.
Tackling poverty is made all the more diffi-
cult by a structural budget deficit independently
confirmed as being £12 billion worse than was pre-
viously thought. But despite this we have already
been able to take some important steps forward.
A first priority was to relink the basic state pen-
sion to earnings. For more than 30 years the value
of the pension was allowed to decline. But from
April 2011 the basic state pension will be uprated by
the highest of earnings, prices, or 2.5%.
And to ensure that those who need it most
are supported, most of the poorest pensioners
on Pension Credit will benefit from the full cash
increase in their basic state pension next year.
Whilst the longer-term goal is a decent state
pension, I know there are too many people now not
claiming the help they are entitled too. If you know
friends or family who could be
eligible for Pension Credit, encour-
age them to apply by ringing the
free Pension Credit hotline on 0800
99 1234.
For people of working age there
are concerns that a soaring benefits
bill has not made the sort of dent in
poverty that it should. For exam-
ple, year after year, the Housing
Benefit bill has risen remorselessly,
with most of the money ultimately
benefiting landlords through
higher rents rather than tenants
through better housing.
September newsletter.indd 7
7
A cap on housing benefit payments will mean that
those on benefit face the same difficult choices about
where to live and how much rent they can afford that
already face people who are in lower-paid employ-
ment. But if the result of the reforms is that we can
rein in the endless rise in rent levels, then this in turn
will make it more possible for people to find jobs that
actually enable them to pay their rent, instead of
being priced out of the jobs market altogether. And
where the changes will cause particular hardship, we
will be tripling the budget for Discretionary Housing
Payments to £60 million a year so that local authori-
ties can help those most in need.
In summer 2009, Where people are helping, often behind the
Church Action scenes, that effort should be recognised. That’s why
on Poverty
I am so keen to ensure that the army of ‘hidden
in Sheffield
persuaded Nick carers’ who look after a sick or elderly relative for 20
Clegg MP to hours or more a week can benefit from the Carer’s
sign our Get Fair Credit, introduced this April, which can help them
Poverty Pledge. build up a state pension.
Now that the
In the longer term, a key goal of the Coalition
Liberal Democrats
are in power, Government is to reform the benefits and tax
how does he credits system to make sure that work pays and
propose to keep that people who do make the leap from benefits
that pledge? and into work can be confident that they will be
better off as a result. Too often, the
system can trap people on benefit
– or abandon them on it, in the
case of many long-term recipients
of incapacity benefit.
Trying to shake things up
will cause disruption and will be
doubly difficult against a tight
financial backdrop. But I believe
that we do no-one any favours if
we allow the benefits bill to soar
without ensuring that the system
is helping and rewarding people
rather than standing in their way.
13/09/2010 16:48:03
 spark news from Church Action on Poverty autumn 2010

we’re listening …
2010 is the European Year for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion.
As part of this, Church Action on Poverty has been running training and
listening events across North West England and Yorkshire & Humber. We
want to hear from the grassroots about the real problems and challenges
which face people in poverty. Here are reports from just two of the events
that have happened so far:

Demanding action for carers Tough times ahead for people on

During the last 12 months, our
Manchester ChangeMakers
project has been working
with carers whose relatives
have a ‘dual diagnosis’ – that
is, mental health issues together with an alcohol
or substance abuse problem. The work resulted in
a public hearing on 20 May, attended by over 120
people.
Carers were able to put their demands directly
to power-holders – medical and social service pro-
fessionals. They raised issues including disclosure
agreements, risk assessments and awareness-rais-
ing. Power-holders agreed to all these demands, and
promised to work closely with carers in future.
The carers’ experience highlighted the need for
direct citizen participation as opposed to simply
being invited into the space of the professionals.
These carers do not feel that their specific needs
are being addressed by existing consultations.
The hearing was a powerful way of ensuring their
voices are heard.
Find out more about this work and other
ChangeMakers actions at
www.changemakersmanchester.org.uk
benefits
Kirkby Unemployed Centre on Merseyside held a
listening event in July. It brought together a range
of welfare advisers and others from the Knowsley
and Kirkby area, all working closely with people
on low incomes and familiar with the problems
they face. In a series of discussions and workshops,
people shared stories of the issues they helped their
clients to deal with. By the end of the morning, they
had identified a number of issues that they want to
see tackled, including:
 Work must pay. Too many people are trapped on
benefits because the only jobs available are so
low-paid that they would leave people worse off
 In some families and communities, there is a
culture of worklessness which may extend back
for two or three generations. This makes it very
difficult for people to see the value of working.
 For people who are in work, hours are being
reduced, and there is a mounting pressure to
borrow, consume and generally live beyond your
means.
See some local people sharing their stories on video
at http://bit.ly/kuclistening.

Find out more People can’t get a job unless

We’re listening carefully to the
issues uncovered at all the EY2010
listening events. They’ll lead to they’ve got a bank account,
new campaigning work, training
for grassroots organisations, and
awareness-raising in the media. To
and the banks won’t give
them a bank account
find out more, visit www.church-
poverty.org.uk/projects/ey2010.
Or come along to ‘Bridging the John May, KUC and Kn
unless they’ve got a job
Gap’ on 3–4 December – booking owsley
Mutual Credit Union
form with this newsletter!

September newsletter.indd 8 13/09/2010 16:48:12

 feature: we’re listening 9

... nationwide!
As well as our own regional programmes, we are working in partnership with
Community Links to run a national listening campaign looking at working-
age poverty. Gary Blake from Community Links reports on the first stage of
this work: supporting community organisations around the country to hold

T
listening events.
he listening events started in May and have been running
around the country right through the summer. The organi-
sations that have held events include an unemployed
workers’ centre in Derby, an African community centre in
Swansea, a community association in Birmingham and a
group of mental health carers in the Midlands.
Over 25 of these listening events have happened around the UK,
bringing together people with direct experience of poverty to uncover
some of the issues and myths around work and poverty in their area.
Here is some feedback from some of the events:

 Last week I was meant to go to college but couldn’t afford the

childcare. I was asked for £160 deposit, where am I going to find
Unemployed
this? A listening event at Derbyshire
 People need a DECENT wage, not one that is made up of benefits, Centre
there needs to be an increase in the level of the minimum wage.
 Asylum-seekers should be allowed to work, they can’t survive
on £30 per week. By them working it would help them integrate
A listening event at Barton Hill
more and learn English. Asylum-seekers may wait six to seven Settlement in
Bristol
years before getting permission to stay, because of this asylum-
seekers are forced into working illegally.”
 I have been living here now for 10 years, and me and my children
have to rely on money sent to me from my family in Nigeria to
survive.
 People at the Job Centres sometimes make you feel that it is
their money and you are made to feel that you are begging.
 I was told by someone at the Job Centre: you are too old and
you’ve got something wrong with you, you’ve got no chance of
getting a job.
 You are told to eat five fruit and veg a day, how can you do this
on benefits? I only have enough money to buy processed food.
 Living on benefits causes people to have mental health problems;
you can’t socialise normally and can’t afford to eat well.
 I’ve been on crisis loans for 15 weeks as my incapacity benefits
stopped without warning, I only knew they had stopped when
I went to withdraw money from a cash machine to pay for my
food shopping. It took more than two months for me to get a let-
ter telling me it had been stopped.
Find out more
Watch our video with more stories and com-
 Create a hub with employment and welfare advice so it is more
ments at http://bit.ly/workingagepovertyvideo.
easily accessible for parents. Job Centres should do more out-
You can also read more feedback from these
reach and be more supportive and accommodating. They need to
listening events and add your own comments,
be proactive, offering tailored support. There should be options
ideas and suggestions at www.community-links.
for people to chose where they want to go to get help.
org/our-national-work/listening-campaigns.

September newsletter.indd 9 13/09/2010 16:48:31

 spark news from Church Action on Poverty autumn 2010
dear prime minister...
Since the General Election, hundreds of Church Action on Poverty’s friends and
supporters have joined in our special action, and written letters to the Coalition
Government. Each one highlighted three things that must be done to tackle
UK poverty. Our Communications Manager Liam Purcell presents a few of the
messages you sent, under a number of key themes.
Welfare and benefits
 Amend the stringent targets benefit advisers
have to meet with regard to the work capability
test for Employment and Support Allowance.
 Replace means-tested benefits with a citizens’
income.
 A benefits system that does not penalise recipi-
ents (typically some benefit rules result in a £1
loss on every £1 of income generated, represent-
ing a 100% tax rate!) while being paid benefits,
and which has a taper built into it, so that the
movement off benefits into paid work does not
produce a sudden loss of income.
Debt and credit
 Set a legal cap on interest rates so those forced
to resort to doorstep lenders and pay-per-view
companies are less likely to be dragged down
into levels of debt that are impossible to clear
just to provide themselves with basic necessi-
ties of modern life.
 To ensure that children from disadvantaged
backgrounds are given every possible help in
receiving personalised help in education so that
they do not remain at a disadvantage for the
rest of their lives. They should be given every
possible opportunity to discover their gifts and
capabilities and the education process be more
adaptable to accommodate their needs.
what next?
You can read more of the messages that we’ve
received on a blog at http://dearpm.wordpress.com.
We’re collating all the messages, and they’ll be deliv-
ered to the Government during the autumn. We’ll
also consider all these messages alongside the results
of our grassroots listening campaigns (see pages
8 and 9), as we start planning a major new Church
Action on Poverty campaign. The campaign will be
launched at our conference in December. If you want
to help us make sure that the Coalition Government
protects the poorest people from the cuts and the
crisis, book your conference place now! A flyer with a
booking form is enclosed.
September newsletter.indd 10
Children and young people
 Targeted funding in schools
for children from poorer
backgrounds
 To keep Child Tax Credits and
Working Families Tax Credit
in place so that families with
children are able to afford to
keep themselves in a reasonable
standard of living and to extend
free school meals to families on
low incomes even if they work
over 15 hours a week.
 Ensure that childcare is accessi-
ble, affordable and safe to enable
families to work.
Housing
 Please act to put more resources into provid-
ing lower-cost housing, whether for purchase
or rent. As well as benefiting all poorer people,
this will be a major contribution to community
cohesion, since ‘jealousy’ about housing is a
major contributor to group conflict.
 Affordable housing in all areas of the country.
I live in Cambridge where the only way many
working in health and education and similar
vital roles, can take jobs here is to live far out of
town, thus adding to traffic congestion, victims
of rising fuel costs and long journeys to and
from work.
Tax
 Tax assistance/breaks for those on low incomes.
(Particularly pensioners, single parents and
carers.)
 Please rule out increases in VAT. This is the
most regressive tax, because poorer people
necessarily spend a higher proportion of their
income on food, heating, clothing, attracting
VAT. As in wartime, so in crisis financial times,
‘one nation’ demands that those who can afford
it should bear the main tax burden.
13/09/2010 16:48:38
 supporters: mp accountability network 11

no power without
accountability!
Over 70 groups have already signed up to be part of our new MP Accountability
Network – and briefing events have now been held in Manchester, London and
Edinburgh. Our Coordinator Niall Cooper reports on our plans for the Network

I
– and how you could get involved!

t’s still not too late if you want to sign up
to hold your own MP to account! The key to
this is essentially to find up to half a dozen
people from different local churches or other
local groups (eg Justice & Peace groups,
community projects, advice centres) who want to
be part of a local MP Accountability Network – and
commit to meeting with your local MP three or four
times a year. We have produced a guide to starting a
group and a model letter to send to local churches, if
you think that a formal invitation would help.
Issues to raise with your MP
We have now published the first three briefing
papers on issues to raise with MPs (although you
are, of course, free to raise local or other issues as
well!) See the boxes on this page for details.
We will be sending out a further set of brief-
ings at the end of September to those who have
registered to be part of the Network, with a view
to holding meetings with MPs during October or
November. Please sign up now, and help us to hold
our politicians accountable!

Responsible lending The Fairness Test The Robin Hood Tax

The new Government has made
a welcome commitment to
tackle excessive interest rates on
credit and store cards. However,
it is difficult to see the logic of
tackling ‘excessive’ interest rates
on credit and store cards – but
doing nothing to crack down on
the far higher interest rates being
charged by doorstep and payday
lenders. Many of our poorest
households currently pay interest
rates from 180% to over 1,000%
APR to these kind of lenders.
Tackling extortionate lending
– wherever it is found – would
put more money back into the
pockets of our poorest households
without costing the exchequer a
penny. It would also contribute to
the regeneration of local econo-
mies and relieve the demand
on public services. Government
should therefore make this a
priority.
The new Government has made
a clear commitment in the
Coalition Agreement to “protect
those on low incomes from
the effect of public sector pay
constraint and other spending
constraints”. This commitment
is very welcome – but warm
words are not enough! Given
the severity of the proposed
cuts to be introduced dur-
ing the Spending Review in
the autumn, the Government
must be specific about how it
proposes to “protect those on
low incomes”. The Fairness
Test would be one way for the
Government to do this – a clear
and transparent assessment
of the impact of tax rises and
spending cuts on those on low
incomes.
The Robin Hood Tax is a tax on
the financial sector that could
raise up to £250 billion a year
globally – and at least £20 billion
in the UK. The money raised could
be spent helping poor people at
home and abroad and tackling cli-
mate change. A tax on all financial
transactions of around 0.05% is
the best way to raise the volume
of money needed, but if another
financial sector tax or taxes are
proposed that also raise hundreds
of billions annually and are linked
to fighting poverty and climate
change, we would be hugely
supportive.
act now!
All the briefings, model letters and other docu-
ments mentioned on this page can be downloaded
free at www.church-poverty.org.
uk/2010election. You can also sign
up to the Network there. Or call
the office on 0161 236 9321 ext 1,
and we’ll sign you up and post you
printed resources.

September newsletter.indd 11 13/09/2010 16:48:47

 spark news from Church Action on Poverty autumn 2010

schools for the excluded

Community Pride has been seeking out solutions to poverty and
inequality in Manchester and Salford since 1999. Last year, it became
a unit within Church Action on Poverty. We asked Ocia Koranteng, the

T
unit Coordinator, to tell us about their work.

he Community Pride Unit works with marginalised groups of people to increase their confidence
and knowledge, which leads to greater participation in decision-making. We take a needs-led
approach, which means that our work is very much rooted in the community and targeted
where it is most needed.
In the past 18 months alone, Community Pride has worked intensively, face to face, with
almost 600 people. As a direct result of our work, people gain new skills and confidence. They feel more able
to influence local decision-making, and they can understand and overcome the barriers to their participa-
tion. We are often able to persuade statutory agencies to change their practices and remove these barriers.
We have pioneered a range of approaches to empowering excluded communities. Principle amongst
these has been the development of a process called Schools of Participation, based on the work of the Latin
American community educator, Paulo Freire. These Schools encourage self-advocacy by disadvantaged peo-
ple, empowering them to participate actively in society.
The reports and quotes on these pages come from a few of the Schools we have run. We have also worked
with Gypsies and Travellers, together with community representatives and workers.

Refugees and people seeking asylum

Working with this marginalised group, we have tackled
issues of hate crime and the standard of accommodation in
the private sector. Refugees and people seeking asylum have
now influenced the procedures
for reporting hate crime within
Salford, and private housing
providers have agreed to improve
their communications and other
procedures. Members of the group
now have places on public bodies
such as the Police Independent
Advisory Group and the Multi-
Agency Forum for Asylum Seekers
in Salford.
DeafBlind community
Working closely with DeafBlind people in

t opportunity
Salford, we have enabled this very excluded
group to have huge influence. They have suc-
cessfully campaigned for the provision of a I thought this is a grea
to
for refugees and asylum-seekers
Guide Communication Service, and produced
guidance for service-providers. DeafBlind
representatives felt that the Independent Living
d to share
raise their concerns an
Advisory Board was showing a lack of respect
for their community, and not enforcing its own
Code of Conduct. As a result of their stand, these
issues were addressed. their experiences with others

September newsletter.indd 12 13/09/2010 16:49:09

 in progress: community pride unit 13

Asian women
Many Asian women in Salford
felt isolated both from each
other and the wider com-
munity. Since working with
Community Pride, they have
formed a group called Asha,
and have opened up a number
of opportunities for other
women from ethnic minori-
ties. The group has influenced local
decisions about training and services, so that they are deliv-
ered in culturally sensitive and appropriate ways.
Residents and tenants
A Residents & Tenants group in a multi-storey
block of flats had realised that many new ten-

The group has formed as a

ants were from different countries (including
Eastern Europe and Africa). We ran a cultural
awareness workshop, and helped them to think
o are
whole, with people wh
through how they could enable new people to
contribute to important decisions being made
about the future of their block.
and
clear about what they want to do
a sense that we can make a change

Supporting Community Pride

Local people in Salford have been so inspired
fBlind
Raising money for Dea
by Community Pride that they are doing a
sponsored marathon in Snowdonia to sup-
port our work. Visit www.charitygiving.

people in Salford has been a

co.uk/wallworkopticians to sponsor the run-
ners and support Community

n for me
Pride!

at m o t ivat io
gre

Act now!
Does your church or project work with excluded
people? Schools of Participation and our other
approaches might be useful for you. To find out more,
or invite us to train your staff, contact us:
Tony McGrail  0161 236 9321 ext 3
 Ocia: ociak@church-poverty.org.uk
rk
Nick Wallwo
 Sarah: sarahd@church-poverty.org.uk
 www.takepartsalford.org.uk

September newsletter.indd 13 13/09/2010 16:49:37

 spark news from Church Action on Poverty autumn 2010
a dubious distinction
Paul Barber of the New Zealand Council of Christian Social Services recently came
to the UK and spent an afternoon at the Church Action on Poverty offices. We
shared ideas for the best ways of campaigning against inequality. Here, Paul
N
shares some of his thoughts.
ew Zealanders are rightly proud of
our football team that managed to
end the 2010 Football World Cup in
South Africa as the only unbeaten
team! A more dubious distinction is
the fact that the past 20 years has seen NZ lead the
OECD countries in the growth in income inequal-
ity, and it now rests next to the UK among the most
unequal countries in the OECD.
The consequences of this rapid and drastic
growth in inequality have been deeply harm-
ful to our overall wellbeing as a country, and will
continue to be for some years to come. Richard
Wilkinson and Kate Pickett, in their book The Spirit
Level (Penguin, 2009), trace the patterns of inequal-
ity across a range of developed countries including
the UK and NZ, and demonstrate that higher levels
of income inequality translate into lower life
expectancy, higher infant mortality and higher
imprisonment rates across all of society. In short,
greater inequality affects all of us.
In New Zealand, the impacts of this inequal-
ity have been felt unevenly. For example, the rate
of imprisonment has risen steadily so that New
Zealand has the fifth highest rate of imprison-
ment in the OECD (195 per 100,000) behind Mexico,
Czech Republic, Poland and the USA. Maori New
Zealanders have been more hard hit by this increase
in imprisonment. They make up 15% of the popu-
lation, yet almost half of the prison population is
Maori. New Zealanders of Pacific Island ethnic-
Act now!
 Join our Close the Gap network to take part in
email actions tackling inequality in the UK: http://
bit.ly/closethegap_signup
 OneSociety is the UK campaign group set up in
response to the findings of The Sprit Level.. Find
resources and get involved at www.onesociety.
org.uk
 Find out more about the work of NZCCSS
at www.justiceandcompassion.org.nz. They
have some interesting videos about pov-
erty and inequality in New Zealand in their
‘Resources’ section.
September newsletter.indd 14
ity have higher infant mortality and their life
expectancy is well behind that of European New
Zealanders.
The growth in inequality has been driven by
faster growth in the middle and high incomes than
those on lower incomes. Positive poverty reduction
policies such as significant increases in the mini-
mum wage, income-related rents for social housing
and tax credits for working families with children
have not been able to counteract the impact on
inequality of large growth in the higher income
brackets and static incomes for people living on
welfare benefits.
The social service agencies of the New Zealand
churches are directly involved on a daily basis in
responding to the impacts of inequality on our
society. Services such as emergency housing, food
parcels, budget advice and advocacy with govern-
ment welfare agencies are more and more needed.
They are also part of the responses to the wider
impacts on families, dealing with issues of violence,
abuse and addiction.
How can we set about changing this growing
social malaise of inequality? This is the question
the umbrella organisation for the social services of
the churches, the New Zealand Council of Christian
Social Services (NZCCSS) is asking. Organisations
such as Church Action on Poverty and the Equality
Trust (set up by the authors of The Spirit Level) are
involved in asking similar questions and one things
is clear – a shared international problem can also be
responded to through sharing experiences in dif-
ferent countries that can help reduce the inequality
gap. As the New Zealand church leaders said in
Together we can…
 Work together as community, government
and Church organisations to provide sup-
port for those ... most affected by the global
economic crisis
 Grow a stronger community more able
to look after one another – aroha tetahi ki
tetahi
13/09/2010 16:49:44
 partners and allies 15

Nothing about us,

without us, is for us
T
Elaine Downie reports on the work of Scotland’s Poverty Truth Commission.

he Poverty Truth Commission brings Breaking down barriers

together two groups of people: those Scott MacKinnon, 17, speaks about his involvement with the
who know and understand the struggle Poverty Truth Commission, and how a meeting with Community
against poverty in their lives and those Police Officers has led to the organising of a football tournament:
who have the power and influence to
So many people complain. The police should do this, the govern-
change Scotland for the better.
ment should do that. I’ve said some of these things before too; I
On 21 March 2009, in front of an invited audi-
now think slightly differently.
ence of 400, people who live with the reality and
Yes, I agree that the police and the government have their
consequences of poverty on a daily basis testified to
duties and responsibilities. I understand that it is their job do to
their lives. Using dance, drama, poetry, rap, stories
things which everyday people cannot.
and animation, the testifiers vividly told of the
But what about our ideas and opinions? Isn’t it even more our
struggles they have faced and described their hopes
duty and responsibility to ensure that we do our part for society
for the future and their resolve to work together to
rather than depending on and expecting others to do it for us?
overcome poverty. A clear message was put across:
Hearing about the Poverty Truth Commission kicked me up
“We are part of the solution, not part of the prob-
the backside and made me re-evaluate. When I got involved I was
lem. Nothing about us, without us, is for us.”
really happy to be a part of something that changed my views on
At the same event the Commissioners, from poli-
things. I saw it as my opportunity to help others realise that they
tics, the media, academia and faith communities,
too can help society in many ways.
listened and responded to what they heard, saying
All my life I have been brought up in a environment that has
that henceforth they would want to work together
gang fighting all around. All my friends have just the same. People
as a single group in order that policy changes might
have fights and disputes with each other simply because they live
be informed by the combined wisdom of both
in different areas.
groups.
Currently, through the Poverty Truth Commission myself and
The Commission has been meeting regularly
others are organising a football tournament which will bring
since March 2009, and is specifically looking at the
young people together from these different areas. We are working
areas of Kinship Carers, Positive Alternatives to
together with the police, who have supported and encouraged our
Violence and the Media.
ideas, and the police will also take part in the football tournament.
Visit www.povertytruthcommission.blogspot.
The idea behind this is to try and break down the barriers not
com to see the Poverty Truth Commission’s blog,
only with people from different areas but also to break the barrier
including stories, testimonies and video from
between young people and the police and to encourage respect on
events.
all sides.
I am very happy to be doing this work and I will never stop try-
ing to do things like this that will help the community.
A lot of people say that one person cannot make a big differ-
ence and to a certain extent they are right, but a lot of those people
could make a team and a team can make a big difference. Even if
every single person done only one thing to help society, that is a lot
of help and it would make a difference.

I will never stop trying to do things

ity
like this that will help the commun
The Poverty Truth Commission’s public assembly was a powerful event

September newsletter.indd 15 13/09/2010 16:49:50

 spark news from Church Action on Poverty autumn 2010

prayer and worship

Ruth Burgess is a member of the North East Church Action on Poverty group, and writes
liturgies for the Wild Goose Resource Group. She wrote this prayer about listening, which
could be used as a set of responses, or as headings for bidding prayers.
God of courage and adventure God of questions and opportunity
You listened to a boy You listened to a woman
who asked for a chance to prove himself; who was determined to save her family;
God of David God of Rahab
Come and listen to us now Come and listen to us now
God of love and justice God of ancient history and present reality
You listened to a young mum You listened once to the psalmists cry for the poor
whose child was thirsty and crying: and you listen now to all who strive for integrity
God of Hagar and justice:
Come and listen to us now God of this moment
God of laughter and wisdom Come and listen to us now
You listened to a man © Ruth Burgess, July 2010
who decided he’d had enough of you;
God of Jonah
Come and listen to us now

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September newsletter.indd 16 13/09/2010 16:49:55