Ways to take action – April campaigning update
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“Wherever you accompany a displaced family, defend the rights of the poor, or offer a listening heart to the forgotten, the Church’s witness becomes ever more credible.”
Pope Leo XIV
We call for meaningful, lasting change that enables people to transform their lives with dignity.
We publish regular updates like this to raise awareness, keep you informed about campaigns and activities, and to let you know how you might be able to get involved.
Hopefully you’ll be inspired to actively participate and make a difference in your community.
We’d love to hear from you if you do, so get in touch and let us know what you’ve been up to.
Free Catholic Social Teaching webinar
Catholic Social Teaching (CST) has been referred to as “the Catholic Church’s best kept secret” (Mark Shea).
Many people are unaware of the depth of the Catholic Church’s teaching on social justice, which applies the Gospel to current social issues impacting our communities.
With local elections approaching in May, the time is right to raise our awareness of CST and reflect on how it can help to inform the decisions and choices we make in life.
We’re offering a free webinar to introduce the basic principles of CST in an accessible way, with a particular focus on our aims of building hope, homes and a future for all.
Please join us online on Thursday 30 April at 6pm.
For those in parishes, you may wish to consider hosting a husting in the weeks before the local elections on 7 May. We have produced a document to help you consider this.
Two-child limit scrapped this month
From 6 April, the two-child limit on benefits has come to an end. This is a significant policy change which will lift 450,000 children out of poverty immediately, and we warmly welcome the Government’s action on this.
This change also means that some families with three or more children may become newly eligible for Universal Credit. There are free benefits calculators online for those wishing to check their eligibility.
Take a look at our initial response to last year’s announcement here, which also highlights further changes needed to bring about an end to child poverty.
Read more about our campaigning and advocacy work and how we continue to call for change.
Changes needed to see an end to homelessness
We believe that everyone should have a safe, secure place to call home. Having a home that is suitable and of a decent standard is crucial for upholding human dignity and enabling people to flourish.
Sadly, too many people across Greater Manchester and Lancashire are experiencing homelessness in many forms, including rough sleeping, sofa surfing and staying in temporary accommodation such as hostels and B&Bs.
The Government has recently released updated statistics which highlight the scale of the issue and how the number of people experiencing homelessness has risen in recent years.
In the areas we cover across Greater Manchester and Lancashire, there were 227 people counted sleeping rough in the autumn snapshot in 2025, which provides an estimated figure of the number of people rough sleeping on a single night.
This is an increase of 30 per cent compared with the previous year, and we know that these numbers are a significant underestimate as many people spend the night in places where they are not seen to be counted in order to try to stay safe.
Across England, the number of children experiencing homelessness and being placed in temporary accommodation continues to rise. In our area, there are almost 9,000 children in temporary accommodation – a situation we know has lasting impacts on children’s wellbeing and opportunities.
If you work in a school, please join us on 15 June for a webinar on the topic of homelessness and temporary accommodation. Find more details and sign up by clicking here now.
As part of our work tackling homelessness, we call for policy changes which would help ensure more people have a safe place to call home. Some of the key changes we campaign for are:
- Rates of Local Housing Allowance for housing benefit to be unfrozen and set in line with local rents. Across the country, less than three per cent of privately-rented homes are affordable for those who receive housing benefit, causing many people to fall into rent arrears or become homeless.
- An increase in the supply of social-rented housing, including housing which is accessible.
- The provision of temporary accommodation close to people’s support networks, schools and services.
- Every person at risk of rough sleeping accommodated the same day while homelessness applications are being assessed, so that no one has to sleep rough.
- An end to the use of unsupported temporary accommodation such as B&Bs and an increase in safe, supported accommodation to meet people’s needs.
Read more about our campaigning work here, and our work with people experiencing and at risk of homelessness here.
Homelessness amongst refugees
We regularly see people with refugee status accessing our services who are in need of accommodation and support, and we have been joining with other charities to call for a 56-day move-on period from asylum accommodation.
A 56-day period to move-on from asylum accommodation would line up with statutory homelessness support and the process of applying for Universal Credit, making it more likely that people will have an income by the time they need to leave their accommodation.
The Home Office has piloted a 56-day move-on period, but has recently announced that the move-on period will now be 42 days. Although a welcome increase from the 28 days given prior to the pilot, we are concerned that the new policy will not reduce risks of homelessness for people leaving the asylum system.
We know from our work that sufficient time to establish a stable income and save enough money to rent a home is crucial for people newly granted refugee status, and this transition is a time when too many people become street homeless.
The last four years have seen a five-fold increase in the number of refugee households who are homeless or at risk of homelessness, according to Home Office data which was reported by the BBC.
Therefore, more measures to reduce risks of homelessness among people leaving the asylum system are crucial, including a 56-day period to move-on from asylum accommodation.
As Pope Leo reminds us, “In a world darkened by war and injustice, even when all seems lost, migrants and refugees stand as messengers of hope.”
Read more about our work with refugees and people seeking asylum here.
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