Shouting loudly at Christmas: How campaigning for change has made a difference

This Advent, we’re shining a spotlight on what’s really important, and asking if you will #BeeThere for local people as we stand alongside those facing poverty, homelessness and disadvantage. 

But did you know that we also work to shine a spotlight on the systems that pull people into poverty and homelessness, and the barriers that keep them there? 

Thanks to your kind donations and support, we’ve been able to make great progress in our campaigning and advocacy work in 2025. 

We’ve raised awareness of a whole range of issues and called for the changes needed to help people transform their lives with dignity.  

Some of the ways we campaigned for change in 2025 

• We published a research report highlighting the staggering increase in child poverty and mental health needs in schools. The report was accessed on our website by tens of thousands of people and shared far and wide, including through media coverage and by national organisations we engage with. 
• We’ve met with local MPs to discuss child poverty and asked them to advocate on behalf of local children and families experiencing poverty and hardship. 
• We have secured letters from MPs to Government Ministers, sharing the findings of our research and our recommendations for change, including an end to the two-child benefit limit. 
• MPs also submitted written questions to Parliament on our behalf ahead of the Government’s Child Poverty Strategy, helping keep child poverty on national agenda. 
• We’ve held productive meetings with local councillors and staff at local authorities, GM Combined Authority and the NHS to discuss our child poverty work.
  
• We’ve contributed to roundtable discussions about child poverty, including in the House of Lords where our director, Patrick O’Dowd, shared insights from our work.  
• We surveyed people accessing our services who are rough sleeping to find out more about their experiences and the changes that would help them transform their lives, which we shared with MPs local to our homelessness services. Hearing from people with lived experience helps to inform our calls for change. 
• A local MP shared about our homelessness services at a debate in Parliament, highlighting the increased demand for our services and the need for sustainable funding for services like ours.
• We hosted a visit from the then Minister for Faith, Communities and Resettlement, Lord Khan of Burnley at our Cornerstone centre, showcasing our welcome for people of all backgrounds and calling for better provision of English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL). 
• We’ve contributed to a number of Government consultations on topics including housing and homelessness, child poverty and fuel poverty. Through this work, we’ve influenced national policy and legislation, advocating for it to uphold the dignity of every person.
• We have raised awareness of the valuable contributions refugees and migrants make to this country, while calling for policies that enable them to thrive and feel a true sense of belonging in their communities.  
• We’ve provided information to the Catholic Bishop’s Conference of England and Wales, helping to highlight at a national level the changes needed for local people. 
• We’ve also run a range of public campaigns that you have all got behind – from shining a spotlight on child poverty to calling an end to homelessness.  Thank you!

Celebrating the wins 

The successful changes in policy we’ve seen this year will help improve the lives of many people we work with. 

We’re delighted that the two-child benefit limit will be lifted in full from April next year. This has been one of our key campaigning priorities as it is a significant driver of child poverty. This change will make a huge difference to thousands of children across Greater Manchester and Lancashire, meaning they no longer have to grow up in poverty. 

The Government also announced this year that, from September 2026, they are expanding free school meals to all children living in households claiming Universal Credit. This will provide over half a million more children in England with a warm, nutritious meal at lunchtimes, improving wellbeing and supporting learning. 

In our research report, we called for the Government to place a duty on local authorities to notify schools when a family is placed in temporary accommodation, in order to help prevent families falling through gaps in support. We’re pleased that the Government introduced this change in their recently published Child Poverty Strategy. 

Another positive change this year has been the reduction of debt deductions from Universal Credit, which is now limited to 15 per cent of the standard allowance. This is important in helping to ensure that debt repayments don’t take away too much of the income people need to cover essential costs. 

What’s next? 

We know that no single policy change can end poverty or prevent homelessness for all, and we’ll continue to campaign and call for change until every person has the chance to transform their life with dignity.  

In 2026, we’ll continue to engage with policymakers, including local MPs, asking for them to advocate on behalf of local people who are in need of tangible and systemic change.  

We’ll introduce more opportunities for parishes and schools across the diocese to engage with campaigning, helping more people call for change in their local communities and beyond. 

We’ll also carry out further research into issues affecting people across Greater Manchester and Lancashire, which will help us to respond most effectively and call for meaningful and sustainable change, so that we can see an end to poverty, homelessness and disadvantage. 

Please consider making a donation if you are able, so that we can continue shining a spotlight on what really matters this Christmas and into 2026. 

Donate here now. Thank you.

Read more about our work campaigning and calling for change. 

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