Ways to take action – December campaigning update
Do you know someone who would enjoy this article?
“Poverty has structural causes that must be addressed and eliminated.”
Pope Leo, World Day of the Poor 2025
We campaign for changes to policies, systems and attitudes which will help people 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.
Welcoming the lifting of the two-child limit
For many years, we have been working to highlight the urgent need for change to help people experiencing poverty and to prevent even more families from being pulled into poverty too.
A key change we’ve been calling for is an end to the two-child limit benefit limit – a major driver of child poverty.
Therefore, we warmly welcome the Chancellor’s recent announcement that the two-child limit will be lifted in full from April next year.
This decision will transform the lives of many families we support, including many who are working but struggling to make ends meet on low incomes, and will lift hundreds of thousands of children out of poverty across the country
A vital part of our advocacy is engaging directly with policymakers, and in recent months we have met with a number of MPs to discuss this issue. We’re grateful that many took action and spoke up on our behalf, ensuring that the experiences of people we support were represented to the Government.
You can read our full response here.
A huge thank you to everyone who has supported this campaign. Whether you have read and shared our work, donated to us, or signed pledge cards – this achievement shows that it all makes a difference.
Protecting the dignity of people seeking safety
Recent announcements from the Government about changes to the asylum system have caused us deep concern.
Upholding the dignity of every person is central to our mission, and we believe that policies must not treat anyone as though they are ‘less than’ simply because of the country they were born in or the journey they have taken to arrive in the UK.
In his apostolic exhortation Dilexi Te, Pope Leo echoes the words of Pope Francis that our response to migration must be to “welcome, protect, promote and integrate”, building bridges rather than walls.
Bishop John Arnold recently reminded us in his statement for World Day of Migrants and Refugees that we are called to respond with compassion, and of the gifts migrants and refugees bring that enrich the Church and to society.
Through our experience accompanying refugees and migrants, we have witnessed the significant and meaningful contributions they make to society when they are supported to integrate and given the opportunity to thrive.
We remain committed to journeying alongside people seeking sanctuary in this country, taking action and calling for policymaking to ensure that every person is treated with the dignity they deserve, in order that they can look forward to hope-filled future.
For more detail about the proposed changes, take a look at this blog from Greater Manchester Immigration Aid Unit.
Find out more about our work supporting refugees and people seeking asylum.
Urgent action needed to address homelessness crisis
As the weather is now colder, our homelessness services have been supporting people to try to access emergency accommodation provisions. Sadly, far too many people must continue to sleep rough as temperatures drop, and it is clear that reforms to the homelessness system are desperately needed.
A recent report has reminded us again of the urgent need for change. The Dying Homeless Project has reported that 1,611 people sadly died while homeless in the UK last year – an average of four needless deaths every day of the year. The report describes this as “yet another deeply troubling increase in the number of people who lost their lives while experiencing homelessness”.
As we wait for the Government’s cross-departmental homelessness strategy, we will continue to highlight the changes needed – both an immediate response to the crisis and a longer-term plan to end and prevent homelessness.
Services such as ours must be equipped and properly funded to offer holistic support to people experiencing and at risk of homelessness.
You can read more about what we are calling for by clicking here.
To find out more about our campaigning work and ways you can get involved, click here now.
To sign up to our newsletter to hear latest news from Caritas, click here now.