Ways to take action – February policy update

“There are many things that can only be seen through eyes that have cried. When the Church hears the cry of the oppressed, it cannot remain silent. It must call attention to the conditions that cause such suffering.” St. Oscar Romero
As part of our efforts to end poverty, uphold dignity and promote a fair world, we engage in various activities to raise awareness of and call for changes to the policies and systems that affect people in need and those we walk alongside in our work.
We publish regular updates like this one which will keep you across campaigns and activities calling for change, and let you know ways in which you might be able to get involved and make a difference.
Look out for a training opportunity in the coming months for those of you who are involved in supporting people experiencing poverty in your parish, or those who’d like to be. We’ll be sharing more details soon.
Hopefully these updates will inspire you 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 School Meals for All
We are continuing to call for the Government to increase the provision of free school meals to all primary-aged children in England. A guaranteed warm, nutritious meal for all children would help increase educational outcomes, ease the financial burden on families and reduce stigma around poverty.
As part of this, we’re joining with the National Education Union’s ‘No Child Left Behind’ campaign. We have contributed some of the experiences of leaders of Catholic schools in the Diocese of Salford gathered by our recent survey to the campaign’s submission to the Government’s Child Poverty Strategy Taskforce.
We also continue to advocate for the inclusion of free school meals for all children in primary schools in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, which is currently going through Parliament. One way we have done this is by submitting evidence to the House of Commons committee considering the Bill.
With a staggering 330,000 children living in poverty in the area covered by the Diocese of Salford, and schools reporting increasing numbers of children coming to school hungry in the last few years, it is critical that changes are made without delay.
You can help by adding your name to the open letter to the Prime Minister, calling on the Government to act: Free School Meals for All: Sign the open letter.
Inequalities and discrimination seen in poverty rates
Recent analysis by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation has found that people in Bangladeshi, Black African and Pakistani households are four times more likely to face persistent very deep poverty compared with people in white households.
They found that factors which offer some protection from persistent very deep poverty –such as secure work, living in a couple and having a degree – do not offer the same level of protection to Bangladeshi, Black African and Pakistani households as they do to white households.
The report highlights the structural inequality, discrimination and racism that contribute towards experiences of poverty for people in Bangladeshi, Black African and Pakistani households. The impact of this inequality is particularly evident in areas of Salford Diocese where, across local authority areas in Greater Manchester and Lancashire, there are significant numbers of households where members of these communities reside.
We believe that these inequalities are unacceptable.
We believe that calling out and eliminating racism is part of our call to love others, seek justice and recognise the dignity and inherent worth of every person.
This month marks the 30th anniversary of Racial Justice Sunday, and we’ve put together information to help parishes and communities take action.
We’d also encourage you to join a webinar ‘Racial Justice: Embracing all – Practical solutions to end racism in our communities’ at which Father Phil Sumner, Priest in the Diocese of Salford, will be speaking. More details can be found here: Racial Justice: Embracing All – Practical solutions to end racism in our communities – NBCW.
Child mortality in temporary accommodation
A new report from the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Households in Temporary Accommodation, a cross-party group looking at the experiences of people living in temporary accommodation across England, has revealed the shocking news that 80 children died in temporary accommodation in one year.
The report outlined how deaths of children are more likely to occur when homelessness is combined with environmental influences including overcrowding, mould and a lack of safer sleeping options. It also found that children from deprived areas and from Black and Minority Ethnic families are disproportionately represented in the figures, demonstrating the multiple injustices faced by so many people.
We’re proud to provide high quality temporary accommodation, and we regularly support families who are struggling in temporary accommodation through our Lalley Centre and School Service.
We’ll also continue to call for temporary accommodation to be safe, supported and suitable, and for an increase in social housing which would allow people to move on from temporary accommodation more quickly.
“Treat us like humans” – lived experience of the asylum system
We’re members of NACCOM, a national network of more than 130 organisations working to end destitution amongst migrants, refugees and asylum seekers. They’ve recently released a report exploring people’s experiences of the asylum system.
NACCOM and the Good Faiths Partnership held focus groups with a variety of people who had lived experience of the asylum system, and they found that accounts of living in asylum accommodation were almost universally negative, even across different regions and providers. These experiences were found to have detrimental consequences for people’s sense of welcome in the UK, and their ability to settle and build their lives here.
The most significant barriers to people feeling settled were being moved from place to place, public transport and access to services, and language barriers. However, people spoke positively about the role of charities and community organisations in offering support and a sense of community and purpose, particularly through volunteering opportunities.
We’re pleased to welcome people with lived experience of the asylum system to all of our services, as well as offering opportunities for volunteering and ESOL classes.
Through our policy and advocacy work, we advocate for opportunities for integration so that people can be empowered to rebuild their lives in this country. You can read about what we are calling for in more detail here. In all of this, we echo the call of people in the focus groups to “treat us like humans”, recognising the inherent dignity and worth of every person.
To find out more about our policy and advocacy work and ways you can get involved, visit https://www.caritassalford.org.uk/about/policy-and-advocacy/