Ways to take action – October campaigning update
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“Justice becomes concrete when it reaches out to others, when each person is given their due, until equality in dignity and opportunity among human beings is achieved.”
Pope Leo, Jubilee of Justice
We call for meaningful change which will help them as they 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.
Calling for an end to child poverty
As revealed by our recent report, change is urgently needed as too many children in Greater Manchester and Lancashire are growing up in poverty.
We’re calling for an end to the two-child limit on benefits as part of a holistic and preventative approach to tackling poverty.
We know that this policy is pulling more children into poverty every day and if it were scrapped, 350,000 children would be lifted out of poverty immediately.
We believe that every child deserves the chance to thrive, no matter how many siblings they have.
We’ve continued to meet with local MPs to discuss our child poverty work, share about the concerns raised by school leaders in our report, and advocate for the changes we’re calling on the Government to make in their upcoming strategy.
We’ve been pleased to have productive conversations, with MPs agreeing to advocate with colleagues in Westminster on behalf of children and families in their constituencies.
Free school meals for all
We’re proud to be part of the No Child Left Behind coalition, a campaign coordinated by the National Education Union. The campaign calls for free school meals for all primary-aged children – another one of the recommendations from our report.
The coalition recently handed in an open letter to the Prime Minister, signed by thousands of organisations and individuals calling for every primary-aged child in England to have a free, nutritious hot meal each lunchtime at school.
This is already the case in Wales, Scotland and London, but the rest of England is still waiting.
Our report highlighted how children across Greater Manchester and Lancashire are going to school hungry, with little or no food, and are unable to engage with learning as a result.
Due to strict eligibility criteria at present, many children experiencing poverty are not eligible for free school meals, and the current system perpetuates stigma around poverty, which has negative impacts on children and reduces take-up of provisions.
Read about our findings and recommendations for change here.
Tackling the crisis of homelessness
Our campaign for a safe and secure home for everyone has continued over the last month.
With rising rates of homelessness across Greater Manchester and Lancashire, there’s an urgent need for change to the systems that keep people trapped in cycles of poverty and homelessness, including hidden homelessness such as sofa surfing and temporary accommodation.
The changes we’re calling for include an increase in social-rented homes, Local Housing Allowance rates for housing benefit to be unfrozen and set in line with local rents, and emergency accommodation for all while homelessness applications are assessed, so that no one has to sleep rough.
A recent report by the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Ending Homelessness has made similar calls. The report states that rising rates of homelessness are not an inevitability, and an effective cross-government strategy could help see an end to this crisis.
Find out more about how you can get involved with our homelessness campaign, and visit our news section to read the latest from people who access and work at our homelessness services.
Standing together against refugee homelessness
We’ve joined with more than 60 organisations to call on the Government to reverse a recent policy change which will significantly increase the risks of homelessness for people newly granted refugee status.
Despite a recent trial to extend the move-on period from asylum and accommodation support to 56 days, which gave people more time to establish a source of income and find suitable accommodation, the Home Office has reverted to a 28 day move-on period for single adult refugees.
We’ve signed a joint letter to the Home Office which was reported in the Guardian. It outlines how the change will most likely increase levels of homelessness and rough sleeping, and the pressure that the policy puts on local councils and voluntary sector organisations like ours.
We’re particularly concerned by this change at a time when anti-migrant rhetoric is so prevalent, so rough sleeping is likely to put many individuals at increased risk of harm.
Read more about the work we do calling for change, and perhaps spend some time this month reflecting on how you could show kindness to people of all backgrounds in your community.
Behind every headline and every statistic are people who have inherent dignity and deserve to be treated with compassion.
To find out more about our campaigning work and ways you can get involved, click here now.
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