Influencing change at Westminster
As well as working alongside people experiencing poverty, homelessness, displacement and disadvantage locally, supporting people as they change their lives with dignity, a large part of our work involves advocating for meaningful changes to the policies and processes that are impacting their lives and causing crisis in our communities.
As part of that policy and advocating work, our director Patrick O’Dowd and policy and influencing officer, Annabeth Taylor, headed to the Houses of Parliament earlier this month to represent our charity at two significant events. Here, Patrick tells us more…
The day began in the House of Lords with the launch of Homeless Link’s ‘Break the Cycle’ event, a vital gathering where leaders from the homelessness sector were able to come together with parliamentarians to highlight the systemic challenges for people experiencing homelessness.
Homeless Link shared various data highlighting the staggering £2.44 billion spent by Local Authorities on homelessness, demonstrating the scale of the issue, as well as the risks of exploitation in the system by rogue operators due to gaps in regulations.
Through the discussions, Homeless Link emphasised eight essential principles for reforming homelessness funding, advocating for a range of areas including prevention as a core strategy, ring-fenced budgets for homelessness, long-term funding commitments and a trauma-informed approach.
These reforms are not just about financial efficiency – they are about empowering local authorities and voluntary, community and faith-based organisations like Caritas Salford to deliver tailored, effective support that prevents and ends homelessness.
Following this session, Annabeth and I joined colleagues from the network of Catholic charities at a reception sponsored by Mike Kane MP.
This gathering allowed us to celebrate the breadth and strength of the Caritas Social Action Network (CSAN), which comprises 51 member organisations across the Catholic Church in England and Wales.
CSAN CEO, Raymond Friel, highlighted to the assembled MPs and Members of the House of Lords that the collective impact of Catholic charities is profound: with more than 4,700 staff members, 14,300 volunteers, and £484 million in expenditure, we’re actively supporting thousands of people experiencing poverty, housing insecurity, displacement and social exclusion through frontline services and advocacy.
During the reception, we articulated important points to MPs, urging them to engage more deeply with Caritas in their constituencies to bring about change.
Underscoring our commitment to working constructively with all parts of society, our aim is to provide long-term solutions that address root causes of poverty and inequality and promote the protection of human dignity and ability for people to live life to the full.
Additionally, among other things, we called upon MPs to support policy changes such as ending the two-child benefit limit which we’ve been urgently advocating for.
Our mission extends beyond immediate assistance; we’re dedicated to promoting and fostering full participation by parishioners, schools and colleges and the communities in Greater Manchester and Lancashire as a whole in our society.
Most importantly we strive to support those we accompany, amplifying their voices so that those in positions of power put them at the heart of policymaking and to remove barriers that hinder full solidarity and subsidiarity.
As we reflect on the importance of these recent events, we’re reminded not only of the urgent need to address the challenges people face but also that, through collaboration, we can address these with Hope, especially in this special year of Jubilee.