Poverty and Homelessness Action Week News Release 24 January 2008
For immediate release

Churches across South West to provide platform for region’s poor people
A coalition of Christian charities -Housing Justice, Scottish Churches Housing Action, Church Action on Poverty and the Church Urban Fund- have come together to hold a series of public poverty hearings as part of Poverty and Homelessness Action Week (26 January to 3 February 2008).
 
During the week Christians across the South West will be looking at the human face of what poverty, bad housing and homelessness means where they live.

One in five people living in poverty
Government figures show that in the South West one million people are living in poverty (20% of the total population) including almost 250,000 adults (over 110,000 of whom are parents), 300,000 children and 141,000 pensioners.

Other figures show that housing in the region is out of the reach of all but the richest people – the average house is more than eight times the average income and over 150,000 families are on local authority housing waiting lists in the region. The rural nature of the South West means that the problems are isolated and so not obvious in the way they might be in an urban area.

“Churches rightly pay lots of attention to poverty and hunger in the third world but often fail to appreciate the extent of the problem at home,” said Chief Executive of Housing Justice Alison Gelder. "it is a scandal that in this the fifth biggest economy in the world more than one in five people are living in poverty.”

Ms Gelder went on “We hope that the Poverty and Homelessness Action Week events will cause Christians to reflect on the situation here in the UK. Especially we would like to focus on the South West which is seen traditionally as a prosperous region and a ‘rural idyll’. Within the overall prosperity there are pockets of deprivation in the villages and towns where for example families are cut off and unable to fully participate in society.”

“The hearings and other events will provide a voice for the experiences of people at the margins of society such as families having to endure cramped overcrowded accommodation, families trapped because they can’t afford a car, disabled people having to live in inappropriate housing and families forced into debt in order to afford everyday items.”
 
As well as the poverty hearings churches will be marking the Action Week with special services and events such as sleep outs to raise awareness and raise money for local services.
 
The Poverty and Homelessness Action Week is the first stage in a bigger year-long national campaign, aiming to raise awareness and gain commitments from all political parties to eradicate poverty in the UK.

Gelder concluded “the evidence we gain from the hearings will feed into our campaign to get the government and opposition parties to include pledges to end poverty in their next election manifestos. The government is already committed to ending child poverty, we would like to see this extended to ending all poverty.”

Niall Cooper, National Co-ordinator of Church Action on Poverty, added “The success of Make Poverty History in 2005 has highlighted the need for a domestic equivalent: far too many people in the UK fail to share in our prosperity as a nation, and continue to struggle to make ends meet, or suffer the consequences of homelessness or bad housing. Our campaign will call for no one to be excluded from the wealth of the nation and for everyone to have access to decent housing. Faith groups, charities, trade unions and others will link together to ask the government to extend their pledge of ending poverty for children so it applies to everyone – and to ask opposition parties to match it.”
Ends

Poverty in the UK
People are considered to be living in poverty if they have incomes below 60% of the median income level after housing costs and taxes. This definition is accepted by the UK government and European Union and is widely used for international comparisons. For the UK the median income level is £363 a week. Using this definition people are living in poverty if they have less than £217 a week on which to live.

Events in the South West
Most events are occurring in Poverty and Homelessness Action Week 27 January – 3 February 2008 but some are arranged for later. For further information contact the person listed

Bideford – Saturday 2 February – St Mary’s Church – Homeless lunch with presentations from those experiencing homelessness. Contact Duncan Withall, 01237 475 755

Bristol – Friday 29 February – Clifton Cathedral – Sponsored sleep out

Bristol – Monday 28 January – DePaul Trust and Nightstop launch attended by Ian Wright MP. Contact Caring for Christmas 0117 924 4444

Chippenham – Friday 26 January – St Andrew’s Church. Sponsored Sleep-out for Homelessness Sunday to increase awareness of homelessness in North Wiltshire and to raise funds for the Doorway drop-in centre. Contact info@doorwayproject.org.uk or 01249 445 385

Gloucester - Friday1 Feb – St John’s Church, Northgate. Being Poor in Gloucester - Hearing the Stories: exploring six strands of poverty: in the countryside, in the city, in health, for the elderly, for children, and for foreigners. Presentations from those in poverty, and experts in the field. Including Question Time Panel with MPs Parmjit Dhanda and David Drew. Contact Francesca Tolond francescatolond@yahoo.co.uk

Newquay – Monday 3 March – Claremont Methodist Church – Day of Action for the homeless. Contact Michael Adams: mail@newquayparishchurch.fsnet.co.uk

St Austell – Saturday 26 January – St Augustines Church - Homelessness in the Community: a day of workshops hearing about homelessness among young people and individuals in the St Austell area. Contact jp@plymouth-diocese.org.uk

Weston Super Mare – Sunday 27 January - St Pauls Church. Service featuring two local homelessness charities: Woodspring Deposit Guarantee Scheme and Somewhere to Go. Contact: Isabel Cummings cummingsim@aol.com

Weymouth – Tuesday 29 January - No-frills sleepout on the beach organised by Weymouth IRS, highlighting the tough conditions the homeless endure in the area. Contact Angie Barnes 07921 905 347

About Poverty and Homelessness Action Week
Poverty and Homelessness Action Week is organised by Church Action on Poverty, Housing Justice, Scottish Churches Housing Action and the Church Urban Fund.

Church Action on Poverty is a national ecumenical Christian social justice charity, committed to tackling poverty in the UK. It works in partnership with churches and with people in poverty themselves to find solutions to poverty, locally, nationally and globally. It aims to: enable people in poverty to develop more sustainable livelihoods; give a voice to people experiencing poverty; and mobilise churches to work with others to overcome poverty. Find out more at www.church-poverty.org.uk
Housing Justice is the national voice of Christian action to prevent homelessness and bad housing; it provides frontline services to people in housing need and campaigns to improve housing policy. In total Housing Justice is actively involved in more than 35 communities across England and Wales. Further information available at www.housingjustice.org.uk

Scottish Churches Housing Action brings together the major Christian denominations in Scotland under the slogan No Room for Homelessness! As well as campaigning for the rights of homeless people, it promotes the development of local, volunteer-based, projects to help homeless people, and encourages the churches to make land and property available for affordable housing. Further information available at www.churches-housing.org

The Church Urban Fund is a charity supporting churches and projects tackling poverty and injustice in England’s poorest communities. Through funding local initiatives, sharing knowledge and raising awareness of social injustice, we work to bring about significant and lasting change. Further information available at www.cuf.org.uk.

Contact
Luke Evans 020 7723 7273
Email info@housingjustice.org.uk