“I ain’t going back to the streets” I have been working in homeless services for over 15 years, and since March I have seen a real difference in services. From day one of lockdown we saw agencies across the sector really coming together. I was asked to help manage a hotel for people who have …
Poverty and Inequality
Homeless Outreach in the Winter of Coronavirus: Looking to the Future
This is the third in a series of three blogs addressing the homelessness crisis and the changing response of churches to homelessness during coronavirus. You can read the first blog, on the contexts of changing need and changing policy, here. You can read the second blog, a round-up of our …
Vaccinating the World
As the UK celebrates its first COVID-19 vaccinations, the JPIT enquiry inbox has been receiving emails from church members asking if lower-income nations will be able to access vaccines and, if so, how quickly. Licencing vaccines The first hurdle is licencing one or more vaccines for …
Advent 2: Wonderful Counsellor
“Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it” (Genesis 28:16) For the past eight years I have worked from a small room in a local community centre. The two Methodist churches that previously served the area have been closed and subsequently demolished. The past eight years …
A spending review that will hit the poorest here and abroad
Spending Reviews and budgets are always about priorities, especially when times are hard. This week, the Chancellor chose to remove money from the poorest both here and abroad, whilst massively increasing spending on the military. On many levels, these are the wrong priorities. Each of these …
Homelessness in the winter of coronavirus
This blog series accompanies our webinar in partnership with Housing Justice. Coronavirus has completely changed the way homelessness in the UK is experienced. At the same time, it has dramatically altered the church’s capacity to respond to the needs of people experiencing homelessness in …
Response to Government’s announcement on winter food provision for families
It is simply not right that children can go hungry in the UK – especially during a pandemic. The Government’s announcement of a grant scheme to fund food programmes this winter is much needed and very welcome. Local churches will continue to play a crucial role in delivering projects and ensuring …
How I fell out of love with Universal Basic Income
I desperately want to see an end to Universal Credit. Last month I sat with a church member facing threats of eviction from her landlord. Like many people at the moment, work has dried up and she has no income coming in. Her application for Universal Credit has been denied repeatedly. She will get …
Holiday Hunger, Summer 2020
Each year around 3 million children – of whom 1 million receive free school meals – are at risk of “holiday hunger”. These families’ budgets have difficulty stretching to meet the added costs of having children at home full time. In many ways, this year will look very different – but the pressures …
Universal Credit is still not delivering
Today, the government spending watchdog the National Audit Office has reported on Universal Credit and has again found it wanting. The government has been very keen to say how successful they have been in enrolling people onto Universal Credit during the Covid crisis. But this report lays out …