Part 20. A call to action

Many living in areas of multiple deprivation suffer deep poverty: real poverty not relative poverty.  Existence is hand-to-mouth, continuously.  There is no relief on the horizon, it is never ending, drives people to despair, depression, illness, zero self-esteem, domestic violence, substance abuse, unsocial behaviour.  

Taking people out of poverty is promised by politicians but they have failed to deliver. The need for concerted action by the churches has been accentuated by the current inflation crisis.

Christians should, to borrow a phrase uttered in 1960 by Hugh Gaitskell a former Labour Party leader:

fight, and fight, and fight again.

Sporadic forays will be made by individual denominations. There will be hand-wringing but little else. What is needed is sustained campaigning,  lobbying, even direct action at local and national level. We must be advocates for radical change to tackle the causes of poverty.

Clearly there are no immediate solutions, no magic wand. It will take years to improve housing, medical care, education, skills training, employment prospects but there has to be a direction of travel. As Galbraith said we have the means.  Now we must will the means.

In the meantime churches continue with foodbanks, redistributing clothing,  providing warm areas, feeding people. In other words assisting with the basics for living. Hard unremitting work.

One area where I believe churches should do more is to encourage people to use existing credit unions. The scourge of doorstop lenders preying on poor people should be addressed by the churches. Churches should work in collaboration with credit unions to promote the services on offer. More affluent Christians should consider saving with a credit union. This will enable more lending.