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Cut-outs of Stef, Mary and Sydnie. Text above says: "Labour said they would put disabled people at the heart of everything they do. But instead they have shoved us to the very edges."

Activists have called for the disability minister to resign, after an “awful” meeting where he took no interest in what they had to say.

Cut-outs of Stef, Mary and Sydnie. Text above says: "Labour said they would put disabled people at the heart of everything they do. But instead they have shoved us to the very edges."

Stef, Sydnie and Mary, three disabled women working with the charity Church Action on Poverty met Stephen Timms MP earlier this month.

The meeting was part of the Government’s professed consultation on huge cuts to Britain’s social security system, which will sweep millions of disabled people into deeper poverty. One member of the group joined online, and two attended in person along with two members of staff from the charity.

The group had prepared moral arguments and evidence for why the cuts will not achieve the stated goals, but the Minister showed no interest in the evidence, asked no questions and scarcely engaged with what the group had to say. 

When one of the women passed out at the end of the meeting, Mr Timms walked out without even checking whether she was okay, and the zoom link to her friend who could have given medical advice was disconnected.

Church Action on Poverty is now writing to Mr Timms, expressing disappointment with how the meeting unfolded, and including a briefing paper the group had prepared. 

Mary: It was awful. I passed out; he walked out

Mary, who is also carer for her adult autistic son, said: “Stephen Timms and the Government need to understand that we (disabled and chronically sick people) are coming from a place of fear. I felt that in that room, facing that man and hearing what he had to say, that I had to justify my right to live.

“I felt such a deep fear for my son. What will happen to him when I die?

“The meeting was awful. He used a lot of our precious 30 minutes with over-long ‘answers’, he wasn’t interested in anything we had to say. He absolutely was not in the room to listen to us.

“There was no care, understanding or basic empathy for the group he is supposed to represent.

“Faced with a group that included three people with long term chronic conditions and disability, he refused to take on board anything that was said to him. He doesn’t care that Labour’s cuts to disability benefits will drive vulnerable people further into poverty. He knows this. He said it would create a culture change, but the fact that people will die because of these cuts doesn’t matter.

“At the end of the meeting I passed out through simple exhaustion. He didn’t even wait to see if I was okay. He walked around me lying on the floor to exit the room.

“What people like Timms need to realise is that being disabled costs money. The support we need to live with some dignity, to go to work or contribute to our community does not come free of charge either in terms of cash or physical/mental cost.”

The group at the first meeting, last December

Sydnie: This proposal will not cure us

Sydnie added:  “For a person with a complex disability (having multiple disorders, illness etc) and who is neurodiverse, this proposal will not cure us or make us able to work, and there isn’t one or two simple reasonable adjustments that can create this so called curing of people’s complex disabilities, hidden or not.

“We said that employers cannot afford to pay for or risk hiring such people. Timms had no reply, no eye contact and showed no remorse, no empathy or willingness to comprehend something he clearly doesn’t understand. 

“Bear in mind this was a meeting as a part of the consultation. There was no engagement, no questions asked of our situation, he did not listen. He talked straight away about needing to save money, even though we pointed out it’s breaking equality legislation.

“I referred to him as ‘shameful’, and said that he should resign, show a true stand for all disabled people, for their human rights and their rights to self-actualisation, to have a life worth living.

“After we poured our hearts out, gave him stats and figures and gave him hard very open honesty to how this will affect and end many, Stephen Timms still looked at us with a blank expression and said he believes changing PIP and access to work through job centres will work, saying it will make people change their ways.

“The whole affair is rigged, we know this but we have first-hand knowledge of this now.”

Stef Benstead with a copy her book, Second Class Citizens, which looks at the way the UK has breached disabled people's human rights
Stef pictured previously, with her book exposing the UK's mis-treatment of disabled people

Stef: We expected him to believe in protecting the poor

Stef said: “We had hoped (expected), in attending the meeting, to find that Stephen Timms was conflicted in regard to his party’s plans, and that we could help him move towards resigning his ministerial position and rebelling against the Government as the principled and right course of action. 

“As a Christian, we expected Timms to have a strong belief in protecting the poor and needy, and as a long-standing MP with substantial experience in the DWP, we expected him to understand the lack of evidence in support of Labour’s plans and the substantial evidence about the harm they will cause both to sick and disabled people and their carers, and to the economy and society more widely.

“We were surprised to find that Timms seems to genuinely and strongly believe that employment support, when provided by Labour, will have a profoundly different impact to the support provided under Conservative governments. There is no evidence to support this claim. 

“We were surprised that Timms seems to genuinely believe that the Health Element of Universal Credit needs to be cut because of ‘perverse incentives’, despite such incentives having no bearing on whether a person is assessed as fit for work or not. 

“We were also surprised that Timms argued both that PIP needs to be cut because it’s ‘unsustainable’ – which in essence means that sick and disabled people are an unsustainable burden on the country – and that cuts won’t be as severe as projected and that’s a good thing, even though he also thinks that the cuts do need to be severe. We couldn’t get any recognition of the inconsistency of this position from Timms.

“In a half hour meeting there wasn’t time to push back properly on any of Timms’ claims.

“It is hard to believe that an MP of his standing and experience could genuinely believe Labour’s lines on these cuts. But it seems that he does, and it’s difficult to know what evidence or anecdotes Timms needs to persuade him differently.

“The cuts proposed to the social security system for sick and disabled people have no justification.

“They are deeply immoral and should be opposed by all Christians and those who know anything about disability, chronic illness, social security, and work. The fact that Timms appears to genuinely support these cuts, given his long experience in this arena, is genuinely baffling. I urge Timms to listen to his conscience and to God, to resign from his ministerial position, and to stand with sick and disabled people in opposing such dangerous cuts.”

Stand with Mary, Sydnie and Stef

Earlier in the year, more than 300 Church Action on Poverty supporters endorsed Mary, Stef and Sydnie’s message by contacting their MPs and calling on them to oppose the immoral cuts. We will continue to speak out, and call on all churches and Christians to join us.

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Cut-outs of Stef, Mary and Sydnie. Text above says: "Labour said they would put disabled people at the heart of everything they do. But instead they have shoved us to the very edges."

It was awful: what happened when we met the disability minister

SPARK newsletter summer 2025

Let's End Poverty logo: text in black, with a pink triangle logo

Let’s End Poverty: what comes next?

Click on the right to download the latest issue of SPARK, our newsletter for supporters of Church Action on Poverty.

An image of a text poster

Urgent: Ask your church to display this poster on Sunday

SPARK newsletter, winter 2024-25

Annual review 2023-24

Let's End Poverty logo: text in black, with a pink triangle logo
Let's End Poverty logo: text in black, with a pink triangle logo

After almost two years, Let’s End Poverty finishes its work at the end of May 2025. Since October 2023, Let’s End Poverty has united a diverse range of voices behind a shared, positive, vision-filled message that poverty in the UK can and should end. A collaboration between individuals, churches, charities, trade unions and grassroots groups, Let’s End Poverty brought people together with the aim of making ending poverty a primary issue at the 2024 UK general election. Now that the election has passed, Let’s End Poverty will end, but the collaborations and action it has inspired will continue.

Church Action on Poverty has been a leading partner in the work of Let’s End Poverty to strengthen the anti-poverty movement across the UK. Together, more than 75 organisations and grassroots groups have mobilised hundreds of leaders and thousands of individual activists.

Highlights supported by Church Action on Poverty include the Dreams & Realities exhibition. On their tour across the UK, Stephen Martin’s portraits have sparked conversation and inspired action, often accompanied by community choirs and grassroots voices sharing their stories and call for change.

In the lead-up to the election, the Neighbourhood Voices programme amplified the experiences and perspectives of otherwise unheard communities, feeding them into the election debate. More than 40 people took part in six locations, demonstrating the passion and commitment of communities to building a better future.

A painting workshop taking place in a Local Pantry

In partnership with Church Action on Poverty, more than 20 Local Pantries, individuals and community groups received small grants through the Artists for Change fund, inspiring art projects that expressed community voices and imagined a different future.

During Challenge Poverty Week 2024, the Dear Prime Minister campaign brought the lived experiences of 15 individuals into the Houses of Parliament, and right to the doorstep of the Prime Minister himself!

As the project draws to an end, individuals and organisations who have been involved have been celebrating everything that Let’s End Poverty has achieved and reflecting on the journey so far. At the start of April, 35 leaders bringing lived and learned experiences of poverty from across the UK gathered in Manchester for a National Poverty Consultation, hosted by Church Action on Poverty.

The National Poverty Consultation provided an important opportunity to bring together leaders from grassroots groups, individuals offering their lived and living experiences of poverty into their advocacy and staff from charities and Churches. This highlights the importance of a future for the anti-poverty movement in the UK that creates space for everyone to play their part, where ‘diagonal connections’ between the right people lead to transformative change.

Acknowledging that there is still a mountain to climb when it comes to ending poverty in the UK, the 24-hour residential created a space for reflecting back on how the journey of Let’s End Poverty might equip us for the way ahead. Throughout the process, two essential qualities for an effective anti-poverty movement emerged: relationships, and anger.

Transformative relationships

At its heart, Let’s End Poverty has been a collaboration of individuals in relationship with one another, listening to each others stories and drawing on each other’s skills and gifts to create change. Crucially, when these relationships bridge the often wide gap between people in roles of leadership, whether in political and public life, or in organisations, churches or charities and individuals who bring lived experiences of the struggle against poverty, they have the potential to be deeply transformative. The movement to end poverty in the UK must create spaces to build relationships that enable solidarity, transform shame and stigma and tell a different story about what it means to live alongside one another well.

Righteous anger

It also became clear that the deep-rooted damage poverty is bringing to the lives of individuals and communities means that true relationships often lead to anger. It cannot be acceptable that poverty is holding more than 1 in 5 people in the UK back from living full lives. Living and truly understanding this reality stirs up a righteous anger that is echoed by the biblical prophets, and prophetic activists from history who have stood up and raised their voices in resistance to injustice.

This anger has to be part of a movement if it is to successfully move society from passive acceptance to active resistance. It must be the fuel for collaborations that speak loudly and clearly about the different future we believe we can build together, and the steps needed to get there. Without anger, solidarity can easily become kindness and opportunities for transformation are limited to temporary change. In the face of continuing policy changes that are reducing incomes and opportunities for people and communities living on the lowest incomes, an effective movement has to draw on their anger to motivate sustained, impactful change.

Towards the end of the event, the group reflected on the image of a dandelion clock. In this image, perhaps being a movement committed to ending poverty means being the wind that scatters the dandelion seeds, giving them energy to land in new places, take root and bring new colour into the world. An effective movement means hundreds of different activities taking root, each bringing their own skills, gifts and impact to the wider environment. As Let’s End Poverty finishes, this image and the relationships it has sparked is carrying forward energy to continue to build a strong, effective anti-poverty movement that can and will see an end to poverty in the UK.

Hannah Fremont-Brown, Let’s End Poverty Facilitator

It was awful: what happened when we met the disability minister

SPARK newsletter summer 2025

Let’s End Poverty: what comes next?

Vacancy: Chief Executive

Faith, justice & awesome activists: Niall reflects on his 28 years

In a queue, and newly homeless, I realised: this is where change begins

Legacies: invest in a future without poverty

Sharing Power to Shape Mission

Activists work to shape policies of the future

Are churches losing faith in low-income communities?

Church Action On Poverty North East 2025 AGM

The activists Speaking Truth to Power in York

We’re listening!

Briefing: New Government data further undermines its cuts to UK’s vital lifelines

The church must be at the heart of the mishmash of local life

Volunteers needed!

Urgent: Ask your church to display this poster on Sunday

The town of 250,000 that revolutionised its food system

£52,805 plus generous employer pension contribution. 
Closing date: Midday, 2 June 2025. 
Interviews in Manchester 16-17 June 2025.

Passionate about ending UK poverty? An empathetic innovative leader, strong on vision and strategy, with skills to run a medium-sized charity?

As Chief Executive, you will lead the staff team, be responsible for providing overall strategic direction, coordination and management of all Church Action on Poverty programmes. Partnership building is a key role to maximise our impact.

Currently, our programmes are structured on the principles of dignity, agency and power. They comprise: supporting a network of 130 food pantries with a membership of over 50,000; enabling people with lived experience of poverty to speak truth to power and supporting churches to explore what it means to be a ‘church on the margins’ as well as playing a leading role in high-profile national campaigns.

It is anticipated that the role will be varied and flexible, but will include:

  • Assisting the Church Action on Poverty Council of Management in the development and implementation of the organisation’s programmes, campaigns, partnership building and public affairs work.
  • Managing Church Action on Poverty’s staff and resources in line with the organisation’s agreed policies and priorities, and core values of collaboration, participation and empowerment.
  • Fundraising and organisational strategy to achieve our aims.
  • Ensuring that people with lived experience of poverty are actively involved in all aspects of CAP’s work.
  • Leading and line managing the Senior Leadership and Management Team.
  • Working with the whole staff team to develop and implement strategies that build dignity, agency and power to end poverty.

Starting salary £52,805 (pay award pending), rising to £56,073, plus 10% employer pension contribution. 

  • Permanent full-time post (35 hours per week), with occasional ‘unsocial’ hours, weekend working.
  • 25 days’ annual leave pro rata (30 after five years’ service) plus New Year office closure.
  • Hybrid working on a flexible basis from home with some time each week in the Manchester office. 

The current Chief Executive, Niall Cooper, is very happy to talk with you informally.  Please email niallc@church-poverty.org.uk to arrange a suitable time to talk.

Download background information to help you prepare your application below:

 

Completed applications should be sent to kate@church-poverty.org.uk and marked CE Recruitment. No CVs or other attachments please, only applications using our standard application form (available to download above) will be considered.

It was awful: what happened when we met the disability minister

SPARK newsletter summer 2025

Let’s End Poverty: what comes next?

Vacancy: Chief Executive

A collage of five photos of Church Action on Poverty events over the past 28 years

Niall Cooper is stepping down after 28 years at Church Action on Poverty. He reflects on some remarkable highlights.

Niall in front of a Pilgrimage Against Poverty banner

How did you first come to be involved in Church Action on Poverty?

Niall: “My university degree had been in politics and religion, and I knew that I wanted to do that work – not just study it, but to do it. My passion was how the churches could make a difference.

“I worked on a project called the Churches National Housing Coalition, in 1991. I had helped set it up and Church Action on Poverty then took it on. I was doing community work in Hulme in Manchester at the time, and housing was the main issue.

“Then a few years later in 1997, the then director Paul Goggins was selected to stand as an MP, and I was appointed as director.”

What are some of your stand-out highlights?

Niall: “I think they come into four categories:

  • the big supporter moments
  • the really big policy wins
  • the moments of impact in local communities
  • and witnessing the inspiring activism of people with lived experience of poverty.

Supporter moments

“The two big supporter moments were the Pilgrimage Against Poverty in 1999, and the Tax Justice bus tour in partnership with Christian Aid in 2013. In 1999, we organised a nine-week pilgrimage from Iona to Westminster. Six people walked the whole way, but thousands of people joined along the route, for a mile or a day or a week.

“It was a significant thing for people to be part of, a once-in-a-lifetime experience. We took a political message and it was amazing – we had a big rally in Trafalgar Square, a service in St Martin-in-the-Fields and the six people who had walked all the way met with the Chancellor, Gordon Brown. 

“Then the Tax Justice Tour was amazing as well – we took a double decker bus around the country, engaging people in conversations. Both of those things really engaged people behind a powerful message, and created space for conversations.”

Above: The Pilgrimage Against Poverty reaches London, in 1999. Below: the Tax Justice Tour bus, in 2013
A traditional red double decker bus, for the tax justice tour

Big wins

“For big wins, I’m going to pick out two. The first was around financial inclusion work, under the New Labour government. We had meetings with a senior Treasury civil servant and we produced a report making the case for investing in affordable credit, as a result of which the Government then invested £120 million into credit unions. 

“The other big win was the campaign with Thrive Teesside, around irresponsible high-cost lending. That was led by the women of Thrive over the best part of ten years, with our support.

“The Government was not initially interested, but we built up a coalition with about 80 backbench MPs, and that persuaded the Financial Conduct Authority to properly regulate high-cost lending, and as a result several million pounds in compensation was paid to customers of three main lenders. And because their business model was then broken, that really saw them off.

A black and white photo of inflatable sharks being thrown in the air, outside Parliament

Community impact 

“Along with Oxfam, we introduced Participatory Budgeting to the UK and got the Government to fund us to set up a unit that advised local government. This resulted in over  120 participatory budgeting projects in local communities around the country, each involving hundreds of people – so tens of thousands of people had a direct say in how pots of money were spent in their communities. The Scottish Government then enshrined that approach in law in Scotland.

“A second big community impact success has been Your Local Pantry. We took a very local idea and have enabled 120 communities (and counting!) to open Local Pantries, which are bringing people together through food, and enabling great things to happen. The characteristic of both of those areas of work is that they empower communities to have control and dignity and agency.”

A Pantry member holds a basket beside a volunteer; both smile towards the camera

Seeing lived experience campaigners rise up 

“I draw huge inspiration from activists who have refused to give up – people like Wayne Green, Sarah Whitehead and Ashleigh May.

“Wayne spoke at the first National Poverty Hearing in 1996, and is still involved now. Sarah started off as a participant in one local project and now runs Community Pride in Salford, advises Joseph Rowntree Foundation and has trained and supported lots of other people to speak up. Ashleigh [pictured below] was made homeless and moved by her council 200 miles away from her community, but has been determined to speak up and create a space for other people, using her experience as an inspiration for making change.

“There are many other amazing people I could talk about as well!”

Ashleigh sitting in a Parliamentary committee room

What big changes have you seen - and what hasn't changed?

Niall: “People’s belief in political solutions has shifted, and certainly the harshness of the DWP at the moment is more brutal than ever. People who don’t experience poverty do not realise just how punitive and brutal it is. That punitive nature of Government systems has got worse. 

“As the state has pulled away, we’ve seen churches, charities and communities stepping up. Covid was the biggest example of that, where people stepped up. That trend has been for good and ill. Compared with 30 years ago, so many more churches are doing so much more, but there is still a pervasive attitude in places that it’s about tackling poverty one person at a time, individualising the problem and the solutions. 

“One of the things that has endured is the nature of poverty. As Wayne Green said in the 1990s, “poverty is a battle of invisibility and being blamed for society’s problems”. The context has changed, but that is as true now as it was then.

“Another area where we have made strides is in the growing recognition of the importance of prioritising lived experience voices. The Dear Prime Minister letters last year exemplified that – we were able to gather 12 to 15 people, well supported by six or seven organisations around the country, and that would not have happened ten or even five years ago.”

A row of people sitting behind a curving table, with a Let's End Poverty banner behind

What is your parting message to UK churches - and what are your own plans once you step down?

Niall: “The big task for churches is helping build a powerful movement in which people do feel they have agency, dignity and power, and in which they have enough allies to push back and say ‘enough; we are not going to take this any more’. Churches should invest in that, rather than sticking plaster solutions.

“As for my next steps… Well, in my 60s, I’ve started fell-running, and have just done the Yorkshire Three Peaks race, and I’ll also have some time for seeing family and travelling.

“I’m going to have a bit of a break and reflect on what I have learnt, but I am not stepping away from the anti-poverty movement. This is still what I am passionate about, and I still want to keep in touch with some of the amazing people I have met, but I also want to find out what’s the next challenge I can do.”

It was awful: what happened when we met the disability minister

SPARK newsletter summer 2025

Let’s End Poverty: what comes next?

Vacancy: Chief Executive

Faith, justice & awesome activists: Niall reflects on his 28 years

In a queue, and newly homeless, I realised: this is where change begins

Legacies: invest in a future without poverty

Sharing Power to Shape Mission

Activists work to shape policies of the future

Are churches losing faith in low-income communities?

Church Action On Poverty North East 2025 AGM

The activists Speaking Truth to Power in York

We’re listening!

Briefing: New Government data further undermines its cuts to UK’s vital lifelines

The church must be at the heart of the mishmash of local life

Volunteers needed!

Urgent: Ask your church to display this poster on Sunday

The town of 250,000 that revolutionised its food system

Say no to these immoral cuts, built on weasel words and spin

Dreams and Realities in our context

How we can radically boost recruitment of working class clergy

SPARK newsletter, winter 2024-25

Meeting the minister

19 new Pantries are reaching thousands of people

78 pics: Pantry members get creative to end poverty

Dreams & Realities: reflections on an amazing tour

Cut-outs of Stef, Mary and Sydnie. Text above says: "Labour said they would put disabled people at the heart of everything they do. But instead they have shoved us to the very edges."

It was awful: what happened when we met the disability minister

SPARK newsletter summer 2025

Let's End Poverty logo: text in black, with a pink triangle logo

Let’s End Poverty: what comes next?

Wayne stands in front of his portrait

10,000 miles and counting: Wayne Walton’s fight to end homelessness across the UK

Wayne Walton estimates he has walked more than 10,000 miles alongside homeless individuals. Now, he’s calling for national action—urging the entire UK to wake up, mobilise, and demand solutions.

“That’s what homeless people do,” he says. “You never know how much you’ve walked, but with everything I’ve done, I’d be surprised if it were less.”

Determined to see homelessness not just reduced but eradicated, Wayne Walton is launching a nationwide movement. He’s encouraging people across the United Kingdom to stand together, demand accountability, and help fund a mobile emergency unit to assist people in crisis.

Wayne stands in front of his portrait
Wayne Walton in front of his portrait, at the launch of the Dreams and Realities exhibition in 2024

Wayne: It's a nationwide crisis

Homelessness is a national emergency, with rising numbers in London, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Glasgow—and virtually every town across the UK. Government figures show that rough sleeping has surged since the pandemic, yet support systems remain broken and underfunded.

Wayne Walton believes it’s time for bold action, led by people with lived experience—not just policymakers and charities. He urges cities and communities beyond Yorkshire to join the fight.

“We cannot wait for another crisis. In March 2025, homelessness is worse than ever. The government keeps making false promises, but nothing is changing. We need a nationwide awakening.”

Walking through hardship: Wayne's journey to advocacy

Wayne Walton’s personal battle with homelessness began in 2019, when violence and racism drove him from his home in northeast London. With nowhere safe to go—and his social security payments stopped—he was forced into rough sleeping.

He soon discovered that up to 100 people a night were sleeping in a shopping centre, relying on faith groups for food. That moment shifted his perspective forever.

“Standing in that queue, I felt like I shouldn’t be there. But then I realised—this is exactly where change begins.”

Determined to help, Wayne Walton connected people with aid organisations, gathered a team of Christian activists, and petitioned the government in December 2019—only to be told homelessness couldn’t be solved even in a decade.

Then, in March 2020, the pandemic proved them wrong.

Wayne: The pandemic showed solutions are possible

Within three weeks, the UK government rolled out the “Everyone In” policy—placing thousands of rough sleepers into accommodation. The same Government that had claimed this was impossible for ten years had solved the issue in days.

Wayne Walton became a key part of this emergency response, volunteering at 5am daily to help homeless individuals find shelter. Alongside activists, he even helped set up a temporary village for those missed by councils—transforming an abandoned dairy into shelter with donated blankets, tents, and supplies.

When local officials tried to shut the effort down, media exposure forced them to accommodate those in need. Wayne Walton stayed for a year, distributing aid via a donated minibus.

Expanding the mission beyond Yorkshire

In 2021, a family tragedy sent Wayne Walton overseas. When he returned to the UK, his sister in Sheffield encouraged him to stay for a while—a move that unexpectedly reshaped his mission.

While walking Sheffield’s streets, he felt a spiritual calling—a divine push to finish the advocacy work he had started years before.

Since then, Wayne Walton has developed counseling and evangelism programs, helping homeless individuals nationwide navigate local services. He continues to move between sofa-surfing and rough sleeping, yet remains driven by faith.

“I have hope. That’s what Jesus gives us. God has a plan.”

Wayne's plan for a mobile emergency unit

Wayne Walton’s next step is big—a van-based emergency unit capable of reaching homeless individuals across the UK.

“Too many people can’t get from A to B, can’t transport their belongings, and can’t access support. A mobile unit would change that.”

He recalls helping a blind ex-Muslim man struggling with trauma and anxiety—terrified to leave his home. A mobile response team could bring care directly to people like him.

This is not just about Sheffield—it’s about every city, every town. Homelessness is not a regional issue, it’s a national crisis.

Wayne Walton urges the public across the nation to step up and push for real change.

“Einstein said insanity is doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting different results. The government’s approach isn’t working—people have the answers.”

How you can get involved

Wayne Walton’s group meets every Friday at Barker’s Pool, Sheffield, S1 1EF (6pm-9pm), inviting individuals to organise change beyond Yorkshire. He’s calling for people from all across the UK to join.

They aim to:

  • Fund a mobile emergency unit
  • Organise rallies nationwide
  • Demand government accountability

The movement’s WhatsApp group has 75 members, and supporters can email:

praiseuk3@gmail.com

ukcities4christ@gmail.com

Upcoming national events

  • May 25: UK Prayer Festival at Barker’s Pool, Sheffield
  • August 23-25: National Rally—Praise UK (Christian music festival)

“We are seeking the greatest sustainable revival movement in the history of God. We pray daily at 8am, calling the UK to pray together for an hour—asking for sustainable change.”

Help Fund the Mobile Emergency Unit – Donate Today!

Wayne says: “Homelessness is a national emergency – we must act now! We’re raising funds to create a mobile emergency unit that will provide direct support, transport, food and urgent care for rough sleepers across the UK.”

  • Donate today.
  • Share & spread the word!
  • Join us in Sheffield every Friday!

Homelessness isn’t inevitable—it’s preventable. The UK must wake up and demand real change.

Together, we can make a difference. Thank you for standing with us!

It was awful: what happened when we met the disability minister

SPARK newsletter summer 2025

Let’s End Poverty: what comes next?

Vacancy: Chief Executive

Faith, justice & awesome activists: Niall reflects on his 28 years

In a queue, and newly homeless, I realised: this is where change begins

Legacies: invest in a future without poverty

Sharing Power to Shape Mission

Activists work to shape policies of the future

Are churches losing faith in low-income communities?

Church Action On Poverty North East 2025 AGM

The activists Speaking Truth to Power in York

We’re listening!

Briefing: New Government data further undermines its cuts to UK’s vital lifelines

The church must be at the heart of the mishmash of local life

Volunteers needed!

Cut-outs of Stef, Mary and Sydnie. Text above says: "Labour said they would put disabled people at the heart of everything they do. But instead they have shoved us to the very edges."

It was awful: what happened when we met the disability minister

SPARK newsletter summer 2025

Let's End Poverty logo: text in black, with a pink triangle logo

Let’s End Poverty: what comes next?