A report from End Hunger Cornwall
Report from a conference held in October 2019, highlighting the impact of food poverty and food insecurity throughout Cornwall.
This is the third and final part in a series of blogs about building a positive social vision for our life together after the pandemic.
“A revolutionary moment in the world’s history is a time for revolutions, not for patching”
(William Beveridge)
We don’t want to propose specific policies here. Rather, we are looking for the vision and values that will guide us as we journey out of the pandemic and into a new world. What would it mean if we sought to:
- Build stronger communities based on shared values of compassion and solidarity, and stronger relationships with our neighbours – including people who have been marginalised, ignored and mistrusted in the past.
- Ensure that everyone has a voice in decisions about how we build back better – most especially people who have been marginalised and excluded
- Build systems and policies that are rooted in community, security, solidarity, sharing and mutual aid, rather than competition and profit.
- Invest properly in the public services that express our interdependence and connection to one another, including the benefits system.
“The pain and cost of rebuilding must be borne by those with the broadest shoulders, not with another 10 years of austerity,”
(Justin Welby)
Are we prepared to speak out boldly and prophetically, with a more positive vision of the future, while people still remember the deep values of community and solidarity that are sustaining us all during the pandemic?
Questions
- How can the voices of those who are usually marginalised be brought to the centre of public debates as to how we build a better society?
- What are the ways in which communities and society have responded to the pandemic that we would want to build on in future?
- What kind of ‘revolutionary ideas’ might now be more feasible and help create a fairer society which enables us all to be more secure and more resilient in future? What would we need to do to bring them about?
Communications and Supporter Relations Manager
At this week's Gathering on the Margins, we discussed our visions of how we can build a better world after the pandemic.
We have these gatherings every Tuesday at 2 pm. Join us on Zoom to connect with people across the country to hear each other’s stories, discuss issues that we are facing and share advice.
Join us on Zoom by clicking the link below, or call 0131 460 1196 and using the meeting ID: 193 697 232
Many different organisations are thinking about how we can do things differently after the pandemic, and hold onto the values of solidarity and compassion that have sustained us through lockdown. We invited some of them to share thier thoughts and spark discussion.
First, Barry Knight spoke about the idea of ‘building back better’:
Barry Knight is involved in ‘Rethinking Poverty’, a project of the Webb Memorial Trust. He challenged us especiallly to think about locally-led, community-based ways of building a better world, rooted in ‘power with’ rather than ‘power over’ other people. He explores all these ideas in more detail in this article.
We also had an input from Paul Wood, the Head of Advocacy at Tearfund, about their ‘World Rebooted’ initiative:
Tearfund see three big shifts happening during the crisis:
- From ‘I alone’ to ‘We together’
- From valuing productivity above all else to valuing life
- From small tweaks to a new way of being
Read more about ‘The World Rebooted’ here.
Finally, Emma Temple of the Student Christian Movement shared her reflections on the ‘new normal’:
The speakers sparked a very creative discussion. We shared stories of what has given us all hope during lockdown, and talked about what needs to change.
Many participants felt that we had only scratched the surface of this vital topic, so we may well return to it in future Gatherings. Church Action on Poverty is publishing a series of blogs exploring the ideas – ‘New wine, new wineskins’ – and we would welcome your comments and input.
Next week we will be looking at coordinated responses, mutual aid and resilience. Join us on Tuesday to share your thoughts, ideas and experiences.
Over the following few weeks, the gatherings will be focussing on:
- 26 May: Coordinated responses and resilience
- 2 June: Children and young people
- 9 June: Global solidarity
This is the second in a series of blogs about building a positive social vision for our life together after the pandemic.
“No one puts new wine into old wineskins.”
(Mark 2:21–22)
The churches have a distinctive contribution to make on this journey. Christians are people of hope. What can Christian faith contribute towards a shared vision of a better world that we might be able to help build together?
Scripture tells us we need to read “the signs of the times” and recognise a kairos moment – those crucial times that demand action, conversion and transformation. Scripture also tells us that we mustn’t be daunted by the kairos moment – it is an opportunity and a moment of grace. The way communities have responded to the pandemic has itself shown us the way forward.
“We [must] not settle for business as usual but seize the moment of change to make the world a bit more as it should be, a bit more real.”
(The Centre for Theology and Community)
The Gospels contain many stories of healing. Often, the people Jesus heals have been isolated and marginalised – and their healing restores them to relationship and community. Those stories can remind us that recovering from the coronavirus outbreak means strengthening our communities as well as healing from illness.
We could make this a jubilee – a time when injustices are redressed, debts are forgiven, relationships are started anew, and society is reborn.
At the same time, the way that lockdown has allowed nature to re-emerge and flourish reminds us of the concept of Sabbath. Theologian Greg Smith has said: “The account of the fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonians concludes ‘The land finally enjoyed its Sabbath rest, lying desolate until the 70 years were fulfilled, just as the prophet had said.’ Could perhaps this pandemic period lead to a similar Sabbath effect through which a greater human flourishing, and a respite from the desolation of God’s good earth eventually emerge?”
Questions
Which Christian themes, values, ideas or stories from the Bible or elsewhere – e.g. Jubilee, wilderness, healing, Sabbath – resonate and could be most valuable to us now?
Could we envision a society and economy in which human dignity and flourishing (wellbeing) was valued more highly than wealth or economic growth as an end in itself? What would be needed to make this a reality?
Communications and Supporter Relations Manager
This is the first in a series of blogs about building a positive social vision for our life together after the pandemic.
“[The pandemic] is a portal, a gateway between one world and the next. We can choose to walk through it, dragging the carcasses of our prejudice and hatred, our avarice, our data banks and dead ideas, our dead rivers and smoky skies behind us. Or we can walk through lightly, with little luggage, ready to imagine another world. And ready to fight for it.”
(Arundhati Roy)
The pandemic has caused bigger changes to our lives, systems and economies than anything in living memory. It has removed old certainties – most obviously in the way that a right-wing UK government has launched a radical programme to protect jobs and lives, based on collective action in service of the common good.
“I’m very confident we’ll get this thing done and beat coronavirus but it depends on collective, resolute action.”
(Boris Johnson)
It has reminded us all of what matters most. Community responses, mutual aid networks, raising funds and applauding the NHS express the values we all share: community, compassion, supporting one another. Similarly, many of the values placed on people and their roles have been turned upside-down: Key workers we now applaud were written off as ‘unskilled’ just a couple of months ago.
At the same time, the pandemic has exposed the injustices and inequalities in our society. People who were already vulnerable or in poverty have been hardest hit both by the pandemic itself, and by the economic shutdown, as they have lost jobs, income and been forced to turn to food banks in record numbers. Millions have discovered for the first time that our benefits system is not well designed to keep people afloat in crisis. The longer-term economic cost is also likely to be enormous, with the prospect of a return to mass unemployment, increased economic insecurity, and large numbers being swept deeper into poverty.
Yet as we start to contemplate moving out of lockdown, we don’t have to go back to the way things were. There is hope, because even in the midst of the pandemic we have been reminded of the values that could enable us to build a better world.
And when we emerge once again,
Instead of going back to normal,
May we go ahead, remembering
what we missed, and what we didn’t.
(Liz Delafield)
Questions
- What are the shared values that have come to the fore in our communities that we would like to hold onto after the pandemic?
- What do we think are the signs that this is a moment for social change and transformation (what Christians might describe as a ‘kairos’ moment)?
Communications and Supporter Relations Manager
A report from our 14 May online discussions on what it means to be church on the margins during the pandemic.
(Video reflection by Alison Webster, Diocese of Oxford)
What can we learn from faith communities in terms of how they have fared in the current context?
- Examples of churches in Edinburgh and Birmingham – people have been looking after each other, checking in and delivering food.
- Churches should offer specific help, people feel awkward asking for help.
- Church of England issued guidance about not going out/ not delivering food/distributing leaflets, etc. … Is the church insular in this situation?
- Some older people wanted to go out and ignore the message to stay at home, but when they realised that it was to protect the NHS as well as themselves they were happier to comply.
- Being embedded in the community (pre-crisis) makes it easier to connect/ reach out to people in need.
- Influence can be more important than power.
- Can the older and younger generations learn from each other? (e.g. technology skills, insight, etc. )
- What does ‘service’ look like? Who are you serving with online or offline church?
- Connections between people are more important than the number of people attending church.
What have we as individuals learned from the power we have/lack?
- We should turn the Thursday clap into ‘power’ to campaign for a Living Wage for NHS/care workers/key workers.
- How you use your power is important.
- Clergy/ministers who hold food bank vouchers have power over people’s fortunes.
- People with disabilities have been doing church online for years because mainstream church was not accessible/welcoming. The message that online is less / ‘will do for now’ is hurtful to people who have done church this way for years.
- Now we don’t all have the power to fix things due to social isolation.
- There is a divide between people who want to get back to the church building as soon as possible and those who don’t.
- Some people have to go back to work due to their financial situation – powerlessness in this context. It’s a privilege to have the choice to stay at home.
- We do have power that we may not recognise (as a Christian community). By working together we can be powerful.
- Whose voices do we listen to? We need to listen to the ‘powerless’.
- ‘People are hungry and we are talking about bricks [buildings].’
A poem by Ruth Wells
God snuck home.
No longer bound by the
expectations of a ‘consecrated’ building
She’s concentrated her efforts on breaking out.
Now in the comfort of a well worn dining table
she shares some bread,
with some friends.
And she laughs.
And she weeps.
In the sacred space of home.
Research and Information Officer
As we live through the pandemic and lockdown, we are on a journey together. Church Action on Poverty invites you to share your thoughts on how we can 'build back better' after the pandemic.
This is a crucial moment in our nation’s life. Some talk of the importance of ‘building back better’. Others, inspired by Christian tradition, might describe this as a ‘kairos’ moment.
The pandemic has cast a light on the injustices and inequalities in our society. At the same time, the responses we’ve seen in our communities have reminded us of the values that we all share, and which should guide us on this journey.
Surveys reveal a huge desire in the population at large for permanent changes in society, with only 9% of Britons wanting life to return to ‘normal’ after the coronavirus outbreak is over. While not wanting to diminish the pain, suffering and terrible cost of the current crisis in lives and livelihoods, this presents both a challenge and an opportunity.
We know now, more than ever, that poverty is an outrage against humanity. It robs people of dignity, freedom and hope, of power over their own lives. We continue to believe that our vision – an end to poverty in the UK – can become a reality.
As we start to think about the future, what kind of compelling shared vision might inspire a wider movement for social transformation in our communities, and wider society?
Are there new ways we can speak and act together to realise a vision of the UK transformed into a country where everyone can live a full life, free from poverty?
Over the next week, we’ll share a series of blogs exploring different aspects of this question. Please watch this space, and share your thoughts and ideas by commenting!
On 19 May, our Gathering on the Margins explored the question too.
Communications and Supporter Relations Manager
A report from our 7 May online discussions on what it means to be church on the margins during the pandemic.
Resilience (opening reflection by Martin Johnstone of the Church of Scotland)
Where have we seen new life/new ways of being?
- New ‘churches’ have formed online. If these continue after lockdown how will we think about church ‘membership’? How will it be redefined? What does this mean for institutional churches?
- People who are not usually ‘church-goers’ have joined online church services. It has become a ‘church without walls’.
- Churches are continuing to do traditional services as usual.
- In broadcast mode the content of online services is quite passive.
- Foodbanks are too busy providing a service, they don’t have time to get to know people and gather their stories.
- We can allow our online church gatherings to be messy, they do not need to be perfect. Sometimes things go wrong but this is more authentic.
- Online church is safe space for people to engage.
- More people are engaging online, at different times of the week.
- We need to be church everyday of the week, not just Sundays.
Are there new resources and ideas about the church and how they can support communities to flourish?
- One church community is taking an inter-faith approach to the alpha course … ‘Beta Max’ is an inter-faith gathering where people come together to discuss faith.
- Examples of church ministers visiting people living on the street, bringing them food, etc. also providing packed lunches to children who are missing out on free school meals, and printed educational packs for families who do not have internet access.
- How can we include people who are invisible during the pandemic, people who are digitally excluded?
- Online church is more accessible for young families. Online children’s liturgy.
- New gifts are being uncovered in the new spaces.
- We need to be alongside and reach out to people on the margins, not ‘saviours’ dropping in and out of people’s lives.
- We can minister to each other, we don’t have to follow the model of priest as leader and congregation. E.g. Some people have organised family funerals themselves.
- The model of priest/minister as leader/gatekeeper needs to change. ‘The priesthood of all believers’.
- We should keep the ‘good things’ from online church when lockdown is over.
- Some churches do not currently have ‘permission’ to help with the crisis response locally. Individuals are doing things but not representing the church.
- Some churches are looking after their own members but not reaching out to others in the community. Will the community notice if the church reopens?
- Food pantries as examples of community-led organisations.
- How do we create a safe online space for people to talk about how they are feeling?
Are there any examples of churches standing alongside those on the margins (not speaking for them)?
- Not many visible examples of the church response, some church members are probably involved in service delivery but the ‘official church’ is less visible. … Can we offer our church buildings to others who are responding in the community?
Research and Information Officer
Last week we called for creative responses to the question 'Are we all in the same boat?' Here are two of the responses.
Our Programme Manager Kathryn drew this cartoon. And Church Action on Poverty supporter Revd Jo Drew wrote this poem:
Are we all in the same boat?
Are we all in the same boat?
Isolated?
Marginalised?
Cut adrift?
Rudderless?
Anchorless?
Directionless?
Inner compass whirling
As the boat spins
Whirlpool whipped.
Whilst hands seek desperately to cling
To the wood that holds all together.
To the crossbar that keeps the boat afloat.
Jesus slept
When roaring waves reigned.
There is calm in the chaos
It’s edgy but it’s there.
We need to imitate the helmsman on the wood.
Who sees and reaches out to save.
We are all in the same boat.
But some are thrown in at the deep end…
Jo Drew, 11 May 2020 – a reflection during lockdown
Easyfundraising lets you raise free donations for Church Action on Poverty when you shop online.
The pandemic and lockdown are sweeping millions of people further into poverty, while making it more difficult to raise the funds to help projects that anchor people and tackle poverty. We know that many people now have less money to use supporting causes. But there is a way you can still raise funds to tackle poverty.
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Support is urgently needed -please take a moment to sign up and help stop more people being swept into poverty and hunger.
Communications and Supporter Relations Manager