Category Archives: Poverty

Five lessons from Living Below the Line – by Alexandra Lilley

Posted on April 25, 2013 by

Five days on five quid. What would you spend it on? Last year I took up the Live Below the Line challenge, living on porridge made with water, lentil dhal and potatoes. Here’s what I discovered: 1. The less you … Continue reading →

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Tranforming communities: what the world can learn from the Phillipines – by Tom Graham

Posted on December 27, 2012 by

It’s a village community Christmas party, and a bunch of over-enthusiastic men are on stage, dressed as lady boys, dancing enthusiastically to the repetitive and yet (dare I say it?) catchy tune of Gangnam Style. Whilst everyone enjoys the show, … Continue reading →

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A vital subject but a narrow perspective: Tim Chester’s ‘Unreached’ [review] – by Greg Smith

Posted on December 11, 2012 by

Tim Chester and his group of collaborators are to be praised for the work they do in living incarnationally in some of the toughest neighbourhoods in Britain.  They seek to bring the Good News of Jesus to local residents and … Continue reading →

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Reversing the mad consumerism of Christmas

Posted on December 9, 2012 by

Every day, on the way to work, I get a bus up Oxford Street.  I get off just outside the famous department store, Selfridges, and walk round the corner to West London Mission offices.  The Christmas decorations, sponsored this year by … Continue reading →

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“Hard cases make bad law” – 3 principles for arguing about alcohol pricing

Posted on November 29, 2012 by

The government has announced its plan to set a minimum price of 45p per unit for alcohol. This will mainly affect strong beer, cheap wine and spirit bottles, but not pubs.  This is a big change and they’ll be a … Continue reading →

Posted in Poverty, Social commentary | 3 Comments

Three days to stop the bookies’ take-over of our high streets

Posted on September 8, 2012 by

One of the most depressing sights in many communities is the huge number of betting shops that seem to spring up everywhere.  In the poorest communities, shops are closing, businesses are struggling…but the numbers of bookies is ever on the rise. … Continue reading →

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Don’t buy the lies about Executive Pay: Reward people for the contribution they make

Posted on April 24, 2012 by

“Did you know that the Chief Executive of Warwickshire County Council gets paid £173,000 per year, which is over 14 times the least well paid person in the Council who get by on £12,145?” Over the last month, I’ve been knocking … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics, Poverty | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Seven months on: what were the reasons behind the August riots?

Posted on March 27, 2012 by

One of the key investigations into the causes of the Summer riots is due to publish it’s findings tomorrow.  The report of The Riots, Communities and Victims Panel is important as its remit was to give a voice to the communities and victims … Continue reading →

Posted in Poverty, Social commentary | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Every Little Helps, but Tesco’s use of the Workfare scheme is exploitation for profit.

Posted on February 16, 2012 by

We need work experience schemes for some welfare claimants, but the workfare scheme is being used by Tesco and others as exploitation for profit pure and simple. Workfare forces some job seekers to take unpaid work for months at a time … Continue reading →

Posted in Poverty | Tagged | 1 Comment

We should be anti-bad business not anti-big business

Posted on February 9, 2012 by

George Osborne says that he is worried that the UK is becoming ‘anti-business’. What he means is anti-big business. I mean, if failing mega corporations can’t hide their profits away to avoid tax and CEOs can’t claim obscene bonuses in … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics, Poverty | Tagged | 4 Comments